In Varanasi - Northern India and parts of Nepal, it is not rear to come by some wretched looking and most times naked or dressed in tattered clothes, dreadlock people carrying a human skull along in which they eat and drink. These are members of a sect known as the Aghori saddhus or simply the Aghoris.
Aghoris are known as followers of Lord Shiva- the Hindu most powerful god of destruction and are considered as the most extreme, fearful and respected among all other Hindu sects.
The term Aghori comes from the sanskrit word "aghor" which means "non terrible" or "absence of darkness". Aghori implies a simple and natural state of consciousness where there is absence of fear and disgust but on the contrary, the Aghoris have rituals which are considered disgusting and feared by the ordinary people. To the Aghori saddhus, the true meaning of the term "aghori" is one who is fearless and does not discriminate.
Aghori practices dates as far back to the 5th century A.D to their founder, Baba Keenaram. Aghoris are known to engage in post- mortem rituals, sometimes involving cannibalism or necrophilia . They often dwell in charnel grounds,smear cremation ashes on their bodies, and are known to use human skull to craft a kapalla- a bowl in which they eat and drink. Because of their practices that are contradictory to orthodox Hinduism , they are generally opposed by other Hindus.
To become an Aghori, one has to first find himself an Aghori guru- a spiritual master who tells him what to do , meditate for at least 12 years and find for himself a human skull (kapalla) from which he will eat and drink. Aghoris engage in occultic practices like eating the flesh of rotten human corpse, killing of animals and sometimes humans.
Aghoris use clothes from dead people, apply ash from pyre on their bodies while meditating and use wood from pyres to perforn rituals. They get their powers from doing things which are considered disgusting and unclean by ordinary people like; eat leftovers from garbages, drink urine and faeces from animals, eating flesh of human corpse, meditate while sitting on a human corpse which indicates the rise from savak to Shiva ( enlightenment) and staying at Hindu cremation grounds as their home.
The life of an Aghori is not an easy one as they have no properties, friends ,relatives and home to return to. They believe that God exists in everything - be it rotten food or cow dung and see everything as sacred. Aghoris roam about freely and do not worry about where to sleep or what to eat and sees nothing as "bad" or forbidden. To the Aghori, wherever he goes he finds a home-- in the Hindu cremation grounds.
Once an Aghori is initiated, he is forbidden to visit his hometown, familly and friends and is made to cut all ties with them. Aghori gurus believe that when one continues to stay in contact with relatives and friends it defies their spiritual growth. Their rituals or sacrifices are based on tantric rites- black magic and the more they engage in the rituals, the more powers they get in Aghoratva ( enlightenment).
Though seen as a dreaded sect with much occultic, tantric practices, Aghoris hold to the fact that the only way to attain enlightenment is by nullifying everything material in this universe as they term ---"maya" (illusion) and at thesame time accepting everything as God. Aghori saddhus see good in everything hence use everything in performing their rituals.
Smoking of weed and intoxication is an important routine of Aghoris worship. They believe that once intoxicated, they are disconnected from the material world and gets connected to Lord Shiva.
These are the Aghori saddhus, simple philosophies yet fearful and devastating to practice.
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