Aghori
![]() An Aghori with a human skull, c. 1875 | |
Total population | |
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70 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Varanasi |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/DevelopmentofShaivism.jpg/350px-DevelopmentofShaivism.jpg)
The Aghori (from Sanskrit अघोर aghora; lit. '"not-fearful", "fearless"') are a small group of ascetic Shaiva sadhus based in India. They engage in post-mortem rituals. They often dwell in charnel grounds, smear cremation ashes on their bodies, and use bones from human corpses for crafting kapalas (skull cups which Shiva and other Hindu deities are often iconically depicted holding or using) and jewellery.
Their practices are sometimes considered contradictory to orthodox Hinduism.[1] Many Aghori gurus command great reverence from rural populations, as they are supposed to possess healing powers gained through their intensely eremitic rites and practices of renunciation and tápasya.
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Beliefs and doctrines[]
Aghoris are devotees of Shiva manifested as Bhairava,[2] and monists who seek moksha from the cycle of reincarnation or saṃsāra. This freedom is a realization of the self's identity with the absolute. Because of this monistic doctrine, the Aghoris maintain that all opposites are ultimately illusory. The purpose of embracing pollution and degradation through various customs is the realization of non-duality (advaita) through transcending social taboos, attaining what is essentially an altered state of consciousness and perceiving the illusory nature of all conventional categories.
Aghori rituals, which are performed precisely to oppose notions of purity commonplace in orthodox Hinduism, are typically macabre in nature.[3] Practices of Aghoris varies.[4] Some of them also live in cemeteries, smear cremation ashes on their bodies, use human skulls for decoration and bowls, smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, and meditate on top of corpses.[5][6] Although contrary to mainstream Hinduism, these practices exemplify the Aghori philosophy of criticizing commonplace social relations and fears through the use of culturally offensive acts.[3] Furthermore, they demonstrate the Aghoris’ acceptance of death as a necessary and natural part of the human experience.[3] Despite the thought behind such actions, outsiders (particularly tourists) have typically viewed the sect with suspicion and horror, with their lifestyles being described as morally damaging to the Indian youth, akin to living like animals, uncivilized compared to modern Hindu society, or outright dangerous, due to belief that the Aghori are willing to kill live humans for their rituals.[7] This particular claim, as of the present, has yet to be substantiated with hard evidence.
Aghoris are not to be confused with Shivnetras, who are also ardent devotees of Shiva, but do not indulge in extreme, tamasic ritual practices. Although the Aghoris enjoy close ties with the Shivnetras, the two groups are quite distinct, Shivnetras engaging in sattvic worship.
Aghoris base their beliefs on two principles common to broader Shaiva beliefs: that Shiva is perfect (having omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence) and that Shiva is responsible for everything that occurs: all conditions, causes and effects. Consequently, everything that exists must be perfect and to deny the perfection of anything would be to deny the sacredness of all life in its full manifestation, as well as to deny the Supreme Being.
Aghoris believe that every person's soul is Shiva, but is covered by aṣṭamahāpāśa "eight great nooses or bonds", including sensual pleasure, anger, greed, obsession, fear and hatred. The practices of the Aghoris are centered around the removal of these bonds. Sādhanā in cremation grounds is used in an attempt to destroy fear; sexual practices with certain riders and controls attempt to release one from sexual desire; being naked is used in an attempt to destroy shame. On release from all the eight bonds, the soul becomes sadāśiva and obtains moksha.[8][better source needed]
History[]
Although akin to the Kapalika ascetics of medieval Kashmir, as well as the Kalamukhas, with whom there may be a historical connection, the Aghoris trace their origin to Baba Keenaram, an ascetic who is said to have lived 150 years, dying during the second half of the 18th century.[9] Dattatreya the avadhuta, to whom has been attributed the esteemed nondual medieval song, the Avadhuta Gita, was a founding adi guru of the Aghor tradition according to Barrett (2008: p. 33):
Lord Dattatreya, an antinomian form of Shiva closely associated with the cremation ground, who appeared to Baba Keenaram atop Girnar Mountain in Gujarat. Considered to be the adi guru (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic as prasād (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.[10]
Aghoris also hold sacred the Hindu deity Dattatreya as a predecessor to the Aghori Tantric tradition. Dattatreya was believed to be an incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva united in the same singular physical body. Dattatreya is revered in all schools of Tantra, which is the philosophy followed by the Aghora tradition, and he is often depicted in Hindu artwork and its holy scriptures of folk narratives, the Puranas, indulging in Aghori "left-hand" Tantric worship as his prime practice.
An aghori believes in getting into total darkness by all means, and then getting into light or self realizing. Though this is a different approach from other Hindu sects, they believe it to be effective. They are infamously known for their rituals that include such as shava samskara or shava sadhana (ritual worship incorporating the use of a corpse as the altar) to invoke the mother goddess in her form as Smashan Tara (Tara of the Cremation Grounds).
In Hindu iconography, Tara, like Kali, is one of the ten Mahavidyas (wisdom goddesses) and once invoked can bless the Aghori with supernatural powers. The most popular of the ten Mahavidyas who are worshiped by Aghoris are Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, and Bhairavi. The male Hindu deities primarily worshiped by Aghoris for supernatural powers are manifestations of Shiva, including Mahākāla, Bhairava, Virabhadra, Avadhuta, and others.
Barrett (2008: p. 161) discusses the "charnel ground sādhanā" of the Aghora in both its left and right-handed proclivities and identifies it as principally cutting through attachments and aversion and foregrounding primordiality; a view uncultured, undomesticated:[11]
The gurus and disciples of Aghor believe their state to be primordial and universal. They believe that all human beings are natural-born Aghori. Hari Baba has said on several occasions that human babies of all societies are without discrimination, that they will play as much in their own filth as with the toys around them. Children become progressively discriminating as they grow older and learn the culturally specific attachments and aversions of their parents. Children become increasingly aware of their mortality as they bump their heads and fall to the ground. They come to fear their mortality and then palliate this fear by finding ways to deny it altogether.
In this sense, the Aghora sādhanā is a process of unlearning deeply internalized cultural models. When this sādhanā takes the form of charnel ground sādhanā, the Aghori faces death as a very young child, simultaneously meditating on the totality of life at its two extremes. This ideal example serves as a prototype for other Aghor practices, both left and right, in ritual and in daily life."[11]
Lord Aghora, an antinomian and annihilater form of Shiva closely associated with the cremation ground, who appeared to Baba Keenaram atop Girnar Mountain in Gujarat. Considered to be the adi guru (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic as prasād (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.[12]
Adherents[]
Though Aghoris are prevalent in cremation grounds across India, Nepal, and even sparsely across cremation grounds in South East Asia, the secrecy of this religious sect leaves no desire for practitioners to aspire for social recognition and notoriety.[13]
Spiritual headquarters[]
Hinglaj Mata is the Kuladevata (patron goddess) of the Aghori. The main Aghori pilgrimage centre is Kina Ram's hermitage or ashram in Ravindrapuri, Varanasi. The full name of this place is Baba Keenaram Sthal, Krim-Kund. Here, Kina Ram is buried in a tomb or samadhi which is a centre of pilgrimage for Aghoris and Aghori devotees. Present head (Abbot), since 1978, of Baba Keenaram Sthal is .
According to Devotees, Baba Siddharth Gautam Ram is reincarnation of Baba Keenaram himself. Apart from this, any cremation ground would be a holy place for an Aghori ascetic. The cremation grounds near the Shakti Pithas, 51 holy centres for worship of the Hindu Mother Goddess scattered across South Asia and the Himalayan terrain, are key locations preferred for performing sadhana by the Aghoris. They are also known to meditate and perform sadhana in haunted houses.
Medicine[]
Aghori practice healing through purification as a pillar of their ritual. Their patients believe the Aghoris are able to transfer health to, and pollution away from patients as a form of "transformative healing.” However according to Aghori belief, this pollution must be moved into another person. In some cases, Aghoris make the claim that human or animal sacrifice is necessary to successfully complete a healing. Some aghori scholarship calls this process the transfer of karma.
Aghori “healing” practices are extremely controversial. State and local governments have made attempts to completely eliminate them. In 2013, the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act was enacted into law. This act has criminalized aghori healing practices because they are based in the belief of black magic and human sacrifice and pose a significant threat to society, particularly in rural areas where the population does not have equal access to education. The act was passed into law after its main advocate, Narendra Dabholkar, was murdered in Pune. It is commonly believed that Dabholkar was assassinated because of his work with the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS; or Committee for Eradication of Blind Faith, CEBF).[14]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "The Meanings of Death" By John Bowker, John Westerdale Bowker, p. 164, Cambridge University Press.
- ^ "Shiva: The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy" Page 46, by Wolf-Dieter Storl
- ^ a b c Suri, R.; Pitchford, D. (2010). "The Gift of Life: Death As Teacher in the Aghori Sect". doi:10.24972/IJTS.2010.29.1.128. Cite journal requires
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(help) - ^ Ronald L. Barrett. Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India. pp. 147–148.
- ^ Sharma, Nitasha; Rickly, Jillian (2 November 2019). "'The smell of death and the smell of life': authenticity, anxiety and perceptions of death at Varanasi's cremation grounds". Journal of Heritage Tourism. 14 (5–6): 466–477. doi:10.1080/1743873X.2019.1610411. ISSN 1743-873X.
- ^ Holden, Lynn (2001). Taboos: Structure and Rebellion. The Institute for Cultural Research. p. 19. ISBN 978-0904674330.
- ^ Sharma, Nitasha (14 March 2020). "Dark tourism and moral disengagement in liminal spaces". Tourism Geographies. 22 (2): 273–297. doi:10.1080/14616688.2020.1713877. ISSN 1461-6688.
- ^ "Aghori". True Hindu. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
- ^ Parry, J. P. (1994). Death in Banaras. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Barrett, Ron (2008). Aghor medicine: pollution, death, and healing in northern India. Edition: illustrated. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-25218-7, ISBN 978-0-520-25218-9. Source: [1] (accessed: Sunday February 21, 2010), p.33.
- ^ a b Barrett, Ron (2008). Aghor medicine: pollution, death, and healing in northern India. Edition: illustrated. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-25218-7, ISBN 978-0-520-25218-9. p.161.
- ^ Barrett, Ron (2008).
- ^ "Indian doc focuses on Hindu cannibal sect". Today. The Associated Press. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ Attewell, Guy (2008). Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death and Healing in Northern India. Social History of Medicine. 21. University of California Press. pp. 608–609. doi:10.1093/shm/hkn067. ISBN 978-0-520-25219-6.
Further reading[]
- Patel, Rajan (2016). Feast of Varanasi. Raafilms.
- Dallapiccola, Anna (2002). Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-51088-1.
- McDermott, Rachel F.; Kripal, Jeffrey J. (2003). Encountering Kālī: in the margins, at the center, in the West. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23239-6.
- McEvilley, Thomas (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought: comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. Allworth Communications, Inc. ISBN 978-1-58115-203-6.
- Parry, Jonathan P. (1994). Death in Banaras. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-46625-3.
- Svoboda, Robert (1986). Aghora: At the Left Hand of God. Brotherhood of Life. ISBN 0-914732-21-8.
- Svoboda, Robert (1993). Aghora II: Kundalini. Brotherhood of Life. ISBN 0-914732-31-5.
- Vishwanath Prasad Singh Ashthana, Aghor at a glance
- Vishwanath Prasad Singh Ashthana, Krim-kund Katha
- Howard, John R (2018) The Aghorī: Modern Myth or Ancient Truth, https://www.academia.edu/42043486/The_Aghor%C4%AB_Modern_Myth_or_Ancient_Truth
External links[]
Media related to Aghori at Wikimedia Commons
- Shaiva sects
- Varanasi
- Left-Hand Path