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 An Aghori with a human skull,c. 1875 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 70[1] – a few thousand[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Varanasi, North India |
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TheAghori (fromSanskrit:अघोर,lit. 'not dreadful', 'dreadless',IAST:aghora) are a Hindumonastic order ofasceticShaivitesadhus based inUttar Pradesh, India.[3] They are the only surviving sect derived from theKāpālika tradition, aTantric, non-Puranic form ofShaivism which originated inMedieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE.[3][4][5][6][7]
Similarly to their Shaivite predecessors,[3] Aghoris usually engage inpost-mortem rituals, often dwell incharnel grounds, smearcremation ashes on their bodies,[8] and use bones from human corpses for craftingkapāla (skull cups whichShiva and otherHindu deities are often iconically depicted holding or using) and jewellery.[4][5][6] They also practice post-mortemcannibalism, eating flesh from foraged human corpses, including those taken fromcremation ghats.[1][9]
Their practices are sometimes considered contradictory to orthodoxHinduism.[4][5][6][10] Many Aghorigurus command great reverence from rural populations and are widely referred to inmedieval and modern works of Indian literature, as they are supposed to possess healing powers gained through their intenselyeremitic rites and practices ofrenunciation andtápasya.[4][5][6]
Aghoris are Hindu devotees ofShivamanifested asBhairava,[4][5][6][11] and ascetics who seekliberation (mokṣa) from theendless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (saṃsāra). This freedom is attained through the knowledge thatthe Self (ātman) is identical to the eternal and formlessmetaphysical Absolute calledBrahman. Because of theirmonistic doctrine, the Aghoris maintain thatall opposites are ultimately illusory. The purpose of embracingintoxicant substances,pollution, and physical degradation through variousTantric rituals and customs is therealization of non-duality (advaita) transcending socialtaboos, attaining what is essentially analtered 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 orthodoxHinduism, are typicallymacabre in nature.[12][13] The practices of Aghoris vary[5] and include living incemeteries, smearingcremation ashes on their bodies,[8] using human skulls for decoration and bowls,smoking marijuana,drinking alcohol, andseating in meditation on top of corpses.[14][15] 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.[12] Furthermore, they demonstrate the Aghoris' acceptance of death as a necessary and natural part of the human experience.[12][16]
Another unusual Aghori belief is that they attribute spiritual and physical benefits, such as the prevention of aging, to theconsumption of human flesh. In 2006, an Indian TV crew witnessed one Aghori feasting on a corpse discovered floating in theGanges[1] and a member of theDom caste reports that Aghori often take bodies fromcremationghats (orfuneral pyres).[9]
In his bookYoga: Immortality and Freedom (1958), the Romanianhistorian of religion andUniversity of Chicago professorMircea Eliade remarks that the "Aghorīs are only the successors to a much older and widespread ascetic order, theKāpālikas, or 'wearers of skulls'."[3] According toDavid Lorenzen, there is a paucity of primary sources on the Kāpālikas, and historical information about them is available from fictional works and other traditions who disparage them.[4][17][3] VariousIndian texts claim that the Kāpālikas drank liquor freely, both for ritual and as a matter of habit.[4] The Chinese pilgrim to India in the 7th century CE,Hsuan Tsang, in his memoir on what is nowNorthwestern Pakistan, wrote aboutBuddhists living with naked ascetics who covered themselves with ashes and wore bone wreathes on their heads, but Hsuan Tsang does not call themKāpālikas or any particular name. Historians ofIndian religions and scholars ofHindu studies have interpreted these ascetics variously as Kāpālikas,JainDigambara monks, andPashupatas.[4]
The Kāpālikas were more of a monastic order, states Lorenzen, and not a sect with a textual doctrine.[4] The Kāpālika tradition gave rise to theKulamārga, a subsect of Tantric Shaivism which preserves some of the distinctive features of the Kāpālika tradition.[18] Some of the Kāpālika Shaiva practices are found inVajrayana Buddhism,[3] and scholars disagree on who influenced whom.[19] Today, the Kāpālika tradition survives within its Shaivite offshoots: the Aghori order,Kaula, andTrika traditions.[17][3]
Although akin to the Kāpālika ascetics ofMedieval India andKashmir, as well as theKālāmukha of theDeccan Plateau, with whom there may be a historical connection, the Aghoris trace their origin toBaba Keenaram, a Shaivite ascetic who is said to have lived 150 years, dying during the second half of the 18th century.[20][21]Dattatreya theavadhuta, to whom has been attributed the esteemed nondual medieval song, theAvadhuta Gita, was a foundingadi 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 toBaba Keenaram atopMount Girnar in Gujarat. Considered to be theadi guru (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic asprasād (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.[22]
Aghoris also hold sacred theHindu deityDattatreya as a predecessor to the Aghori tradition. Dattatreya was believed to be an incarnation ofBrahma,Vishnu, andShiva 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, thePuranas, 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 asshava samskara orshava sadhana (ritual worship incorporating the use of a corpse as the altar) to invoke the mother goddess in her form as SmashanTara (Tara of the Cremation Grounds).
In Hindu iconography, Tara, likeKali, is one of the tenMahavidyas (wisdom goddesses) and once invoked can bless the Aghori with supernatural powers. The most popular of the ten Mahavidyas who are worshiped by Aghoris areDhumavati,Bagalamukhi, andBhairavi. The male Hindu deities primarily worshiped by Aghoris for supernatural powers are manifestations ofShiva, includingMahākāla,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:[23]
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."[23]
Lord Aghora, an antinomian and annihilater form of Shiva closely associated with the cremation ground, who appeared toBaba Keenaram atop Girnar Mountain in Gujarat. Considered to be theadi guru (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic asprasād (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.[24]
Although Aghoris are prevalent in cremation grounds across India,Nepal, and even sparsely among similar cremation grounds inSouth East Asia, the secrecy of thisreligious sect fosters no aspiration to social recognition and notoriety among its practitioners.[1]
Hinglaj Mata is theKuladevata (patron goddess) of the Aghori. The main Aghori pilgrimage centre is Kina Ram'shermitage orashram in Ravindrapuri,Varanasi. The full name of this place isBaba Keenaram Sthal, Krim-Kund. Here, Kina Ram is buried in a tomb orsamadhi which is a centre of pilgrimage for Aghoris and Aghori devotees. Present head (Abbot), since 1978, ofBaba Keenaram Sthal isBaba Siddharth Gautam Ram.
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 theShakti Pithas, 51 holy centres for worship of the HinduMother Goddess scattered across South Asia and the Himalayan terrain, are key locations preferred for performingsadhana by the Aghoris. They are also known to meditate and performsadhana in haunted houses.
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. Such practices are in decline and not commonly seen.
The Aghor tradition, which originated as confined and reclusive, has transformed since Baba Bhagwan Ramji's reforms to Aghor Yoga practices. By changing practices that have traditionally been shunned by conventional norms, Aghor Yoga now has entered mainstream society. Today, Aghor Yoga focuses upon forming a balanced personal practice, placing importance on both sadhana (one's own spiritual practice) as well as seva (selfless service).[25]
Recognizing the need for change within his society, Baba Bhagwan Ramji renewed the socially conscious spirit of Baba Kinaram when he established a new ashram named Awadhut Bhagwan Ram Kusht Sewa Ashram (The Awadhut Bhagwan Ram Leprosy Service Ashram) at Parao, Varanasi.[26] Baba Bhagwan Ramji dedicated Parao Ashram to helping the poor and the afflicted, and included a leprosy hospital within the ashram grounds. By shifting Aghor Yoga's focus to helping those who are suffering within society, Baba Bhagwan Ramji modernized the ancient Aghor tradition.
In order to maintain the continuum of the Aghor tradition, Baba Bhagwan Ramji initiated one of his disciples, Baba Siddharth Gautam Ram, to be the head of Krim Kund and of the Aghor lineage. The Krim Kund and Parao ashrams are situated on the opposite sides of the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
Baba Bhagwan Ramji also established Sri Sarveshwari Samooh Ashram, a secular social service organization that has worked throughout northern India.[27] The Aghor lineage now includes many Ashrams in various locations in India and a number of centers and Ashrams in other countries.
During his life, Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ramji also guided the reform of ancient Kina Ram Aghori practices.[5]
All of the ashrams started by Baba Bhagwan Ramji and his disciples around the world are continually dedicated to service. Contemporary Aghor practices focus especially on providing help and services to those who are downtrodden.
Sri Sarveshwari Samooh Ashram remains invested in social issues, notably working to eliminate the dowry system, offering free leprosy treatment, and providing free schooling for impoverished children.
The Sonoma Ashram in Sonoma, California, founded in 1990, is the current seat of Aghor Yoga in the United States. The mission of Sonoma Ashram is to foster spiritual growth in individuals.[25]
The Sonoma Ashram's sister ashram, Aghor Foundation, was established in 2001 on the bank of the Ganges River in the Varanasi, India and offers a safe home for orphaned and abandoned children.[25] The Aghor Foundation also operates other social service projects, including the Anjali School, a tuition-free school for neighborhood children living in poverty and Vision Varanasi, a free eye clinic.[28] Notably, The Aghor Foundation also runs Project Shakti, which offers vocational training for underprivileged women in Varanasi.[29] The Aghor Foundation recently began to construct the Amrit Sagar Environmental Center, "a working model of the best environmental practices and a teaching center demonstrating… sustainable practices."[30]
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