Aghori

For the Indian series, see Aghori (TV series).

Aghori
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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The Aghori (from Sanskrit: अघोर, lit. 'not dreadful', 'dreadless', IAST: aghora) are a monastic order of ascetic Shaivite sadhus based in Uttar Pradesh, India.[3] They are the only surviving sect derived from the Kāpālika tradition, a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE.[3][4][5][6][7]

Similarly to their Shaivite predecessors,[3] Aghoris usually engage in post-mortem rituals, often dwell in charnel grounds, smear cremation ashes on their bodies,[8] and use bones from human corpses for crafting kapāla (skull cups which Shiva and other Hindu deities are often iconically depicted holding or using) and jewellery.[4][5][6] They also practice post-mortem cannibalism, eating flesh from foraged human corpses, including those taken from cremation ghats.[1][9]

Their practices are sometimes considered contradictory to orthodox Hinduism.[4][5][6][10] Many Aghori gurus command great reverence from rural populations and are widely referred to in medieval and modern works of Indian literature, as they are supposed to possess healing powers gained through their intensely eremitic rites and practices of renunciation and tápasya.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference today was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Wetmore, Kevin J. Jr. (2021). Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters. London: Reaktion Books. p. 53.
  3. ^ a b c Eliade, Mircea (1969) [1958]. "Chapter VIII: Yoga and Aboriginal India — Aghorīs, Kāpālikas". Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology. Vol. LVI. Bucharest, Chicago, and Princeton: Princeton University Press/University of Bucharest/University of Chicago Press. pp. 296–298. ISBN 9780691142036.
  4. ^ a b c d Lorenzen, David N. (2020) [1972]. "Chapter I: Four Śaivite Sects". The Kāpālikas and Kālāmukhas: Two Lost Śaivite Sects. Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies (1st ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 1–12. doi:10.1525/9780520324947-003. ISBN 9780520324947. OCLC 1224279234.
  5. ^ a b c d Barrett, Ronald L. (2008). "Introduction". Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 1–28. ISBN 9780520941014.
  6. ^ a b c d Urban, Hugh B. (2007) [2003]. "India's Darkest Heart: Tantra in the Literary Imagination". Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion (1st ed.). Berkeley and Delhi: University of California Press/Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 106–133. doi:10.1525/california/9780520230620.003.0004. ISBN 9780520236561. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1pp4mm.9.
  7. ^ James G. Lochtefeld (2001). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
  8. ^ Staff Reporter (9 March 2014). "Westerners Flock to Join Indian Cannibal Sect". International Business Times.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ John Bowker, The Meanings of Death, Cambridge University Press, p. 164.