Aghoris:The reliogionistic cannibals

Warning-The things that you are about to read are not for the weak hearted. It can be highly disturbing. Reader discretion is requested.

Aghoris, I first heard this word some months back from a video that I got as a forward. Aghoris are a sect of Hindu sannyasins who are mainly found in Varanasi around the banks of the sacred river Ganga. They call themselves as the worshippers of the 3rd eye of Lord Siva. What sets them apart from other religious sects is one horrible ritual which is an integral part of their belief system-eating corpses. Now, you know why that warning was put up there on top of this post. The sight of an Aghori itself can scare you no end. They cover themselves with the ashes that comes from the burning of dead bodies. The whole body of an aghori including the face will be covered with this ash and that gives them an eerie albino like whitish appearance. The hair and beard are grown to great lengths. The Aghori sect is very few in number but all the existing members are staunch followers who are prepared to carry out all the gory rituals required of an Aghori.

In Varanasi, many of the dead are not burned or cremated. Many of the poor people prefer to immerse the body in the Ganges. The water of this holy river is believed to have purifying powers which will remove all sins from the dead man and provide him moksha. These bodies which are immersed in water usually flow downstream. The Aghoris are settled in such places. They wait for days on end for a dead body to flow downstream. Once they spot one, they jump in to take hold of the body. Usually the Aghoris operate as single. The body is brought ashore. The items for an elaborate pooja are set. The divine lamp is shined. Now, the Aghori will proceed to sit on the stomach of the dead body. The chantings will start. After this elaborate ritual starts the gory part. The Aghori takes a knife and cuts the body parts one by one. Then he proceeds to bite off and eat it. In the video that I saw, an Aghori eating the hands of the dead body was shown clearly. It was so intolerable that I could hardly eat something peacefully for 2 days.

An aghori drinking water from a skull-another of their strage rituals

I was left wondering on what's the basis behind this ritual. The video didn't utter a single word regarding that. I did a short research on the net and checked out some old NGC videos too. From all those sources, I got the following reasons for their shocking rituals. The Aghoris don't have a concept of pure or impure. They believe in the oneness of things. So, they never distinguish anything as pure or impure. A rose in full bloom and a smelly corpse are given the same status by the Aghoris. One of these is not given a higher pedestal just because it appears beautiful or is pure than the other. So, to disprove the popular notions of purity, Aghoris accept such disgusting things like corpses and consume alcohol, behaviour which are considered unacceptable by normal people. They believe that since everything on the face of the earth is created by God, rejecting a particular creation of God is same as rejecting Him. Some members of this sect are even accused of practising necrophilia, the meaning of which am not writing here explicitly.

The American Aghori Kapalnath

Of the very few followers of this sect, a man named Kapalnath is the most famous. An American by birth, his original name is Gary Stevenson. He's popularly known as 'American Aghori' and there are many scary stories going on around about him, many of which he himself has denied. Whatever be the case, its a wonder that such things exist in the civilised society around us. A thing to note is Aghoris are found not only in India but at other parts of the world too. Many people are seen defending this sect by saying that they are not commiting any crime, they are just eating corpses. Not a crime by the books of law, but a crime in the true sense if the word called 'morality' still exists.

If you are not very weak hearted, do checkout one of the video clips here.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=W0bGrvKVxac

PS-Due to my recent researches on the Aghoris, my roomies have started calling me an Aghori :(

PPS-Forgot to mention about the upcoming Tamil move 'Naan Kadavul' being directed by Bala. It deals with Aghoris. Checkout the awesome soundtrack by Ilayaraja. Especially the song 'Om Siva Om' which captures the mood of the subject. The album is also lyrically excellent with some though provoking lines. My favourite lines are from the song 'Pichaipaathiram'. Waiting for the movie to do the rest of the research work.

Your crusader Praveen