Cannibalism (cannibalism) in India. Aghori - Indian ascetics who eat corpses and excrement

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that came to power in India listens extremely carefully to the opinions of representatives of all directions of Hinduism. The party leadership considers defending their interests a priority. Meanwhile, among those whom the BJP cares so much about, there are people who practice very exotic rituals. Including cannibalism.

A few days ago, a verdict was pronounced in Pakistan in an unusual case: for the first time in the country's history, the defendants were convicted of cannibalism. Two brothers, Muhammad Arif and Farman Ali, each received twelve years in prison. Moreover, they were tried under the article “Terrorism”, since their actions, as the court explained, horrified society. In fact, there is simply no article in Pakistani law that would cover such an act.

A criminal case was opened against Arif and Ali after it was revealed that in April 2011 they dug up a baby from a grave and ate it. During the investigation, it became clear that the brothers had feasted on carrion before. In total, they dug up more than a hundred graves in the local cemetery before the neighbors became suspicious. As doctors established, both brothers previously suffered from mental illness.

If for Pakistan, the “land of the pure,” where the covenants of the Prophet are sacredly revered, what happened was a real shock, then in neighboring India, dead human bodies have been eaten for centuries. And this is done by completely healthy people, without any signs of mental disorders. The British tried to fight this, as well as other ancient customs that shocked them. The colonialists managed to put an end to the Thug sect and eradicate the tradition of burning wives, but they were powerless in the fight against cannibalism. Driven underground, it was reborn again in independent India and continues to exist, despite all attempts to ban it.
Rituals and traditions of “holy people”

One day in April 2006, police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh detained two “holy people,” called sadhus in Hindi, on suspicion of cannibalism. Local peasants pointed them out. Not long before, they discovered the severed head of a deceased teenager, whom they themselves had buried three days ago, and later came across a half-eaten body. As the “holy people” admitted, they dug up a freshly buried corpse, cut off its head and ate the heart, liver and other organs, because they believed that this would give them enormous power. Both sadhus - both teacher and student - belonged to the Aghori sect, one of the most ancient, mysterious and strange directions of Hinduism.

The first information about the sect, whose members eat the bodies of the dead, appears in Persian sources in the 16th century, although the Aghori themselves claim that their teaching goes back thousands of years.
Indian "holy man"
Photo: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters

The name of the sect is translated from Sanskrit as “fearless” (literally “not afraid”). Aghori are Shaivite ascetics who concentrate on tantric practices of a very peculiar nature: members of the sect eat for ritual purposes dead bodies people, sleep on corpses, use bowls made of human skulls for their rituals, meditate at cremation sites, drink alcohol and drugs. Some researchers even claim that the Aghori practice ritual sex with corpses caught from the river, and with women of lower castes during menstruation (while the Aghori are celibate). Because of this, many Hindus generally reject Aghori, believing that they have nothing to do with Hinduism. The Aghori themselves are confident that this very path - violation of all norms and rules - is the shortest to achieving spiritual enlightenment and liberation from the bonds of worldly attachments.

In modern India, as in most other countries, cannibalism is punishable by law, so Aghori are extremely reluctant to come into contact with strangers, and local residents are openly afraid of them. But at the same time, the number of Aghori is growing, as many are attracted to unusual practices. It is curious that Aghoris are much friendlier towards whites than towards their compatriots: a tourist will not hand them over to the police, and will even give them money. Irish journalist Darragh Mason, who took a series of photographs of Aghori practices, claimed in an article in the Daily Mirror that he had personally observed “an American gentleman living in the sect for some time,” and noted that Western tourists were attracted to the unusual Aghori lifestyle. Just a few decades ago, this would have been unthinkable: a white person would simply not have been accepted among cannibals.

The main character of the feature film “I am God” (Naan Kavadul) belongs to the Aghori sect
Still from the film “I am God”

Aghoris can be found throughout India, but they are mainly concentrated around the holy city of Tarapith in West Bengal. This is one of the main centers of Shaivism, where Hindus bring the bodies of their dead for cremation. Many Aghori can be found near Varanasi on the Ganges. They are easily recognized by their extremely ragged appearance and tangled, dirty hair. In Tarapita, Aghori meditate at cremation sites, smearing themselves with the ashes of those burned, and near Varanasi, partially decomposed bodies are fished out of the Ganges. Sadhus believe that eating parts of corpses stops aging and gives a person additional abilities such as the ability to levitate or control the weather.

At the same time, Aghori are actively involved in charity work. Through their efforts, a hospital for lepers was created, where hundreds of thousands of people have already been treated.
Corpse eaters in law

Despite the ban on cannibalism, the Aghori sect as such is not outlawed. The Indian state carefully guards religious diversity. As a result, a complex conflict arises: since Aghori rituals are associated with cannibalism, in order to practice their faith, Aghori are forced to break the law. Another thing is that the Indian police often turn a blind eye to this and sect members rarely go to jail. If this happens, it is mainly for other reasons. Thus, in 2012, one of the “holy people” was detained on suspicion of murder. As the investigation showed, Vijay Kumar from the state of Haryana, despite good grades in college, dropped out of school and went “to the people”, tried to gain higher knowledge with the help of tantra and eventually took the path of aghori. However, the police were unable to connect the murder committed by Kumar with his faith. As it turned out, the motives for the crime were quite ordinary: the ascetic settled accounts with his offender - the man who beat him for an unfulfilled prediction.

At times, attempts are made in India to ban Aghori practices. Not at the level of the central government, which emphasizes its commitment to the preservation of all existing religious movements, but at least at the state level. Thus, in Maharashtra last year, a law was passed “On the Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhumane, Cruel and Aghori Practices, as well as Black Magic,” and a similar act is planned to be introduced in the state of Karnataka. All legislative initiatives of this kind encounter fierce resistance from the Hindu priesthood, which sees them as an attack on their positions. Given the recent election victory of the BJP, a party initially closely associated with Hinduism and extremely sensitive to the views of adherents of this religion, the prospects for the adoption of such laws now seem rather dubious.
First they collected tea, and then ate it by chance

Cannibalism in India is practiced not only for religious reasons. Centuries ago, travelers - Arabs and Persians, and then Marco Polo - told the world about cannibals from the Andaman Islands who killed and ate unwary strangers. After the British captured the islands in late XVIII centuries, they turned them into a place of exile. Prisoners from India were sent there, and the captured natives were used for hard work. As a result, to date, according to the most optimistic estimates, there are no more than one hundred Aboriginal people left; some tribes have died out entirely. The islands were inhabited by immigrants from India, their terrible glory is a thing of the past.

But cases of cannibalism in another remote region - in the northeast of India - are recorded from time to time and hit the press. This area is connected to the rest of the state by a narrow isthmus. The northeast is divided into seven states, lyrically called the Seven Sisters. And if the inhabitants of Assam and Tripura are Hindus, then the mountain tribes in Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland almost entirely profess Christianity, and in the Protestant version.

It is to these mountaineers, mainly from the Naga tribe, that popular rumor in India attributes cannibalism. Rumors that Nagas and other small tribes eat human flesh regularly appear in the Indian and Pakistani press. This is not surprising, given the reputation that the hill states enjoy in the eyes of the average Indian: an area inhabited by savages of other religions, waging a long and stubborn struggle for independence, attacking Indian police and border guards. Idle tourists can be found there much less often than in the well-trodden regions of Central India - the chance of becoming the object of excessively close attention of freedom fighters is too great. If Aghori rituals are gradually turning into an attraction for rich tourists, then in the northeast you sometimes have to pay for curiosity with your life.


Photo: Anupam Nath/AP

The last time rumors received documentary confirmation was in January last year. Then the crowd employees, including people from hill tribes, beat to death the owner of one of the tea plantations in Assam and his wife. The conflict arose due to the fact that the spouses did not pay the workers the required remuneration, and those of them who were most indignant were handed over to the police. After the murder, five people from the crowd partially ate the planter's body. The police said they were considering all options for the motives that prompted the criminals to organize a meal of human flesh. However, the results of the investigation were never published.

Despite the fact that the Nagas themselves vehemently deny that they are cannibals, detailed descriptions of their customs can still be found on the Internet. In particular, it is alleged that close relatives eat the flesh of the deceased after his death. It is also constantly mentioned that other tribes of the Seven Sisters practice cannibalism.

The Nagas owe their sinister reputation to their ancient customs: the tribes have long been engaged in headhunting. This evoked analogies among the arriving Europeans with the inhabitants of the Pacific islands - the behavior patterns were too similar. However, no evidence was found of the Naga eating the bodies of the slain, and with the conversion of the peoples of the region to Christianity and the spread of education, headhunting also ceased.

Over the past centuries, European civilization has perceived cannibalism as something unnatural. Any actions of the colonialists against the natives, even complete destruction, were easily justified by the fact that they were cannibals. Eating human flesh was beyond the bounds of what was permitted. But times have changed: now white tourists travel to the East to secretly partake in the forbidden and attractive cannibalistic practices, and articles about Aghori on respectable websites mention cannibalism as the sour cherry on the luxurious cake of self-discovery. Europe is no longer changing the world according to its own patterns, but is trying to understand and accept it as it is, with all its features and customs. Including cannibalism.

Alexey Kupriyanov
lenta.ru
Photo: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

Publication 2017-11-14 Liked 11 Views 2143

In the world, but far from it

Aghora - left hand path

Where to meet an Aghori?

The Aghora are a Hindu sect of ascetic sadhus who worship Shiva. Their religious movement is separate from canonical Hinduism and is considered by many to be self-governing. Aghori, like other Hindus, yearn to achieve liberation from the endless cycle of rebirth (moksha).

Shiva devotees live in cremation grounds to be closer to God

Aghori philosophy

The word "aghori" is translated from Sanskrit as "non-terrifying." Mainly, these people are known to the world for their rituals. For the average person, they are terrifying: Aghori live in cemeteries and cremation sites, walk naked, eat corpses and excrement, drink urine, kill their flesh, smear the body with the ashes of corpses, make jewelry from bones and especially skulls, do not observe the rules of personal hygiene, relieve themselves in public places, smoke marijuana endlessly and often drink alcohol.

Aghori smoke because Shiva himself did so, sitting on top of Kailash

However, this is the peculiarity of Hinduism and Shaivism in particular - they teach you to go beyond your own stereotypes and conditioning laid down by your close environment and the media. Members of the Aghora sect consider themselves servants of Shiva and Kali and see godly actions in their rituals. Like Shiva, they live in destruction and create it themselves, giving life to the new. They represent horror, which is also an integral part of the divine. Aghoris do not divide the world into good and evil, into beauty and ugliness, into bad and good, because everything is one.

The first mentions of Aghori appeared in Persian chronicles in the 6th century

Aghori philosophy is advaitic. The beauty of this idea is that if you are God, then nothing can separate you from him. No action or inaction can be right or wrong. You can't do anything that God won't like. Therefore, Aghori in India live the way they want, while at the same time pursuing deeply religious goals. They get rid of contempt, disgust, and pride through constant interaction with half-decayed corpses, dirt, and poverty. The mental stability of an Aghori takes years to develop. They can look without regret at all the horrors of the world, enter into its darkest aspects.

They worship the god of destruction Shiva and the goddess of death Kali

In the world, but far from it

Considering numerous photos Aghori, you can notice that in addition to the fact that their hair is matted and their bodies are dry and bony, they live in conditions that are difficult for life. Comfort, whatever one may say, is not enough. This asceticism also applies to rituals dedicated to Shiva, who himself leads a similar lifestyle, as the scriptures say. Aghoris deliberately refuse social life, from family, from physical pleasures, limiting your mind and forcing it to be in a state of meditation. For them, the colorful colors that replace each other in the abyss of the world are not important; for them, both the dead and the living are beautiful.

Without destroying the old, you cannot create a new one, the Aghori believe and break all patterns

In photographs, Aghori are often depicted with skulls. This attribute did not appear by chance. Aghoris use real human skulls as chairs, stands, utensils for eating and drinking, bowls for making offerings to gods, etc. Aghoris use skulls of people who died a natural death.

Aghora is banned by the Indian government. However, the authorities turn a blind eye to them

By reciting mantras, Aghori purify their food and make it sacred. They don't care what it consists of. However, eating corpses is not prerequisite for aghoris, they do it as a form of worship to Shiva and Kali.

Left Hand Path

Baba Kinaram is considered the founder of the Aghora tradition. According to legends, one day Dattatreya himself, the incarnation of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in one body, appeared before this saint and offered him his flesh as prasad.

Contrary to all stereotypes, Shiva worshipers still bathe

This kind of existence is called the left-hand path, LHR. Aghoris seek the truth just like others, only they choose more difficult path. Their sadhana (service) involves a high level of understanding of the meaning of their actions. In the sacred teachings of Tantra it is said that the left-hand path is feminine and "Shaktism". In India, Aghoris worship Shiva's consort as part of himself, and a large number of their prayers, rituals, offerings and thoughts are directed towards her hypostasis.

Yoga on the banks of the sacred river - a special ritual

Some rightly believe that the Aghora sect is nothing more than an exotic attraction for a large flow of tourists to Varanasi, and to India as a whole. Aghoris really live off the alms of other people, mainly visitors. They do not work and do not accept this lifestyle, but the natural needs of the body are not alien to them, so they have to live in places where they will be photographed, filmed, asked about their faith and given money for it.

Most Aghori are still friendly and willing to communicate with foreigners

Where to meet an Aghori?

The famous yogi Shalendra Sharma says that a real Aghori is clean and does not flaunt his life at the places of cremation and death. Most people eat meat, drink alcohol and have sex, but this does not mean that they are all Aghori. Shiva did not command his followers to smear themselves with feces and eat garbage. He created human body for other purposes, and this is obvious. A real Aghori practices yoga, lives modestly at a mixed (cremation site), meditates there, and teaches wisdom to other people. There are no more than 10 such people in the whole of India.

They have their own perception of reality. Completely beyond our understanding

If you want to see the followers of the Aghora sect with your own eyes, go to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. This city is not called for nothing city ​​of the dead- on the banks of the sacred river Ganga, corpses are ceremonially burned here, their remains floating along the river. Aghoris sit by the Ganges. Most of them, contrary to stereotypes, are peaceful and not hostile. Aghori can also be found at the world-famous Kumbh Mela festival.

Aghori: Cannibal Saints

They have black tongues, a chain wrapped around their genitals, and eat corpses. Aghori: who are they and why did they choose this life?

The life of every Hindu is the result of his karma. Being born in this or another caste is the result of what you did in past life. If you were born a Brahmin in the family of a priest, then your karma led you to this. They are neither good nor bad, but leading to this stage of development, which means they bring us closer to liberation from samsara, the eternal chain of rebirths. Someone's karma brought him to the servants' closet, someone's to the rich Rajput palace, but the result is the same and cannot be appealed: birth and life in a certain caste is forever, and one's duty is to follow the rules of the caste in order to next life be reborn somewhere higher.

There are many types of such "eccentrics". Naga women who walk without clothes; There are those who take a vow of silence, keep one hand raised to the sky, or live in the forest, feeding only on the energy of the sun.

But besides the rules of caste there are four more goals human life: kama - sensual pleasures; artha—material prosperity; dharma - morality and righteousness; and moksha - liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

Playing chess

These goals are sequential, and it is impossible to achieve the last one without achieving the previous ones, therefore, as a rule, older people devote themselves to achieving moksha. However, this does not always happen.

A man in orange clothes, among his things - a water jug ​​and a staff, on his head - uncut for years, rolled into dreadlocks

There are those who are born with such a high spiritual level that there is no need to achieve kama, artha and dharma, and only moksha remains. They are called differently: sannyasins, sadhus, hermits or vagabonds, saints or criminals.

The strangest and most incomprehensible hermits are the Aghori. Before trying to understand them, it is worth describing them, which in itself is not easy. They are corpse-eating cannibals who feed on sewage and perform nightly rituals over the remains of people and animals. As a rule, Aghori live near cremation fires in order to, bypassing the attention of the cremator workers, pick up the half-burnt corpse from the fire.

They are smeared with human ashes, their robes are black, and they wear a necklace of bones around their necks. Eyes, drugged with opium, alcohol and charas, look out from under a tangled mop of hair. Underneath the robe is a chain wrapped around the genitals, rendering them incapacitated for life.

Hermits mortify their masculinity

On the staff with the trident of Shiva hangs a human skull, which the Aghori use as a bowl. Their body is cut with hooks, because they do not feel pain, their tongue is black - it is burnt because when the Aghori eat a corpse, they wipe it off the hot coals with their mouths to avoid touching it with their hands, because it may turn out to be the corpse of a woman, until which they are forbidden to touch.

Aghori is that page of culture that you don’t want to turn over and at the same time want to turn over. Their dark secrets drag on, raising more questions than answers. When you come into contact with their history, you feel how it surrounds you, at the same time changing you forever. This a dark room memories that you are afraid to enter, and once you enter, you do not want to leave. Sink deeper and deeper, allowing the dark, sticky space to envelop you, soothing, comforting, lulling and slowly absorbing you.

For Aghori, the whole world is a big crypt in which everyone, including them, is already dead. From the very fact of birth follows the inevitability of death. Since death is inevitable, it has already happened. The perfect fact of death gives this world the sense of absolute illusoryness. So think about it, nothing can be worse than death, death has already happened, so is it possible to do anything “bad” or “good” in this “life”?

Hindus are very afraid of Aghoris. They believe that they have magical powers- sidhi, and not ordinary ones, but especially powerful ones. By blurring the line between pure and dirty, Aghoris blur the line between good and evil. They are dangerous, they do what they want.

What do Aghoris believe?
Aghoris worship Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, and Kali, the goddess of death or the female form of Shiva. Every month they perform a ritual where they sing a love song to Shiva and satisfy Kali through someone's dead body. They smoke and drink because Shiva himself smoked opium, sitting on the top of Mount Kailash and stopping the heavenly flow with his hair.

Hermits

To understand Aghori, perhaps it is worth starting with Shiva. Created by the goddess Shakti, Shiva is destruction, the element of fire. However, destruction is perceived by Hindus not as it is by us, but as the destruction of everything bad. And without the destruction of the old there is no creation of the new.

Aghori covered in the ashes of cremation fires

Once upon a time I was talking about Aghori with a yogi in Dharamsala. Each person sees the world differently. Some people see the world as love, and they see the world as fire. I didn't understand him then. But now his words make sense. If you destroy the boundary between clean and dirty, many other restrictions fall away, the threshold between good and evil is erased. If you look at the world as energy, fire, then there is nothing unclean. As one Aghori said: “If God created this world, then every part of his creation is sacred, which means there cannot be anything vile or disgusting.” By performing such strange actions, Aghori break their perception of reality, changing it to one that is inaccessible to our understanding. They say tantriks take a shortcut to the top. Putting aside good and evil and changing your perception of reality is perhaps the first step.

Oddly enough, but cannibalism has not yet been eliminated in our civilized world. There are tribes preserved on the planet that are shocking with their traditions. These include the Indian Aghori tribe. For several millennia, these followers of a rare, ugly teaching have been eating human flesh. The people do not at all want to revise the principles of their socialization; they continue to lead a separate monastic existence, remaining faithful to ancient rituals. Aghori are famous for carrion eating.

The British were the first to try to fight the Aghori. The colonialists put an end to the thugs from the strangler tribe, banned the ancient ritual of “sati”, which obliged the Hindus to burn widows, but the corpse eaters remained undefeated.

Today Aghori people live in the lands of West Bengal. The name “Aghori” alone, which means “fearless”, brings wild terror to the area. Everyone is afraid of them, even the native Hindus cannot understand the perverted ascetic and cannibal philosophy. What is it? The cannibal tribe believes that a person can achieve complete spiritual purification only through eating the flesh of their own kind; this ritual gives the living superpowers and stops aging. It is believed that corpses give strength to the living.

The roots of the tribe are attributed by ethnographers to the 17th century; the founder of wild traditions is a certain Baba Kinaram, who died at the age of 170 years. Baba Kinaram received such longevity allegedly due to eating corpses. And in Persian sources, Aghori has been mentioned since the 16th century.

“Aghori saints” steal corpses from cemeteries, burn the remains, and then meditate on the ashes, rubbing themselves with the ashes of those consigned to the fire. They eat corpses dug out of graves, have sex with drowned people, sleep next to the dead - while, as it seems to them, the cannibal monks take the energy of the dead for themselves. They also eat human excrement and drink urine. Obviously, people cannot do this in their right mind, and therefore Aghori use a “hellish” mixture of psychotropic substances: alcohol and drugs to enter into a trance, when performing tantric rituals. Intoxicated with the potion, they live for months in Hindu cemeteries and cremations. Representatives of the tribe avoid material things and go without clothes.

Aghoris are not so much born as they become, although the tribe lives separately, but from time to time ordinary Hare Krishnas join them. These Shaivite ascetics worship celibacy; sex is allowed only as necrophilia. “Holy people” rarely have contact with foreigners, but are friendly to white tourists. Although not one of the travelers can be advised to get to know the cannibal tribe better, you never know... The whole point is that Europeans leave money to the “poor” ascetics, which the tribe then uses for good purposes. Surprised? For many years in a row, corpse eaters have been running an Indian leper hospital. And in Lately There is information that white-skinned people who are looking for exotic things are joining the Aghori philosophy and life.

In general, their whole life is shrouded in mystery; the locals are also afraid of them because the Aghori make evil prophecies. Even government authorities they don’t want to get involved with strange corpse-eaters, the police don’t touch them, although in India the law prohibits cannibalism and provides for punishment for it.

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Aghoris live in cremation grounds and feed on the remains of corpses. But this is not just cannibalism, but a complex religious ritual with its own laws and sequence of actions. And if you think that this sect includes only crazy ascetic yogis, you are mistaken. A huge number of respected people in India choose this path for themselves. What if it all just seems disgusting?

Who are Aghoris?

Aghori is a Hindu sect of ascetics - worshipers of the god Shiva, whose roots go back to ancient times. The word “aghori” itself is translated from Sanskrit as “not terrifying,” that is, those who are not afraid of anything.

Shiva is one of the three main gods in Hinduism, the God of destruction. A very dark and mystical figure. It is believed that Shiva lives in cremation grounds and is always accompanied by demons. Have you heard about the sinister goddess Kali, whose waist is decorated with a belt of human skulls? So, Kali is an avatar (reincarnation) of Parvati, Shiva’s beloved wife. As they say, husband and wife are one Satan.

2.

But despite the gloomy image, Shiva is not the enemy of humanity, but its ardent defender. Being the god of destruction, he destroys only the outdated and dying in order to give rise to something new. Shiva immerses himself in meditation for the benefit of humanity and is sincerely upset when he sees his troubles. And it was he who gave people hashish, yoga and the art of meditation. Such a versatile figure.

Aghori, as admirers of Shiva, try to imitate him in everything. They also live in cremation grounds and also use hashish and alcohol to expand their consciousness. In ancient times this sect was much more numerous than it is now. The Aghori are believed to continue the traditions of the medieval ascetic order of Kapalikas, which means "skull bearers". It used to be a revered and respected religion. But these days, other Hindus prefer to give Aghoris a wide berth. Why? In the eyes of a righteous Hindu, alcohol and drugs are bad. Moreover, any uninitiated person is horrified by the lifestyle of the radical Aghori. They are not understood, but it would never even occur to them to express their rejection or interfere with the rituals of the sectarians. They say that an Aghori can cast a curse on a person and ruin his karma. They also say that an Aghori can kill with complete impunity. In short, it’s better not to mess with them.

3.

Most Aghoris are hostile to tourists, or at best indifferent. They don’t answer questions, don’t allow themselves to be filmed, can break equipment they don’t like and even get into a fight. However, there are peace-loving “aghoris” who are happy to talk about their religion and appear in interviews. But don’t rush to rejoice: most likely these are not real sectarians, but charlatans, and they just want to make money

And there are also aghoris by whom you cannot determine whether you belong to a sect. They wear business suits and hold respected positions. Thus, the Aghori religion was professed by Bhanu Singh, a former minister in the central government of India. Did he live in cremation grounds? Of course not. And all because Aghori is a very versatile religion, and Aghori and Aghori are different. Some followers adhere to universal human norms, eat exclusively vegetarian food, abstain from alcohol, etc., while others use huge doses of drugs, drink urine from human skulls and... practice ritual cannibalism. The latter are the radical aghoris, the aghoris of the highest order, and in fact they are a minority. However, due to its, to put it mildly, unusual image in life it was they who got all the popularity. Very gloomy, just like them.

Crazy corpse eaters?

Perhaps the most shocking thing about radical Aghoris is their love for everything related to death. They prefer to live in cremation grounds: not only for the sake of imitating God Shiva, but also for food. For religious purposes, Aghori eat human remains (after cremation there are a lot of them left). Cremation is a complex and expensive process during which the body is not completely burned.
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For reference: how much does cremation cost in india? For firewood, the relatives of the deceased pay from 1,000 to 3,000 rupees, plus they need to pay a fee for the place and for ignition. One cremation costs approximately 5,000 rupees. And this is with modest requests. If you use sandalwood (the most expensive and revered tree) as firewood, cremation will cost 20,000 rupees or more.
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Hindus, who do not have money for cremation, burn the bodies of relatives not with fire, but with water: they lower them into rivers. To the joy of the Aghori!

4.

In their rituals, Aghori use body parts not eaten by fire, or catch corpses from rivers. They meditate while sitting on corpses, eat human flesh, make ritual bowls from skulls, and drink their own urine. Some researchers claim that Aghori copulate with female bodies that have not yet decomposed. All this happens under the influence of drugs and alcohol, which Aghori consume in huge doses. In addition to the remains, the Aghori's diet consists of offerings and everything relatively edible that they manage to find in garbage dumps. As you understand, these ascetics do not disdain anything. And that's why.

Aghori philosophy: to purification through dirt

Radical Aghoris do not accept anything worldly. Good, evil, friends, love, family - these are all empty words. They do not think in categories, and earthly life for them is only an illusion, a pathetic step on the path to Nirvana. Therefore, clothes tasty food, relationships and everything that a person likes to surround himself with is also an illusion. It's all pointless.

For an Aghori there is no such thing as beautiful and disgusting, bad and good, tasty and tasteless, worthy and unworthy. Everything that is around are manifestations of God, which means that everything is equal to each other. Aghori are convinced that abandoning human norms and worldly attachments is the shortest path to spiritual enlightenment. At the center of their world is death, as a mystical border, a powerful ritual that gives energy to contact gods and demons. During their dark rituals, people and God become happy and contented, Shiva speaks to them directly. By expanding their consciousness and rising above life through death, Aghoris touch God.

5.

At the end of this path there is only one goal - to achieve Moksha, or, as we are more familiar with, Nirvana.

On the way to Nirvana

In the Hindu religion there is such a thing as samsara - the cycle of birth and death. These rebirths are determined by karma. Karma in our perception is the soul moving from body to body. It consists of a person’s actions and their consequences. The better the karma, the more successful the next rebirth will be and the faster the soul will achieve moksha.

Moksha is the state that all Hindus dream of. This is liberation from the circle of rebirths - samsara; nirvana, union with god and immortal life in him. The path to moksha is long and difficult, and everyone strives to shorten it to the best of their ability. Some lead righteous life, others go on pilgrimages to holy places, others renounce everything worldly and become ascetic monks. A person’s capabilities on the path to moksha are amazing. There are those who take a vow of silence for life, and there are eternal hermits. And there are those who immerse themselves in meditation for weeks, months and even years, and all this time their body is in one position.

6.

And there are Aghori: we already know about their method of achieving moksha.

Where to find Aghori?

If you are a practitioner, not a theorist, and you want to see an Aghori with your own eyes, feel free to take a ticket to Varanasi.

Aghori can be found throughout India. But if in Delhi you have to work hard to see at least one of them from afar, then in Varanasi you can watch the hordes of Aghori 24 hours a day.

7.

What kind of city is Varanasi, and why is it so attractive to the followers of the sect?

Varanasi - a city beyond the borders

Varanasi is a sacred city in northeastern India, in the center of the Ganges Valley, with a population of approximately 1,500,000 people. According to legend, the name of the city comes from the merger of the names of two rivers, Varuna and Assi, which wash it from the south and north and flow into the Ganges.

8.

It is believed that the city was founded about 5,000 years ago by the god Shiva himself. One of the oldest cities in the entire world, Varanasi is perhaps the very first city in India. When the whole world changes its appearance under the influence of progress, Varanasi appears to travelers the same as it was several thousand years ago. If you want to see the original India as it is, you definitely need to come here.

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Varanasi is an ancient, fertile land, created by one of the main Hindu deities and overlooking the Ganges. This is the very heart of Hinduism. For Hindus, the city has the same significance as the Vatican for Catholics. In their minds, this is the holiest city in all globe. It is enough to come here and take a bath in the Ganges, your karma will be cleared and your body will be healed. Pilgrims from all over India come to Varanasi; sadhus of various directions live here. It is also believed that if a person dies in this city, he will reach Nirvana faster.

Every Indian dreams of dying in Varanasi. People come here to live out their worldly term or bequeath to their relatives to have cremation here. It is a great honor to be buried in Varanasi and funeral pyres burn here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Now do you understand why there are so many Aghoris in Varanasi? Firstly, this city was created by God, whom they worship, and secondly, here is the very center of death. There is always something to do for Aghoris in Varansi. Endless cremation, “buried” bodies in the Ganges - all this is fertile ground for rituals and communication with gods and demons. Aghoris believe this.

What about the relatives of the deceased, you ask? How do they feel about the fact that their body loved one will it be eaten during the ritual? Perhaps not very positively - you and I will never know about it. But no one will interfere with the Aghori. Hindus know: the curse of an Aghori can cause terrible misfortunes and destroy karma. Neither ordinary people, nor the law interferes in their affairs. And they do not advise tourists. Even if you are not afraid of a curse, you hardly want to lose your equipment or get involved in a fight!

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The world around us is full of mysteries. We believe that all people are alike, but think of the sadhus who meditate for several years, or the aghoris for whom there are no boundaries. There is a lot we simply cannot understand, and a lot we don’t need. But at least from afar, absolutely everyone can touch the amazing facets of the unknown, and this is intriguing. The ancient Indian city of Varanasi on the banks of the sacred river, ancient beliefs like the cradle of Humanity, true ascetics and time that froze in stone ruins... Not seeing all this with your own eyes is like missing something important on your way. Perhaps a chance to better understand yourself?