THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT OF AGHORIS

HISTORY OF AGHORIS

Kina Ram was the founder of

aghoris He died during the

second half of the 18th century..

Baba Kinaram was believed to be

an incarnation of Lord Shiva..

The Aghoris are not to be

confused with the Shivnetras, who

are also devotees of Shiva but do

not indulge in extreme ritual

worship practices like the

aghoris..

TRADITIONS

Lord Shiva is the main diety of the aghoris..

The male Hindu deities primarily worshiped

by Aghoris for supernatural powers are forms

of Shiva,including Mahakala, Bhairava,Virab

hadra, Avadhoothi, and others..

The most popular of the ten Mahavidyas who are

worshiped by aghoris

are Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, and Bhairavi..

Tara one of the ten Mahavidyas can bless

the Aghori with supernatural powers..

BELIEFS OF THE AGHORIS

Aghoris go in search of powers through

which they can avoid

the punarjanma (rebirth) in this life..

An aghori believes in getting into total

darkness by all means, and then getting

into light or self realizing..

Aghoris base their beliefs on two principles:

That Shiva is perfect and that Shiva is responsible for everything that occurs in this phenomenal universe..

Aghoris believe that every persons soul is Shiva, but is covered by Astha maha pasha or the eight great bonds i.e, krodha, lobha, kama, moha, bhaya, ghirna etc..

SYMBOLS OF AGHORIS

The Aghori is himself a symbol of the God Shiva in Shiva's form as Bhairava..

The main symbol is the skull cup, which they also use as a begging bowl..

The Aghoris are naked or wear the shroud of

a corpse and cover themselves in the ashes of

the cremation ground..

An aghori always has his hair untidy or in dreadlocks..

Aghoris feed on human flesh as part of their ritual..

SPIRITUAL HEADQUARTERS The main Aghori pilgrimage centre

is KinaRam's 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 samadhiwhich is a centre of pilgrimage for Aghoris and Aghori devotees..

Any cremation ground would be a holy place for an

Aghori..

The 51 holy centers for worship of the Hindu

Mother Goddess scattered across South Asia and the

Himalayan terrain, are key locations for performing

sadhana by the Aghoris.

Aghoris are also known to meditate and perform

sadhana in haunted houses.

MEDICINAL POWERS OF THE AGHORIS

Aghoris practise healing through purification as a pillar of their ritual..

Their patients believe that the Aghoris are able to transfer pollution and health from patients called "transformative healing“,

KUMBH MELA ORMAHA KUMBH

"kumbh mela" is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Agoris along with other hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river …

The rivers at these four places are: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar, the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the Saraswati at Allahabad, the Godawari at Nashik, and the Shipra at Ujjain..

It is held once in three years at one of the four places by rotation:

Haridwar,

Allahabad (Prayaga),

Nashik and

Ujjain.

PLANATORY POSITIONS DURING KUMBH MELA

When Jupiter and the sun are in the zodiac sign Leo , it is held in Nashik…

When the sun is in Aquarius

it is celebrated at haridwar

When Jupiter is in Taurus and the sun is in Capricorn Kumbh Mela is celebrated at Prayag….

And Jupiter and the sun are in Scorpio and the Mela is celebrated at Ujjain….

The sadhus are seen in saffron sheets with Vibhuti ashes on their skin as per the requirements of ancient traditions..

Some, called Naga sanyasis, do not wear any clothes even in severe winter..

The first foreigner to beome an aghori is California-born Baba Rampuri

Though Aghoris are present in cremation grounds across India, Nepal,

and even across cremation grounds in South East Asia, The secrecy of this religious section

leaves no desire for practitioners to aspire for social recognition and publicity. Therefore, no official figures of their population are available…