The Aghoris are a Hindu sect that worships Shiva and engages in extreme ascetic practices. Their founder was Baba Kinaram who established their spiritual headquarters in Varanasi. Aghoris seek supernatural powers through rituals involving human corpses, cremation grounds, and consumption of human flesh or ashes. They believe achieving a state of total darkness allows enlightenment. Their symbols include wearing ashes and using human skulls as bowls. Aghoris gather at Kumbh Melas and certain cremation grounds for rituals and worship.

1. THE LIVINGENVIRONMENTOF AGHORIS

2. 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..

3. 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..

4.  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..

5. 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..

6.  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..

7. 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..

8.  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..

9. 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 samadhi
which is a centre of pilgrimage for Aghoris and
Aghori devotees..

10. 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.

11. 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“,

12. KUMBH MELA OR
MAHA KUMBH
"kumbh mela" is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of
faith in which Agoris along with other hindus
gather to bathe in a sacred river …

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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….

16. 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

17. 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…