You may have seen Sadhus or Aghori Baba mostly near the banks of Ganga River or outside Lord Shiva’s Temple. They are known for their extremities. Their life looks spooky and cryptic in terms of their behavior, their physical appearance and the way they talk. We avoid every means of conversation with them. But don’t you think we should know about their lives and rituals after all they are also a part of Hinduism. They believed to be devotees of Lord Shiva. They are supposed to possess miraculous healing power, and some even heal the person by cursing him.  There is a 1000 year old Hindu sect, that challenges traditional religious beliefs and follows an eccentric and quirky path to enlightenment, they are known as The AGHORIS.  

Aghoris are spiritual, they worship Lord Shiva. But they also eat Human flesh and consume alcohol, they live naked. Then how they can be considered as Hindus or the followers of Hinduism? According to them, they are destined to live such a life and impress the Gods and Goddess by offering them Human flesh. They eat human flesh at least once to gain supernatural powers and powers of being immortal. They perform certain rituals before consuming human flesh.  They never kill any human to eat their flesh. Basically Aghoris collect the bodies which may be float and reached near the bank of the river. They eat vital organs in a hope to attain supernatural powers. It sounds very creepy and weird but these Aghoris follow their customs like this only. They established their own rituals to attain supreme wisdom.

The Aghoris have to eliminate the thoughts of dichotomy, between pure and impure, good and bad. Everything is sacred and pious according to them. They even eat urine and stool to become an Aghori. They practice cannibalism, Urophagia, and Croprophagy. Drinking alcohol in a cup made of skull is their basic custom. The cremation ground has been their bed and the funeral pyre his sole source of sustenance. Aghoris live in the small and dark caves where they meditate all day and night. Their soul is their Universe and so they adopt some unique and different methods to enlighten themselves and attain supreme power. 

Aghoris used to worship Lord Shiva they believed that Lord Shiva is seen as an Aghori, while some historians claim it to be false. Lord Shiva adopted tapasaya i.e., Sacrifice of Human pleasures and attain Wisdom. Therefore, an Aghori is believed to live in a cemetery and many of them roam naked representing true human life. Sometimes they wear clothes which are made of dead bodies. They eat anything like rotten food, food from dumps, animal urine and stool etc. They regularly perform rituals to attain knowledge and wisdom, to attain supernatural powers. They rub ashes of dead bodies on their bodies and then eat a part of the human flesh and meditate on a human corpse. This is a symbol for their rise from Shava to Shiva.