With Kumbh Mela is in full swing with thousands of devotees, enthusiastic foreigners are thronging Prayagraj for the Holy dip. The most common doubt for any one following the Kumbh mela is whether the ‘Naga SAdhu’s’ and the ‘Aghoris’ Same! Both are feared and revered but are they really same let us find our who ‘Aghoris’ really are!
Nagas are considered to be the Purest and the Supreme Most Sadhus in India. Infact , the First Person to Have a bath in Kumbh Mela is a Naga Baba. Because its beleived that , they are the purest one & once they get into the water of kumbh , the water becomes Pure.
Aghoris are ascetic Hindu monks from the Shaiva sect who worship the Bhairav form of Shiva. An Aghori sadhu is typically seen holding a skull (kapala), which is a cryptic message to devotees for renouncing the eight bondages to the material world – five sense-experience, intelligence, ego and identity and is also carried by the Aghoris as a continuing torch of their doctrines. Misconceptions about the Aghori tradition (like the alleged cannibalism) arise because we are often in unawares about the beliefs from which they originate. In the following points, we mention the beliefs of Aghoris and the derivative practices:
- Aghori’s are said to have great Black Magic Powers.
- Aghori Mostly Remain Silent , they dont have anyone in this world ,it’s said that when a Aghori takes a Oath , Sky is Considered to be his Father For all his life and Land , Ground is Mother.
- Aghori Baba’s are the One who Worship Lord Shiva , they Focus on Peace. It is believed that they meditate in Shamshan.
- Aghoris are known for their weird eating habits. They Eat everything from a Veg to Non-veg ,Aghori are famous for eating Human Flesh , Drinking Blood’s of Chicken.
- It is said that eating the corpse gives them supernatural powers that can bring them close to Lord Shiva.
- They Dont Bath. Infact its been said that aghori’s never visit Kumbhs for Bath , because they Consist of Black Powers which might get over if they touched the water of Kumbh.
- Naga Baba’s Live in Akhara’s , there are several akharas in india. One is in Ujjain. Pashupatinath Temple and at the Ghats of Banaras.
- Aghori Sadhna is done for Peace and once you get it , one should come out of Aghor Sadhna. But it is said that it is almost impossible to Come out Of Aghor Sadhna.
- Abstaining of sex is considered to be one of the methods to reach god in Hindu culture but Aghoris have a very different approach. In Shamshans, taboo sexual activities are practised by Aghoris. That may even include having sex with dead bodies.
- They believe having sex in the midst of dead bodies gives rise to supernatural powers and the sexual act takes place while drums and beaten ad mantras are chanted. They make sure that no women is forced to have sex with them and also that the women must be menstruating while the act goes on.
- Black Magic of Aghoris Calling the dead. The Aghoris are devotees of Lord Shiva and Maa Kali. They perform various rituals and are said to even perform black magic! They say that this gives them the power to heal. They say that because of this, they abscond the diseases in their bodies but they do not use Black Magic on anyone to harm them.
- The Aghori involves in a lot of sadhana and tamasic rituals that make their practices quite difficult to follow and understand. They are not even tantric. They are beyond all these and much more powerful at times.
- Ashes of the Dead on their Bodies. They clothe themselves with the shroud of a corpse or clothes left by the family of the dead, smear themselves with the ashes of corpses as a protection from diseases. They believe that ashes of the dead will protect them from any atrocities.
- The 5M Protocols
- There are the five protocols of Aghoris through which they perform magic and reach to the Nirvana. They are:
- Madya – Wine (which means a heavenly fluid which drips from the glands of human brain.)
- Mamsa – Meat (swallowing the tongue)
- Matsya– fish (twin-fish an ‘8’ shaped structure which forms a part of the backbone)
- Mudra– parched grain (positions of Kundalini yoga, followed by Aghori ascetics)
- Maithuna– Sexual intercourse. (should be learnt from a Sriguru)
- Avadhuta Gita is the Holy Book of Aghoris. The holy book contains all their teachings and beliefs, Baba Keenaram was the founder and the Adi guru of Aghori tradition. The book also justifies that Lord Shiva spent most of his time in cremation ground doing sadhana and the Aghori just follows this. Lord Dattatreya also became a disciple of Baba Keenaram and started to learn Aghori traditions.
- Marijuana is now famous in India as ‘Baba ka Prasad’ because it is used extensively used by Aghoris to reach to the Gods.
- Trailanga Swami is hailed as very powerful by the people of the locality. Records say that he was slapped and driven out of the Kasi Viswanath temple by a priest when he was worshipping and performing a puja on the sculpture of Lord Shiva using his own excreta. History says that Lord Shiva himself appeared in the dream of the local king of Benaras and complained about the insult meted out to Trailanga Swami, and also revealed that the swami was an incarnation of his holiness himself. The priest was also found dead mysteriously, later.
It has been a mystery about the powers claimed by the Aghoris. It has been debated if the powers claimed by the Aghoris are real or not for centuries. Whatever it may be millions of devotees believe in them and regularly worship them for their powers and are a major tourist attraction.
