Portrait of Sadhu Aghori Baba with human skull (2017) Photographie par Dmitry Ersler

Portrait of Sadhu Aghori Baba covered with cremation ash with human skull. Varanasi,India.
The Aghori are ascetic Shaiva sadhus. Aghoris eat left over from human dead bodies on the banks of river Ganges. They drink in a bowl made of human skull. They apply ash from the human pyre. They are the followers of Hindu God – Lord Shiva, they are the “Aghoris”. A place considered dreadful by others is home for Aghoris, the Hindu cremation ground. Out of the various sect of Hindu priest, the most extreme and the most feared of all are the Aghoris. The term “Aghori” is derived from the Sanskrit word – “Aghor” which has various meanings. Aghor means not to forget or non-terrible in one perspectives. And on the other, it means absence of darkness. Agor implies a simple and a natural state of consciousness in which there is no fear or disgust. But on the contrary, the Aghoris have rituals that has seen as being disgustful and feared by common people.
The modern world is an accumulation of technologies, a fast rhythm, communication in the Internet. It is difficult to imagine that somewhere on earth there are still such people who are so different from us.

Thèmes connexes

IndiaVaranasiHinduShivaAghori