#03 / The Aghori, India's cannibal holy men

I first gave this lecture at Treadwells Occult bookshop in London. It documents my experiences photographing the Aghori while working as a photographer travelling around India. The Aghori are a Shaivite sect who practice cannibalism and commit profane acts living in and around the spiritual capital of India - the ancient northern Indian city of Varanasi where I spent two weeks tracking them down to shoot the work referenced in this podcast.

The Aghori believe that nothing is blasphemous or independent from God. The Aghoris are distinct from other Hindu sects and Sadu’s (priests) by their alcoholic and cannibalistic ceremonies. Skulls and other human bones are obtained from the cremation grounds and used due to having life-force which they believe can be harnessed for ritual purposes. They are also alleged to pull bodies from the river Ganges, which are then eaten. 

They do things which a common man finds to be terrifying, so they overcome fears by facing them and acting out horrors, since they do it regularly it is a common thing for them. They have been known to consume human flesh and human waste and use alcohol and drugs as part of their religious practice. It is said that they are crazy or ‘God-possessed’. They call this transcending of boundaries; ‘Non-discrimination’.

It’s worth orientating westerner occultists. These Sadhu’s are Left hand path in their ritual practices but the outcome of these rituals is not necessarily designed to attain a dark outcome.

"Ordinary morality is only for ordinary people." — Aleister Crowley

The YouTube video  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_y2aC2Fqis

To see the photographic essay - https://www.darraghmasonfield.com/index/G0000qURq7lptH_8

Music by Obliqka - https://soundcloud.com/obliqka

The Mirror -  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/pictured-aghori-cannibals-who-drink-3223085