The Aghori (Sanskrit aghora)are a small group of ascetic Shaiva sadhus. They engage in post-mortem rituals. They often dwell in charnel grounds, smear cremation ashes on their bodies and use bones from human corpses for crafting kapalas (skull cups which Shiva and other Hindu deities are often iconically depicted holding or using) and jewelry. Their practices are contradictory to orthodox Hinduism.
Many Aghori gurus command great reverence from rural populations, as they are supposed to possess healing powers gained through their intensely eremitic rites and practices of renunciation and tápasya.Practice: A true aghori has to give up his name, even the identification as a male or female or transgender and gradually give up every socially and culturally conditioned label attached to their life. This is the initiation into the cult of Aghori tradition.
