THE DEAD, THE DOCTOR AND GHOST

( Part - XIII )

THE DEAD, THE DOCTOR AND GHOST

(A Scientific, Horror, Thriller, Death, Rebirth, Ghosts, Aghoras and Entertaining Story)

Aghoras Life Styles and Mysterious Things:

AGHORI's - Few view Aghori's as dirty sect which destroys the image of Hinduism in the World Aghori's are believed to be devotees of Lord Shiva. According to Aghori's, every human is a 'shava' (dead body) with emotions and try to become 'Shiva' by rejecting human pleasures and involving in the Aghori rituals. It is opined, Aghori's possess miraculous healing power and some even heal the person by cursing him. If an "Aghori Baba" curses you, it means your problems end soon - claim few people who are believers and followers of such sadhus.

Introduction to Aghori Saints:-

The life of an Aghori Sadhu is not easy. To become like them one has to meditate about twelve years and complete some rituals under the guidance of an Aghori guru in order to enhance one spiritual strength. Aghori's use woofs from pyre, clothes from dead bodies and ash of burnt bodies for various rituals. There are few rules to follow to become an Aghori. First Teacher needed. The student Aghori must do what Teacher Aghori tells him to do. Aghori must find human skull known as "Kappala". And use only this as a ritual tool before initiation. An Aghori must apply pyre on his body to symbolically show the nature of the Lord Shiva.

Aghori Culture: - It is very frightening for ordinary people. Aghori's practice and usually stay in forest and jungles or by the river-side. Aghori's eat, at certain times, human flesh digging the dead body from the crematory places or from the grave yards. They also collect the woods and logs usually left-over from the crematory areas and they cook their food from the same woods.

There are large number of Aghori Community in India and many of them throng to Pashupati Nath during Maha Sivaratri. They stay in community and say their culture with each other. They justify their act of eating human flesh as holy.

As per their logic, when a person dies he just becomes a useless body of flesh. His soul simply escapes from the body. And same things happen with other animals. So, there is no difference between eating a dead chicken or other animal or a dead human-being. Aghori's eat other animals like goat or chicken but they never eat Cows. They also drink alcohol and smoke.

The Aghori are acetic Shaiva Sadhus. Shaivism or Saivism is one of the four most widely followed sects of Hinduism, which reveres the God Shiva as the Supreme Being.

Aghori believe that Shiva is all and in all, the Creator, preserver, destroyer, reveller and concealer of all that is. Shaivism is wide-spread throughout India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Areas notable for the practice of Shaivism include parts of South-East Asia, especially Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The Aghori are known to engage in post-mortem rituals. They often dwell in charnel grounds, have been witnessed smearing cremation ashes on their bodies and have been known to use bones from human corpses for crafting skull bowls (which Shiva and other Hindu deities are often ironically depicted holding or using) and jewellery. Due to their practices that are contradictory to orthodox Hinduism, they are generally opposed.

Many of the Aghories roam around naked representing true human form and their detachment from this World of mortals who according to them live in a World of illusion or 'Maya'. These Aghories eat things like rotten food left-over food from garbage dumps and more. The more they blur the line between clean and unclean, holy and un-holly, good and bad, the more powers they obtain.

The Aghori gurus believe that a true Aghori should break all ties with family and friends and all earthly possessions. He should live entire life at the cremation ground and eat and drink inly through the Kapala.

We find few Aghoris at Kasi (Varanasi - India), near the Ganga River beds and Ghats, where around 100 Ghats, one can find at Varanasi.

TANTRA SADHANA:-

1) Tantra Sadhana that is performed by Aghoris is very mysterious for the outside World. Many people after seeing. Aghoris get disturbed and for many they are an intriguing subject. There are many secret about Aghoris living in graveyard that are unknown to people. Very few people understand the power of their prayers through which they can even talk to dead people or ghosts. Although all this sounds weird but in reality it is true. There is no one who can challenge their prayers.

2) Now-a-days also, there are many Aghoris who with the help of their Tantra Sadhana can communicate with the Souls of dead people. These Sadhanas are performed in yards only and that too specific ones. The Aghoris perform this Tantra Sadhana in four unique graveyards where the results of their Prayers are 100%. In these four graveyards, the ghosts actually speak to Aghoris.

3) Aghiris practice Tantra Sadhana in graveyards in three ways - Shamshan Sadhana, Shiv Sadhana and Shav Sadhana. After the Shav Sadhana is complete, the dead body starts to speak up. Common people are not permitted to be part of this Sadhana. These Prayers are performed in Tarapeeth graveyard in West Bengal (WB); Kamakhya Peeth in Assam; Rriyambakeshwar in Nasik and Chkrateerth graveyard in Ujjain (MP).

Tarapeeth, graveyard in West Bengal: This Temple is is situated in a small town of West.Bengal called Virbhumi. This temple is if Tara Devi. An idol of Tara Devi one of the avatars of Ma Kali is kept here. Around 6 km from this temple there is a graveyard, where Aghoirs practice Tantra Sadhana.

Kamakhya Peeth: This Temple built in a hill, is situated in Guwahati city in Assam. It is very popular for its Tantrik activities

Triyambakeshwar: Triyambakeshwar Jyotirling is situated in Nadik in Maharashtra. Lird Shiva is known as the King of Tantra Sastra He is the originator of Tantra and Aghoris both.

Mahakamaleshwa : Among 12 Jyotirlings Mahakamaleshwar is situated in Ujjain of Madhya Pradesh. The graveyard of Ujjain is famous for Tantrik Aghori activities where Aghoris come from far-off places to perform Tantra Sadhana.

The insurgents of Varanasi:

At Varanasi (Kasi),/Banaras, each day all the pilgrims gather at 6.30 PM at Ganga River, which is located near to the main Temple Kasi Vishwanadh, Goddess Visalakshi Temple and Goddess Annapurna Temple, all at one place, where GANGA ARTI is given to Goddess Ganga Devi. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims including foreigners visit each day. There are around thirty two Ghats are seen, in a row, where the King Satya Harishanchandra Ghat is the last one. The Agori is seen at this place in performance of action with regard to post-mortem rituals on dead bodies. Aghoris are devotees of Lord Shiva in his manifestation as Lord Bhairava. They are monists who believe in moksha (liberation). They are known to practice in extreme and outlandish violations, unorthodox rituals.

PROMINENT VARANASI GHATS

1) Adi Keshava Ghat

2) Ahilya Ghat

3) Ahilyabai Ghat

4) Assi Ghhat

5) Badri Narayana Ghat

6) Bajirao Ghat

7) Bauli/Umaraogiri/Amriha Ghat

8) Bhadaini Ghat

Bhonsale Ghat

9) Brahma Ghat

10) Bundi Parakota Ghat

11) Chaowki Ghat

12) Chousathi Ghat

13) Cheta Singh Ghat

14) Dandi Ghat

15) Dharabhang

16) Digpatia Ghat

17) Durga Ghat

18) Gaay Ghat

19) Ganga Mahal Ghat I

20) Ganga Mahal Ghat II

21) Ganesha Ghat

22) Gola Ghat

23) Gularia Ghat

24) Hanuman Ghat

25) Hanumanagardi Ghat

26) Harishchandra Ghat

27) Jain Ghat

28) Jalasayi Ghat

29) Janaki Ghat

30) Jatara Ghat

31) Karnataka State Ghat

32) Kedar Ghat

33) Khirkia Ghat

34) Gauri Gha

35) Khori Ghat

36) Lala Ghat

37) Lali Ghat

38) Lalita ghat

39) Mahanirvani Ghat

40) Manasarovara Ghat

41) Mangala Ghat

42) Manikarnika Ghat

43) Mata Anandamai Ghat

44) Mer Ghat

45) Mehta Ghat

46) Munshi Ghat

47) Nadesvara Ghat

48) Narada Ghat

49) Naya Ghat

50) Nepali Ghat

51) Niranjani Ghat

52) Nishad Ghat

53) Old Hanuman Ghat

54) Pancaganga Ghat

55) Panchakota Ghat

56) Pandey Ghat

57) Phuta Ghat

58) Prabhu Ghat

59) Prahlada Ghat

60) Prayaga Ghat

61) Raj Ghat built Peshwa Amrutrao

62) Raj Ghat/Lord Duffrin Bridge/Malaviva Bridge

63) Raja Gwalior Ghat

64) Rajendra Prasad Ghat

65) Rana Mahala Ghat

66) Rewan Ghat

67) Sarvesvara Ghat

68) Scindia Ghat

69) Shitala Ghat

70) Shivala Ghat

71) Sitala Ghat

72) Someswara Ghat

73) Telianala Ghat

74) Trilochana Ghat

75) Tripura Bhairavi Ghat

76) Tulsi Ghat

77) Accharaja Ghat

78) Vijayanagaram Ghat

It's a usual day at the Ghats of Varanasi. The mighty river is flowing smoothly. The teenage exuberance that it once showed in the beginning of its course to the sea has slowly died down. How come is she so calm when she still has such a long way to go! The sun has already begun its journey to the other end of the hemisphere. The bank of the river is buzzing with devotees who have gathered to offer prayers to the mother who has nurtured them for years. The priests have begun their preparation for the world famous Ganga Aarti. Dressed up in all white their countenance beam with peace and knowledge. The soft breeze coming from the river seems to be adding to the serenity of the place. However, there is something eerie happening at the opposite bank of the river. Sitting around a bonfire are two GENTLEMEN staring intently at the fire. Each of them has a human skull in their hand. Their entire body is smeared with human ash and necks adorned with beads of Rudraksh. Wrapped around their waist is a small cloth (langot) which is barely covering the body. Their face is beaten down by sun, hairs unkempt, body is frail. Aghoris, the followers of Rudra can easily chill your bones if you bump into them accidentally. So let's spare some time to acquaint our self with the Aghori way of life.

One of the most peculiar clan of Sadhus in India, Aghoris are the most feared and revered hermits of India. They are said to have been living for the last 150 years, the first one being Kina Ram. They worship Lord Bhairava, one of the manifestations of Shiva. The primary Aghori pilgrimage center is hermitage of Sadhu Kina Ram in Ravindrapuri, Varanasi. They overcome various taboos of social life as part of their rituals. Aghoris are particularly infamous for their nasty appetite which includes human flesh from dead corpses, faeces and urine. It is mostly done as a part of a ritual to shatter the ego of an Aghori. They reckon that the quickest way to be one with the Lord is through these unconventional means. They are regular smokers of weed as it helps them concentrate on religious mantras and yogic postures. Some even claim that Aghoris are practitioners of black magic which provide them supernatural healing powers. Their motto is ' finding purity in the filthiest ' as they believe that if they are able to maintain their concentration and composure even while performing the most hideous acts known to humans such as Copraphagy, Necrophilia and Necrophagy they can attain nirvana quickly. They also have to have sexual intercourse with a dead corpse when the Goddess Kali demands satisfaction in sex. The reasons being the same, “Finding purity in the filthiest”. The Aghori way of life may be distasteful for many but does that make it unworthy? There are several controversies in nature that have troubled humans in the past. Some might argue that science is the only tool through which we can find the answers. But who knows what the future lays in ahead of us. We are not here to judge anyone. Varanasi the city of moksh, the city antique as history itself has countless other surprises to throw at you. From relishing the delicious Banarasi Pan to finding peace in temples Varanasi is one of the most happening cities of the world. But the next time you visit the city make sure you pay a visit to one of these guys. They are sure to stupefy you!

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(Next Contd.....to....Part XIV)