Aghori

[sect]

Aghori non (a-) terrible (ghori)

Aghoris are a Saivite tantric sect, infamous for their antinomean practices such as dwelling in cremation grounds and consuming 'impure' substances (excrement, urine, rotting flesh, etc.) in order to achieve liberation. Eating meat and drinking wine are also Aghori practices. Aghoris traditionally smeared themselves with ashes from corpses and ate from a skull begging-bowl, a practice reminiscient of the earlier Kapalika sect of ascetics. Aghoris have been occasionally accused of cannibalism and ritual murder.