Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
DOI 10.1007/s00381-013-2204-7
COVER PICTURE
Use of the human calvaria and skull as alms bowls and drinking
vessels by Aghori ascetics in present-day India
Anand N. Bosmia & Christoph J. Griessenauer &
R. Shane Tubbs
Abstract
Introduction The purpose of this article is to discuss the use
of the human calvaria and skull as alms bowls and drinking
vessels by a sect of Hindu ascetics in present-day India
known as the Aghoris. The authors attempt to explain the
rationale behind the Aghoris' use of the human calvaria and
skull in this manner.
Methods A review of the literature using standard search
engines was conducted to obtain information about the history and philosophy of the Aghori ascetics.
Results Multiple academic references confirm the persistence of the practice of using the human calvaria and skull
as alms bowls and drinking vessels among Aghori ascetics in
present-day India. This practice is inspired by the Aghoris'
monistic philosophy, a principle of which is that observance
of social convention deters the individual soul in its journey
towards liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Conclusion Certain anatomical features of the human body
have had religious significance in the past. Multiple academic references concerning the Aghoris argue that religious
significance continues to be ascribed to certain components
of human anatomy. In the case of the Aghoris, these components are the calvaria and skull.
A. N. Bosmia : R. S. Tubbs
Pediatric Neurosurgery, Childrens Hospital,
Birmingham, AL, USA
C. J. Griessenauer (*)
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of
Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
e-mail: cgriessenauer@uabmc.edu
Conclusion
The human calvaria and skull have important roles in the
regimen of psychophysical exercises employed by the
Aghoris in present-day India. Their use of these anatomical
structures as alms bowls and drinking vessels, from which
they consume raw human flesh, emetic fluids, fecal matter,
and urine, evidences their willingness to ignore social convention. Such behavior is inspired by their monistic philosophy, which instructs them to obliterate the category distinctions of acceptable and forbidden and to transcend the
polarities of propriety and taboo.
For more detailed reading on the Aghoris, the authors
recommend the following references:
Barrett RL. Aghor medicine: pollution, death, and healing
in North India. United States of America: University of
California Press, 2008.
Lorenzen DN. The Kplikas and Klmukhas: two lost
aivite sects. United States of America: University of
California Press, 1972.
Parry J. 1982. Sacrificial death and the necrophagous
ascetic. In: Bloch M, Parry J (editors). Death and the
regeneration of life. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. pp 74110.
Parry JP. Death in Banaras. Great Britain: Cambridge
University Press, 1994.
Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the photographer
Thomas L. Kelly for his contribution to this article.
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