Human skull I found on the banks of the Ganges river.

25.3108° N, 83.0141° E

Part three of a three part series on the Cremation grounds of Varanasi. 

“Hara Hara Mahadeva”, I hear in the distance. A man in a cloak and long, unkept hair and a ‘necklace’ made of human skulls is chanting with his fellow cannibals. “This is going to get interesting”, I said to myself as I approached them – cannibals in India.

On the cremation grounds of Varanasi you’ll find strange creatures. Men with long beards, covered in human ashes who drink from human skulls, do naked yoga at the cremation grounds, and do strange rituals with human bodies that include cannibalism. The locals tell tales of the holy men that dress up like shiva, yet seem to surpass him in their consumption of weed and alcohol. Day and night they meditate into the fire that consumes an entire human body to ashes in 20 minutes. They also subsequently smear the human ashes onto their skin.

Aghori monk with human skull (Baba Rishi)

After I had taken photos of it, my new friend ‘baba Rishi’ said

“Oh neat! This skull will become part of our collection”,

and took the smelly skull into his hands and onto the boat.

So who are these cannibal monks?

From november-december 2022 and may 2023 I’ve had the rather unique chance to live amongst these fascinating people for an extended period of time, winning their trust by drinking whiskey from a human skull as well as accepting them as humans. I slept next to the fire for days at end, living like one of them. 

Aghori Baba

cannibals who dress up and act like Shiva

The Aghori are a mystic Hindu sect that are known for their extreme practices, which include cannibalism and consuming human remains. They believe that everything in the universe is a manifestation of the divine, including the human body, which is seen as a temporary vessel for the soul.

We went to the other side of the river – regarded as holy place for them, to gather sand for a funeral ritual. Thats where I stumbled upon the human skull from the cover picture. It’s currently housed in their temple in Varanasi, India.

Drugs & Alcohol

For the Aghori, intoxication is more than indulgence—it is devotion. Alcohol, hashish, and hallucinogens serve as sacred conduits to Shiva, stripping away worldly illusions. They drink whiskey from human skulls as a ritual of detachment (but also switch to plastic cups), and their chillums burn day and night with cannabis, fueling meditation and an escape into another world. In their belief, nothing is impure, and every substance, like every body, holds a path to the divine.

whiskey poured over a human skull – to be used for drinking

Alcohol is consumed at an alarming rate, but the Aghori believe any intoxicating substances help to get close into a spiritual state of Shiva. 

Hash is smoken religiously around the clock in so called Chillums. It enlightens them and helps them to fall asleep next to the eternal fires of the cremation grounds. Shiva also smoked extensively.

“If I don’t smoke Ganja, I can not sleep”

Smoking hash through a Chillum

Aghori smoking hash

High Baba Rishi

"sometimes when we have money we buy weed and we smoke-smoke, today we have no money and we only smoke bidis"

[Bidi: a cheap handmade cigarette smoked by the Indian poor and working class]

Cannibalism

Humans are eaten religiously, as they believe themselves to be wanting to act like shiva and as everyting in the world is shiva – they make no distinction between dog feces, steak, cake, human flesh or rice. Another religious practice is the cutting up of the human body in 95 small parts that 95 aghori’s will consume. They believe its good for both them and the person that has passed away.

I’ve seen Aghori’s nibble on leftover flesh from the cremation ground, but they didn’t want to be photographed at that time. 

Burning body at Manikarnika

Human remains eaten by dogs

Because this is India, a lot of the fires don’t fully burn the human. And the leftovers are usually eaten by dogs – or Ahori

One Aghori, known as Baba Trilok, has been coming to the Ghat for many  years. He is known for his devotion and the rituals he performs. He claims that Post-mortem cannibalism helps him to achieve a higher state of consciousness.

Aghori cannibal

“When I eat human flesh, I feel closer to the divine,” he said in Hindi when I approached him..

The temple

One of many cults in India. Their Aghorakali temple is located right at the burning ghat of Manikarnika. Where dozens of bodies get burned every single day.

To an outside the temple may look scary with real human skulls and ‘dark’ rituals involving bones, blood and human ashes – but the people showed kindness and community.

Necklace made from human skulls

Goddess kali statue

Life and rituals

“We have no worries about food or alcohol! Shiva will provide”

Begging bowl made from a human skull

The Aghori and entourage don’t have normal jobs. They live of donations, some members have begging bowls made from human skulls – but others don’t even beg, and just have locals come over with donations. It’s considered to bring blessings if you help Sadhus – they never ran out of food. They would share it with anyone that needed it.

Aghori are involved in a number of daily rituals. On one occasion a chicken was ritualistically slaughtered and its blood was everywhere.

A member preparing a ritual before an animal sacrifice

Animal sacrifice

A lot of time is spent in and around the cremation grounds – it’s where they perform most of their rituals and simply live. Long stares into the fires that consume bodies became a ritual for me as well. It’s almost a spiritual experiences to see a flesh burn away into dust – now imagine doing it on drugs.

“We are not afraid of death. We are not afraid of anything. We only fear separation from the divine.”

The Ganges river is holy to them, they not only dump the bodies of the fallen priests into the river, but rely on it for washing [off the human ashes] as well as drinking. Believing it is so pure and holy no bacteria can live in it. I have no doubt its possible that no bacteria lives in it, but that may be due to other reasons. 

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Human ash is smeared on the foreheads of anyone visiting the temple

Baba Rishi swimming in the Ganges

Reaction from the locals

The villagers are mostly just scared of them, and only approach them if they REALLY need help – as they believe the Aghori possess the power of black magic.

While their practices may seem shocking to outsiders, the Aghori see themselves as spiritual warriors on a quest for enlightenment. For them, the Manikarnika Ghat is a place of great significance, where they can pursue their spiritual journeys and connect with the divine.

However, many Hindus view the Aghori with skepticism and even disgust.

Locals looking at the Aghori

“Their practices are not in line with our cultural and religious traditions,”

said one local resident who wished to remain anonymous.

“We don’t condone their behavior, and we don’t want them at the Ghat.”

On an earlier trip to Varanassi in 2020 encountered an Aghori who calls himself ‘Flower baba’ practicing yoga nakedly at the cremation grounds. I could understand why the mourning locals wouldn’t appreciate that.

Despite the controversy, the Aghori remain a presence at the Manikarnika Ghat, clinging to their unorthodox practices and their belief in the power of the divine.

Disciples

Baba Rishi had a large black tattoo on his chest of his Guru who taught him a lot, but also instructed him to never brush his teeth again. He wouldn’t explain why. He spoke of rituals where they weren’t allowed to bathe for weeks and had long periods of fasting. Many rituals were secret and weren’t explained in detail. His Guru only visited him once during my stay, he was mostly gone in other parts of the country.

Baba Rishi (r) and his Guru (l)

Other Aghori have disciples themselves.

In the first week of my stay in Varanasi I spotted a white girl next to an unkept Aghori. She slept next to him at the cremation ground like a true devotee.

Aghori

The Russian girl was attracted to the power she felt from this Aghori

“Can’t you feel the power? – I also want that, Aghori means ‘No fear’, and we will have no fear!”

Russian Aghori disciple

Conclusion

The cannibals may be outcasts of society, but they didn’t lose their humanity. Having created a community amongst themselves and anyone that wishes to join – sharing tea, rice, cigarettes, weed and other drugs amongst themselves as well as a place in their temple and on the cremation ground. No matter if you had money or not. I witnessed a penny less Russian sadhu student join us for talks at the fire. And although he wasn’t required to do so, at the end he left a few rupees as a donation, which were probably given to a member to get tea for the entire country. We all had a few drops of tea, including myself. They fully trusted on the gods and the community to take care of them and didn’t worry about a single thing 

There was however one thing that Rishi didn’t eat

Indian cows

Checking in Baba-Rishi (the gentleman with the skull) after I left, I learned of his marriage to a beautiful Indian woman (also a religious figure) and the birth of his child in September 2024.  

When asked if this had been an arranged marriage or a love marriage, he answered 

“Arranged — with love”. 

It seems like not even lawless cannibals can escape south-asian customs.