Childs Nerv Syst

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

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

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.

Keywords Calvaria . Skull . Aghori . Hinduism . India

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

Monistic philosophy, social convention, and taboo

Classical monism in Hindu religious thought holds that
every soul (jiva) is identical with Brahman, the ultimate
reality that is the transpersonal equivalent to the personal
God of the Abrahamic faith traditions. This school of thought
endorses pantheism, which holds that the universe and everything included in it constitute God. Category distinctions are illusory, and the unity behind all polarities must be
realized through psychophysical exercise. The ultimate goal
of the ascetic is to abolish his perception of duration and
death by abolishing his perception of duality. The members
of an ascetic order known as the Aghoris demonstrate an
eccentric lifestyle as a result of their quest to attain this
spiritual goal [6].
The Aghoris belong to the Saivite tradition of Hinduism,
which emphasizes veneration of the god Shiva. The term
Aghori means not terrible and is an alternative name for
Shiva [2]. However, this name for Shiva denotes a very
frightening portrayal of Shiva, and as devotees of this form
of Shiva, the Aghoris disregard the social conventions and
traditional boundaries of South Asian Hindu society [4]. By
engaging in taboo practices, the Aghori ascetic defies social
convention, which is interpreted as a category distinction and
thus an illusion stemming from spiritual immaturity. Endorsing category distinctions is thought to deter the individual
from identifying with Brahman, and thereby prevent the
individual from attaining salvation from human suffering.
Foulston and Abbott [1] eloquently write: The ideology of
the Aghoris completely transposes the opposites of purity
with pollution and morality with immorality in an effort to
fully subdue the ego and to transcend even the order of
dharma (the principle of cosmic order). This form of worshiptakes many forms ranging from the most complex
purification and visualization techniques to the most extreme
sexual and potentially polluting practices. Included among

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their practices is the use of the human calvaria and skull as

alms bowls and drinking vessels.

Anatomy and terminology

The calvaria, or skullcap, consists of a large part of the
frontal bone, most of the two parietal bones, and usually
small parts of the temporal and occipital bones [8]. Various
cultures have used the human calvaria and skull as ornaments and drinking vessels. Hindu deities, such as Shiva,
have been portrayed carrying containers made of human
skulls [8]. Such use of the human calvaria and skull persists
among the Aghoris. The members of this sect employ the
human calvaria and skull as alms bowls and drinking vessels
as part of their practice of self-abasement (Fig. 1) [3].
In Sanskrit, the calvariae used as drinking vessels are
referred to as kapala and cuppella, which mean cap and
cup, respectively [8]. The term kapalin means skull
bearer, and refers to any ascetic who uses a human skull
either as a decorative ornament or as an alms bowl. The
Kapalikas, an ancient sect of Saivite ascetics, carried human
skulls, and this sect's name appropriately originates from this
term [4]. Furthermore, the term kapal kriya refers to the
religious rite of breaking open the skull of a deceased individual whose corpse is on the funeral pyre [6].

Ancient Saivite sects and the Aghoris

The Aghoris are believed to be descended from earlier
Saivite ascetic orders [4]. Organ [5] denotes the Pashupati
as the earliest Saivite sect and discusses this sect at length:
The Pashupati is noted in the Indian epic Mahabharata. The
term pashupati means worshippers of the Lord (pati) of
Fig. 1 Aghori male holding (a,
cover figure) and drinking (b)
from the human calvarium.
Image courtesy of Thomas L.
Kelly

cattle (pashu). These ascetics considered themselves to be

Shiva's cattle, and believed Shiva would assist them in freeing themselves from the bondage of the earthly realm. The
Pashupati were also called the Lakulisha, which means
worshippers of the one who carries a club (lakula). Organ
writes that one Saivite legend involves Shiva entering the
corpse of an unknown person, picking up a club, and going
forth club in hand to teach the sect's doctrines. This legend
exemplifies the morbid imagery associated with Shiva. The
practices of the Pashupati enforced this association. The
Pashupati taught that in order to end affliction stemming
from attachment to the material world, the individual had
to engage in specific rituals. These rituals include smearing
one's body with ashes from cremation grounds, eating excrement and human flesh, using human skulls as drinking
bowls, and engaging in orgiastic sex [5].
Two other predecessors to the contemporary Aghoris were
the Kalamukhas and Kapalikas. The Kapalikas were described
by other ascetic groups and dramatists during the seventh and
eighth centuries, although none of the Kapalikas' own written
records have survived. The Kapalikas are cited as worshipping
and emulating the characteristics of the wrathful form of Shiva
by wearing long and matted hair, smearing their bodies with
ash from cremation grounds, carrying clubs, using human
skulls as bowls, and engaging in behavior considered taboo
within South Asian Hindu society, such as drinking alcohol,
eating meat, using hallucinogenic substances, and enjoying
orgiastic sexuality [4]. By the eleventh century, the most prominent Saivite ascetics were the Kalamukhas, whose name
means black-faced and refers to their habit of wearing a
black mark on the forehead. They were regarded as perverts,
drug addicts, drunkards, and murderers for their practices [5].
The Aghoris emulate their predecessors by living on cremation
grounds, smearing their bodies with ash, eating decomposed
flesh torn from corpses awaiting cremation, wearing long and

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matted hair, and consuming their own excrement, urine, and

vomit [1, 2, 6].
Despite these historical connections to extinct Saivite sects,
the Aghoris trace the founding of their order to an ascetic named
Kina Ram. The Aghoris claim that Kina Ram was an incarnation of Shiva and died in the second half of the eighteenth
century at an age nearing 150 years. His tomb is located in
Banaras, which is also the site of an ashram he founded. Only
one or two ascetics reside at this ashram, and each one is thought
to be an avatar of Kina Ram, and thus an avatar of Shiva [6].

The religious significance of the human calvaria

and skull
Aghori ascetics eat and drink from bowls made from human
skulls to remind themselves of human mortality [2], yet the
skull has greater significance to an Aghori ascetic. The
Aghoris believe that the skull contains the spirit of the
deceased individual, from whose corpse it was taken, and
the possessor of the skull controls that individual's spirit until
the skull is cremated [7]. Thus, the human skull functions as
an instrument through which an Aghori ascetic purportedly
performs magic. This function is related to the aforementioned ritual of kapal kriya, as noted by Parry [6]. In this
ritual, the chief mourner releases the pran, or vital breath,
of the deceased by cracking the departed individual's skull
midway through the cremation with a bamboo stave. Death
occurs when the pran exits the skull.
Parry [6] notes that the skull must be obtained ideally
from a cremation ground and belong to an individual who
has died prematurely; that is, an individual who has suffered
an untimely death. For example, the corpse of a young
man who has died from a snake bite is a suitable candidate.
The skulls of individuals who have died prematurely are
believed to store power that the Aghoris can invoke with
the proper incantations for various purposes, such as countering the effects of poisons. The Aghoris reason that the
skulls from the corpses of those who have died prematurely
are repositories of power because the pran is not released
from the cranium by the rite of kapal kriya. In contrast, the
pran is released from the skull of an individual who has not
died prematurely; that is, an individual fortunate to have had
a good death. The heat from the funeral pyre is believed to
cause the pran to climb to the top of the skull, from which it
exits when the skull is broken during kapal kriya. Furthermore, skulls from individuals who were of certain professions are especially valued. For example, the Aghoris believe
the cunning of a trader enables the possessor of a trader's
skull to access greater powers.

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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