The Living Dead
Aghori Monks

CVLT Nation is a place where people fascinated with the imagery of death and destruction can come to listen to music, see art and film and find clothing that exalts these things. But how many of us would choose a path in life solely dedicated to death, where we live, breathe and taste, literally, the stench of rotting and burning human flesh? The Aghori monks of India and Nepal spend their lives proving to Shiva, the god of death and transformation, that they are his true disciples by living at Hindu cremation grounds, bathing in the ashes of human remains, inflicting torture upon themselves to prove their immunity from pain – like wrapping one’s penis and scrotum around a sword (below); I would love to see Varg try that – and eating rotting human flesh. The initiates of the Aghori eat and drink solely from a human skull plucked from the remains left at their home. They eat rotting food and garbage, drink animal piss, all to show the complete acceptance of all that is considered terrible in this world, to blur the lines between good and evil, pure and impure. These dichotomies do not exist to the Aghori; they know that without one another, neither would exist, and they embrace their place in society as feared and disgusting to the average person. This lifestyle makes what we do here look like a bunch of pansy shit, to be perfectly honest. Yeah, I wear my heart on my sleeve, sometimes literally, when it comes to metal, and people in my community think me and Sean look kind of freaky, but I don’t think I could take it as far as these guys do. Admiring post-mortem photography is one thing, getting hungry looking at it is another. But there is something beautiful about these men and women who paint their faces with blood and ash and wear their dreadlocks long and proud. After the jump, watch a short documentary about the Aghori and check out some amazing photos of this 1000-year-old Hindu sect.

Thanks @ Rob!