Reasons Why Aghoris Worship Goddess Kali

Goddess Kali is one of the most fierce Goddess of Hinduism. Her dark skin colour, unorthodox look, the fiery tongue and bloodshot eyes are enough to send chills down the spine. But She is one of the most powerful Goddess in Hindu mythology. Aghoris and other Tantrik cults worship Goddess Kali as the main deity along with Lord Shiva.

Almost all the Tantrik cults in India refer to their presiding deity as the 'The Mother' by which they mean Goddess Kali. Kali represents the wild and the crude embodiment of Shakti or the primitive energy present in all of us. She is often depicted as standing over Her male consort Shiva. The imagery clearly depicts the Tantric belief that female energy is active and dominant, while male energy is more passive and submissive.

Worship of Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva demands a lot of unconventional practices. Kali is representative of the Cosmic Power and of the totality of the universe. She is the destroyer who makes way for creation and is therefore seen as harmonising all pairs of opposites. Aghoris believe that nothing in this world is impure. Everything comes out of Shiva and His female manifestation, Kali and goes back into them. Therefore, everything existing in the world is pure.

Goddess Kali manifests an amazing display of power and might, shattering all stereotypes of women as only feminine. As a divine warrior, She fights equally beside men and defeats them in battle. She is the destroyer of 'Kal' or time which actually means She is beyond the concept of material time.

Aghoris worship Shiva or Mahakala - the destroyer, or its female manifestation: Shakti or Kali, the goddess of death. Meat, alcohol and sex are three things that are banned for other sadhus. But for Aghoris the world is practically different. To eat meat actually means to eat everything. To have no limits, because all is one. By eating anything, Aghoris try to gain awareness of the oneness of everything and eliminate discrimination. Therefore they consume feces, human fluids and human flesh. There is also a practice of having sex with the corpses prevalent among a few Aghoris. They also drink alcohol and offer it during their puja to the deities.

Kali or Tara is the one of ten Mahavidyas (wisdom Goddess) who can only bless an Aghori with supernatural powers. They worship the Goddess in the form of Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi and Bhairavi. They also worship Shiva in His most fierce form like Mahakal, Bhairava and Veerabhadra. The Hinglaj Mata is the patron Goddess of the Aghoris.

Scriptures have mentioned again and again that Shakti is the only form of energy which makes the Universe function. This energy is feminine in form and keeps reincarnating in the forms of Durga, Sati or Parvati. It then combines with its male counterpart, Shiva to make way for creation.

Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. Of all the forms of Devi, Kali is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva, the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality.

The Kali Sadhana implies the spiritual effort of purification of the subtle force centers (chakras) in a human being and the awakening of the Divine Energy Kundalini, which lies dormant at the base of the spine, in Muladhara Chakra. The awakening of Kundalini Shakti represents one of the most important aspects of Kali. Thus, the Aghoris strive towards extreme Kali Sadhana to realise the Absolute Divine Being.