Путешествия Фоторепортаж

Людоеды Варанаси: жизнь среди мёртвых

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Обычаи людоедов из Индии способны привести современного человека в ужас: они спят на телах умерших, медитируют в местах сожжения людей и применяют в своих ритуалах чаши из человеческих черепов.

Агхоры не употребляют наркотики или алкоголь. Однако широкого уважения в индийском обществе они не обрели. Буддисты и индуисты считают практики каннибалов дикими и противоречащими всем законам духовности.

Сами агхоры с приверженцами традиционных религий не согласны. Они твердо убеждены, что их обычаи позволяют быстрее достичь просветления. И солидарных с людоедами в Индии становится все больше: людей в секту привлекают необычные ритуалы агхоров.

У индийских сектантов-каннибалов очень выделяющаяся внешность: рваная одежда, спутанные волосы, затвердевшая от грязи кожа (агхоры не моются годами). Встретить людоедов можно на всей территории страны, однако больше всего их обитает в районе священного города Тарапит в Западной Бенгалии.

The Aghori monks of Varanasi are feared throughout India and are believed to be able to see the future

Italian photographer Cristiano Ostinelli spent time with the mysterious tribe to capture their mysterious way of life

The monks feast on human flesh, drink from human skulls and are even said to bite the heads off life animals for their rituals


The Varanasi tribe live near cremation sites and use a combination of alcohol and marijuana with meditation to reach enlightenment
The monks trace their roots to the 17th-century puritan Baba Kinaram, who is said to have lived to the age of 170
With painted faces and often seen wearing little or no clothing, their way of life is said to discourage an attachment to earthly delusions
The monks believe that the body is inconsequential and flesh and blood are simply transitory, which is why they surround themselves with death and decay

The mysterious tribe drink alcohol from human skulls, known as kapalas, and are said to also drink urine and eat faecal matter

The Italian photographer spent time with the tribe, which lives on the fringes of society, to capture incredible images of their way of life
The Italian photographer spent time with the tribe, which lives on the fringes of society, to capture incredible images of their way of life
Their religion is a sect of Hinduism, but the monks are often viewed with disgust and fear by their fellow countrymen
The tribe's belief extend to them often walking around without clothes to signify the human body in its purest form
There are just 20 of the group said to be living in Varanasi today, but in the 19th century they numberes in their hundreds
The monks use their unusual rituals to bring them closer to the revered Hindu god Shiva