Jan Skwara - Aghori: Between Life and Death
The Aghori are Hindu ascetics who walk the Left-Hand Path—a spiritual journey toward liberation from social norms, fears, and limitations. Their philosophy is rooted in non-discrimination—they believe that distinctions between the sacred and the impure are mere illusions imposed by culture and religion. To challenge these constructs, they consciously break taboos, performing rituals at cremation grounds, using human skulls, and pushing the boundaries of revulsion.
The origins of their movement trace back to the Kapalikas, wandering ascetics from the 6th century who opposed Brahmin dominance in Hinduism. Known as the “Skull-Bearers,” the Kapalikas rejected orthodox rituals, believing that true enlightenment could only be achieved through confrontation with what society deems repulsive—death, the body, and suffering. Their practices were inspired by the mythological figure Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Shiva who, according to legend, decapitated the god Brahma and was condemned to years of penance.
Like the Kapalikas, the Aghori reject hierarchy and conventional religious structures. Some of their practices are also linked to Tantrism, which seeks spiritual liberation by transcending the duality of good and evil, purity and impurity. For the Aghori, enlightenment comes through overcoming the Eight Traps of Reality: desire, anger, greed, illusion, jealousy, shame, disgust, and fear.
Their rituals, often shocking and incomprehensible to the outside world, serve to familiarize them with death. Practices such as meditation among the dead (Śmaśan Sādhanā) or Śavasādhanā—rituals performed on a corpse—help practitioners transcend the fear of dying and grasp the impermanence of existence.
The photographic project by Jan Skwara offers a rare glimpse into this enigmatic world, where spirituality merges with radical boundary-breaking in the pursuit of ultimate freedom