Kalamukhas

Kalamukha, members of either of two groups of Shaivite (devotees of Shiva) ascetics, most prominent in India from the 8th through the 13th century, who became notorious for their practices of esoteric rituals that allegedly included both animal and human sacrifice, though there is no…

…extreme sects, the Kapalika and Kalamukha. Some of the Pashupatas also developed the more moderate Shaiva-siddhanta school, whose philosophical teachings became not only acceptable but also central to modern Shaivism. The Pashupatas and the extreme sects were called Atimargika (“Away from the Path”; i.e., antinomian) to distinguish them from the…