Kalamukha

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In Hindu culture, Kalamukha (or "black-face") refers to a member of an ascetic group prevalent in medieval India. The Kalamukhas were closely related to the Kapalikas, or skull-bearers, another group of ascetics, as well as practioners of esoteric Buddhist Tantra. The Kalamukhas were highly tantric in character and, like these other aforementioned groups, were often described as employing disturbing imagery of death and cannibalism in their rituals.

[edit] References

Lorenzen, David N. Kapalikas and Kalamukhas: Two Lost Saivite Sects Berkeley : University of California Press, 1972. ISBN 0-520-01842-7.