Baba Keenaram Sthal (Aghor Peeth, Krim Kund)

Tucked into the quiet lanes of Ravindrapuri near Bhelupur, Baba Keenaram Sthal is the mother seat, or peeth, of the Aghor tradition — one of the most misunderstood yet profoundly service-minded streams of Shaivism.

• The complex gathers around the Krim Kund, a stepped stone tank whose name comes from the seed-syllable (beej-mantra) chanted here, and beside it burns a dhuni, a sacred fire that devotees say has been kept alight for roughly four centuries.
• At the heart of the compound lies the samadhi of Aghoracharya Baba Keenaram, the 17th-century saint (traditionally born in 1601 CE at Ramgarh village in present-day Chandauli) who consolidated the Aghor path and left behind reflective texts such as the Viveksar.
• He is said to have taken samadhi in 1771; the site today is tended by his living lineage of Aghoracharyas.
• Understood properly, Aghor here is not spectacle but a philosophy of radical non-discrimination — the conviction that the divine dwells equally in the pure and the rejected, and that true worship is compassion (karuna) and service (seva) to the poor, the sick and the outcast.
• The lineage's modern trusts run schools, a hospital and Ayurvedic and anti-dowry campaigns in this very neighbourhood, and the later master Aghoreshwar Avadhoot Bhagwan Ram is revered for reframing the tradition around healing and social uplift.
• Visitors come to sit quietly by the kund, receive a thread or blessing, and absorb an atmosphere that is meditative rather than macabre.
• Approach the Sthal as you would any active shrine: with humility and restraint.
• This is a place tied to death-transcendence and cremation-ground sadhana, so keep your voice low, ask before photographing sadhus or rituals, and never treat mendicants or the dhuni as a photo prop.
• Dress modestly, remove footwear where indicated, and follow the cues of resident sevaks.
• For vegetarian travellers the Sthal is entirely comfortable — the ashram kitchen and community feasts (bhandaras) held on festival days such as Baba Keenaram Jayanti, Mahashivratri and Guru Purnima are pure-vegetarian, and no meat or alcohol figures in its observances.
• For a proper meal step across to Sonarpura and Godowlia, where trusted pure-veg kitchens like Ksheer Sagar and Keshari Restaurant serve thalis and sweets.
• One honest caution common to Varanasi: several lassi and thandai stalls near the ghats sell bhang (cannabis) thandai, so always ask specifically for a plain lassi or plain thandai.