Herambasuta

Herambasuta (Devanagari:हेरम्बसुत, IAST:Heraṃbasuta), was a Tantric exponent who belonged to the left handed Ganapatya cult. Tenth century work Śaṅkaravijaya attributed to certain Ānandagiri mentions the cult of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati led by Herambasuta. The name of the group derives from Ucchiṣṭa, leftovers, possibly,in reference to the foods left over at the end of the ritual to the deity or, more likely in a Tantric context to the foods deliberately left in the mouth in order to render them ritually impure. According to the scripture mentioned above, Herambasuta held many unorthodox views, and the worship included Pancña Makāra.^[1]

The form of worship Herambasuta expounded was very obscene: there was no caste restriction, promiscuity was allowed and the followers wore a red mark on the forehead. According to R. G. Bhandarkar it was an imitation of Kaula form of worship.^[2]

Notes

1. Brown, Robert L. (1991). Ganesh: Studies of an Asian God. SUNY Press. pp. 358 pages. ISBN 9780791406564.
2. Bhandarkar, Ramkrishna Gopal (1995). Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems (reprint ed.). Asian Educational Services. pp. 238 pages. ISBN 9788120601222.