Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c5.2

c5.2

THE followers of Gorakhnāth are known as Yogī, as Gorakhnāthī, and as Darśanī, but most distinctively as Kānphaṭa. The first of these names refers to their traditional practice of the Hatha Yoga, the second to the name of their reputed founder, the third to the huge ear-rings which are one of their distinctive marks, and the fourth to their unique practice of having the cartilege of their ears split for the insertion of the ear-rings. In the Panjab, in the Himālayas, in Bombay, and elsewhere they are often called Nātha, which is a general term meaning ‘master.’ Women of the sect are similarly called Nāthnī. In Western India they are generally known as Dharamnāthī (or Dhoramnāthī), after a famous disciple of Gorakhnāth, by that name. In other parts of India the names Kānphaṭa and Gorakhnāthī are commonly used.