SHIVA, AGHORNATH.

This extraordinary statue shows Shiva in a completely different poise from the one's His bhaktas are used to. Shiva is absolutely distraught and broken, He is shedding tears unabashedly.How could this ever happen?
And the only logical answer is that it was probably a time between Sati and Parvati.
That Lord Shiva became a recluse when Sati died, is well recorded in His legend. It is said that He held onto Sati’s body for the longest time, in the greatest Moha, till Vishnu cut it up with his Sudershan Chakra into 51 pieces that fell on different parts of the earth, resulting in the great Shaktipeeths ( Places of Shakti worship).
When Sati died, Shiva is said to have abandoned Kailash and virtually disappear into hiding and oblivion. This appearance of not caring for his own self made Him unrecognizable.He is even legended to have wept in Shiva temples at the images of Shiva and Sati's love; Unrecognized,He kept on visiting their own places of worship in remembrance.

Shiva lost all interest in the world- His own world without Sati was finished. It is at times like this, when everything you loved is suddenly gone, that you come to your deepest questionings about life. Shiva, who was the mightiest God, the creator of the entire Universe, was stunned at the loss of Sati, His beloved, and this must have been the greatest introspection for Him. It is very possible that Aghora practices were done by Him during this time, and thus the appearance.

A complete withdrawal from the Universe of the outside, and the deep dive into the Inner Being, propelled by a great sadness. Surprisingly it is the word Ghor which means ‘terrible’ and the word Aghor, means a negation of terrible. So Aghora means that, which can finish the terrible (situation or state of being) . Shiva possibly learnt the maximum about His own spiritual power and Self during the Aghora meditations and practices. He probably came to all the answers as to why He could not avoid Sati's death even though He was Himself the greatest God. He probably excelled in His own dhyana, learnt much more than was ever deemed possible for even the God's to contemplate..and then, He continued his journey, and passing through the enchanted forest of Cedar Trees, called Daruvana, He settled in an unknown part of the Himalayas and meditated for ages before Sati manifested herself again as Parvati.

Once He was back to His Ganas and followers in his own habitat, again, it is very likely that Shiva, who was a great Guru, taught his greatest and latest techniques, learned at this time, to a select few which made the Aghora sect. The most spiritually powerful, but also most terrifying Ganas of Kailash. Therefore, Aghoras were the foremost shamans to whom absolutely nothing mattered other than proximity to their chief, Shiva, at all times.

Over time, perhaps due to their appearance, the word Aghor got identified only with terrible things, people who could not fathom the deep inner practice that led to an unkempt outward presence, actually started thinking of the Aghors as Ogres. And this perhaps suited the original, and indeed spiritually superb Ganas of Shiva, who actually wanted to be left alone in their privacy of meditating and diving deep into their own Self.

It is only because with the passage of time, we tend to copy outward ritual and forget the inner meaning, perhaps the newer Aghoris , as also their critics may have begun to think that unconventional habits are the right practice of Aghoris. And this has lead to all the fear and suspicion about Aghorism. But this surely cannot be the original abandoning spirit that Shiva Himself underwent, it is only the outer shell. The real fruit of meditation , is always on the inside, which is the original intent of Shiva, The Adi Guru.
Aum Namah Shivaye.
From Shail Gulhati, Author of the books:

SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.