The human body possesses a bio-magnetic field. Is this essentially what an aura is ?

 

And how far can Kirilian photography be relied on in this regard ?

The definition of aura depends on whom you ask. It means many things to many people, is not a true scientific concept, and so can refer to a biomagnetic field if you choose to refer to it that way. I don't believe that's how the vast majority of people use the term, though.

 

Kirlian photography is unlikely to be helpful here either, especially since it is more a measure of moisture and galvanic skin response than it is a measure of an electric field. More than anything, you have a lot of people who desperately wish for this idea of auras to be taken seriously using this interesting photographic technique to make claims that have no basis in reality.

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography#Scientific_research

 

Also, here:

 

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography

Kirlian photography has little merit besides being a nice way to illustrate coronal discharge and making pretty cool pictures. Of course, that doesn't stop people trying to find un-scientific merit.