India has long been a place where the mystic and paranormal realm has never been far away from the daily grind of life. In many rituals and beliefs, the existence of the supernatural has been a given. One common belief among many Indians is the existence of ghosts and evil spirits.
These beliefs get more stronger as you move away from the cities into the towns a)nd villages.
Different parts of the country have their own beliefs in the existence of these supernatural entities. Most of them are said to be malevolent, ever waiting to prey on the innocent who happen to come in their path. Most of these evil spirits are given names. Some of them are said to be helpful spirits and some are even worshipped in places like Mangalore (Karnataka state).
I will attempt to briefly describe a few of these ghosts and this time I will need the help of my readers to add more to this list.
1. Mohini: The most well known female ghost among all. These are the ghosts of women and girls who had a failure in love and committed suicide or those women who died before fulfilling some of their physical needs. It is said that this makes them return as vengeful spirits. Most of them are given domain over a certain area which they haunt. They are said to entice males who fall for their charm and and led away to their world never to be seen again. Some say that these males pay with their life and others say that they are held prisoner for eternity.
In any case, this type of ghost is most dangerous and has been the subject of many Indian films.
2. Shaakini: A lesser known female ghost. It is the ghost of married women who died early in marriage either because of an accident or illness. Some of these are due to dowry harassment and are said to haunt their killers(most often than not, the in-laws). These are considered to be not so dangerous.
3. Daakini: Another female ghost often mixed up and confused with the Shaakini. This ghost is that of a woman who has died an untimely death which may be for any reason. You can assume that this is a generalized category for the ghost. The specific category would be a Mohini or a Shaakini. A Mohini can be both a Daakini and Mohini :) but that's digging a lot into this.
4. Kutti Chetan(Kutti saithan): Most of us have seen the dubbed version of the famous Malayalam film about the little mischievous ghost. People say that this ghost is that of a child. It is not so dangerous unless a tantrik(warlock or magician) has assumed control over it and converts into a malevolent evil spirit.
Some other ghosts from different parts of India.
6. Brahmodoityas(Bengal) are the ghosts of Brahmans, and might bless you or curse you.
7. Skondhokatas(Bengal) are the headless ghosts of people who died in train accidents.
8. Nishi(Bengal) are the ghosts who call people by name in the dead of night and lead them away, never to be seen again.(Now that's freaking scary!!!....and isn't this the Bengal version of the Mohini?)
9. Kolli devva(Karnakata) The ghosts who run through the forests and woods holding torches. Rational reason could be sighting of will -o-wisps.
10. Kallurty, Panjurli, Koti Chennayya(Mangalore, Karnataka) These three will need a post of their own. These ghosts are famous people who died for various reasons and are worshipped today as part of elaborate rituals. Some of these stories are down right scary. But more on these later.
So this was a brief introduction to the different ghosts of India. Feel feel to add/correct entries in this list.
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