Ghosts of the Ancient Past - India
As the world's oldest extant religion, Hinduism has grown and changed through the centuries in many ways, but many of the traditions have remained the same. This religion's cultural mythology and the practices that honour it were developed in the Indus River Valley to the west of the Indian subcontinent in modern-day Iran. It is believed that Hinduism was around prior to 3000 BCE because the era of the Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan Civilization was c. 7000 - c. 600 BCE would have been influenced by and merged with the cultural traditions of the Indo-Aryans. (Mark "Hinduism" 2020).
The dating is worth noting because it is as ancient, as old, or older than the ancient Greecian, Egyptian, and even Assyrian civilizations [not older than the Aboriginies in Australia though]. And, of course, they had ghosts and spirits too. With so many different types, even specifically the ghosts of deceased people there are far too many to list and describe in one article. Therefore this will look at the general being of ghosts from various Indian regions, where they intersect and where they differ. Many of the traditions will be familiar to all ghost legends and others are continued in later religious traditions that travel to other parts of the world. [Links for more extensive websites and lists will be at the end... because they are fascinating.]
Bhoots
As a supernatural creature, bhoots can be revered, celebrated, and/or feared. Bhoot, bhut, or bhuta (Sanskrit: भूत, bhūta) is the word used to identify spirits that are usually ghosts of deceased persons that are believed to be malignant if they have died a violent, premature death, or have been denied funerary rites (Hoiberg & Ramchandani 2000). There are a variety of ways they can be created depending on what region, which specific group of people, one is looking at. But commonly, they are restless and sometimes angry because they can't move on.
The Sanskrit term bhūta carries connotations of "past" and "being", a "being of the past", depending on what the context is where the word fits (noun, verb, or adjective). A more direct use of the meaning is "bygone" or "ghost" (Wagenaar et al. 1993).
In some stories, bhoots could change their appearance, but would always appear with backwards-facing feet (Mark, 2014; Enthoven 1989). It has been suggested that this is a way of confusing their prey, as people would run in the opposite direction of where they think the bhoots are going. But, if these stories have been around for centuries, why would anyone fall for this trick at this point? I wonder if it could MAYBE be more symbolic of them constantly moving backwards, almost literally never being able to move forward, unable to move on. And the reversed feet don't just show up in India, but we'll get there later.
Other features of bhoots include, often combined: avoiding contact with the earth (floating a tiny bit above the ground and sometimes don't even have feet), residing in trees, casting no shadows, appearing in white clothing, can't stand the smell of turmeric, and speak with a nasal twang (Crooke 1897:237; Office of the Reg. General 1967). <No clue why that last one would be a thing.>
The particular type of bhoot called a churel (or Dakini in Nepal and East India) that are believed to come from women who died during pregnancy, childbirth, or during the "period of impurity" (Leshinik 1967; Lehman 2006; Fane 1975). The legend that supposedly originated in Persia has said that they had died with "grossly unsatisfied desires" (DeCardi 2000: 271). The churel are said to lure men to their death by draining their blood, making them vampires as well. Churel are most often reported in graveyards, cemeteries, tombs, abandoned battlefields, house thresholds, crossroads, and squalid places (Cheung 2006; Curran 2005; Saletore 1981: 121-122). And she is said to be able to give anyone who sees her a deadly disease (Crooke 1894; Hope 1903; Chawla 1994: 15; Ploss 2014).
Either they show themselves naked or they wear traditional shell bangles and a red and white sari, the latter of which may be more common in Bengal (Crooke 1894: 69; Ploss et al 2014). The "actual" form has been described as hideous; having a potbelly, saggy boobs, a black tongue, thick and rough lips or no mouth at all, claw-like hands, scruffy-wiring hair, and sometimes with pig or pig-like faces with sharp tusks. (Bane 2010: 47-48; Melton 1999: 372; Curran 2005: 138-139; Cheung 2006: 112). This description seems, other than the actual pig face, like an exaggeration of a sickly, old, homeless woman. Just a regular woman or women who may not be able to take care of themselves and for whatever reason do not have family around to support them. This can become especially egregious towards women because according to Crook (1909) and Buckland (2009), in Punjab, a man who dies in bed becomes a bhoot but a specifically low-caste woman becomes a churel.
The whole legend may have been partially a reaction to fear for women to follow the "right" path and maybe a story created to keep women in line, the heavy sexist aspect, but it's mostly just personal interpretation at this point (especially from my point of view). Because rather than only having specific funerary rites to prevent churel's creation, the best thing that can be done is to take care of girls and women while they are alive. The coolest part that can, seemingly, be drawn from being cursed to be churel is that they can become Dakini and serve the goddess Kali are powerful warriors (Melton 1999: 372).
*There is a movie currently on Netflix called Bulbbul (2020), a Hindi-language film (sort-of) retelling the legend of a churel.*
In addition to the areas I listed above there are a ton of allegedly haunted places, called bhoot bangles or bhoot bungalows. These places are wide-ranging in their reporting and also include airport roads, grave sites by golf courses, apartment complexes, ponds, farmhouses, metro stations, libraries, ghats, fancy upper-crust houses, and bungalow houses outside the cities. Basically anywhere deaths are common, and in a country where centuries of life have happened, that includes most places of power where people are known to congregate. The locations that bhoots haunt are believed to often be specific and tied to the places where they died, were killed, or places that hold deep significance for each individual bhoot. (AmareshMisra 1998).
Many times bhut/bhoot are conflated with bhuta/bhoota, which can have the same ghost characterization but are also sometimes referred to as deified heroes, evil beings, and Hindu deities. They can be harmful when pushed to violence, but are also often characterized as benevolent and protective, and could be pacified with worship or offerings referred to as Bhuta Aradhana (Jain & Aggarwala - "Museums of India").
Preta
Another word used for "ghost", preta or pret is more commonly used in the Bengali linguistic-cultural region (from the Sanskrit: प्रेत, Standard Tibetan: ཡི་དྭགས་yi dags). Also known as a hungry ghost, preta is the Sanskrit name for a type of supernatural being described in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion that undergo suffering more than that of humans, particularly an extreme level of hunger and thirst (Mason 2010). In Bengali, rather than representing any one gender or a specific deceased person, they may be a group that more generally fits the trope of the dead who were unsatisfied and couldn't find peace and/or if they died in unnatural or abnormal ways. I.e. murders, suicides, or accidents (Bhattacharyya 2000). The Sanskrit term प्रेत preta means "departed, deceased, a dead person", from pra-ita, which means "gone forth" or "departed" and in Classical Sanskrit, the term refers to the spirit of any dead person, especially before the funerary rites are performed, but also more narrowly to a ghost or evil being (Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary 1899).
At first, they were thought to be the soul of a dead person, but later the legends turned preta into a step within karmic reincarnation, which aligns with a person's fate (Krishen 1985: 97-115). During this time, preta were believed to have been 'false, corrupted, deceitful, compulsive, jealous, or greedy people in life', having an insatiable hunger for something in life, it doesn't matter what (Garuda Purana 2.7.92-95; 2.22.52-58). At some point in between these stages, they were believed to arise if families don't engage in the funerary rites and offerings after someone dies, which are supposed to guide a soul to the next life (Krishen 1985: 97-115).
These beings were generally invisible to humans, except when the living are in certain mental states. At those times people described them as having mummified skin, narrow, emaciated limbs, distended bellies, and long, thin necks. The description is thought to signify or be metaphorically connected to the preta's mental situation, but there isn't much written backing for this idea.
Bhoot Festival
There is a festival called the Bhoot festival, Naraka Chaturdashi or Kali Chaudas as a part of the Hindu calendar (Panchanga - a lunisolar calendar) that celebrates a few very powerful gods (Richmond 1956: 80-81). While researching there are many different regional variations which can change who is celebrated, the stories behind why they are celebrated, and even the day on which people celebrate. Some of these specific gods are Kali (aka Mahakali), Krishna (a supreme god), Shakti (a feminine primordial cosmic energy), and Yama (the god of death) (Murdoch 1991: 67; Lochtefeld 2002: 461; Cambell 2022: 5). Again, depending on the myth variation, either Kali or Krishna and his wife kill Narakasura, a human so evil that he turned into a demon. And this is celebrated either the day before Diwali begins or on the second day of Diwali, which can fit into one of the names, Kali Chaudas. Kali means dark and eternal (after the goddess of death, destruction, time, and darkness) and Chaudas is the 14th day of the lunar month and lies on the day before Diwali starts.
But, why are bhoots celebrated at a Kali Festival, you ask? Well, at least in some areas in India, Kali is venerated as a destroyer of evil, and the night is symbolic of the cleansing of evil in our world. Even more specifically in West Bengal on the day before Kali Puja, the tradition of lighting 14 lamps, or diyas, or eating choddo shaak, 14 types of greens, is an extension of that symbolism. (Banerjee, 2022). According to one long-held belief among Bengalis, the light from the lamps guides their departed ancestors to their homes when they return to earth for a day on Bhoot Chaturdashi. The diyas could be dedicated to Yama, and can let them know which families have not forgotten their ancestors, similar to the Mexican holiday Dia De Los Muertos. Others believe that the 14 diyas will keep away unholy spirits who visit the living on this day. And then those who believe that the diyas are lit to guide the spirits home to visit their families. 'Whatever the case may be.... the dead can never truly come back, but they can return as a memory, nourished in this symbolic reminiscence by those they have left behind' (Banerjee 2022).
Funerary Rites
As mentioned above rituals play enormous roles in how and why bhoot and preta are created. There are many specific rituals that are needed to guide the spirits through the next karmic birth cycle (Berger & Krosen 2015). Hindu funerary rites generally involved cremation (Melton 1999: 372; Maberry 2009: 67), but there was a lot more elaborate planning that went into the preparation for burial if there was any possibility of a bhoot, churel, or preta being created. A couple of examples of these involve:
Rice balls - symbolising the deceased's body, laid out by the mourning family which are offered in batches of three sets of 16 over the course of the year. As it takes a full year to complete the transformation into the next life. These are also said to ease the suffering of the preta (in this case preta was used as the word for the general spirit) during the three phases. (Parry 1985; Berger & Krosen 2015).
A clay mound - symbolises the preta itself (Gyen 1986).
The following year - the family must go through a series of restrictions, such as: eating one meal per day, not sleeping on a bed, not having sex of any kind, and not doing any kind of personal grooming or hygiene practices. (Parry 1985: 612-630).
If whatever the conditions are in a particular region or community of people aren't met, the bhoot or preta won't be able to transition and are therefore trapped in the in-between (that liminal space been death and rebirth). I would think that this causes them anxiety, anger, and general constant suffering, leading them to become the things they feared in life, malicious and vengeful. Hungry ghosts.
It's interesting that some cultures are much more specific when it comes to the definition of "ghost" (or anyway it's transliterated). And, yes, this definitely implied from a Western American perspective. What I grew up with were ghost stories of either them walking down corridors and not paying attention to anything around them or malicious spectors that would possess and/or hurt people, though the latter was really only from movies. For the former, one really couldn't tell if they were 'unfulfilled' in any way, or trying to right some wrong. They just seem to be there, in a way.
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