Ghosts in Bengali culture

[debashish bose]

wiki mentions the following almost all of which I am familiar with thanks to the almirah ... notable absence is that of gobhut ...   

• Shankchunni: Female ghost
• Petni: Female ghost
• Chorachunni: thief ghost, very mischieveous and usually the souls of dead thieves.
• Penchapechi: ghosts that look like owl and follow people in the woods at night and eventually eats them.
• Nishi: An evil spirit that calls people out by name from their home at night, never to be returned again.
• Mamdo bhut: Ghosts of Muslims
• Brahmadaitto or Brahmodatti: Ghosts of Brahmin or Brahmo people
• Aleya: Marsh gas apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings and eventually drown
• Skondhokata or Kondhokata: A headless ghost

 

[debashish bose]

was just wondering angreji bhut ko kya bolte honge ?

 

bye

D

 

[debashish bose]

this is for captain nemo :-  I like no 9 the most .... we can all have a vote on this one .... by the way Amar bhaiya thoda odissa ke bhuto ke bare me bataiye .... what about marwari bhut ? does vegetarianism makes them less scary ? what about north indian bhut ...souh indian bhut ?

 

1) Bura Dangoria(the old one)
A holy spirit dressed in white clothes and a white turban, sometimes seen on a white horse who guards Namghars, the community places of worship where the sacred Bhagvat Gita is kept.

2) Baak
A malevolent ugly creature that sometimes kills a person and takes on the corpse' s appearance.Often said to be found near isolated ponds and lakes.

3)Ghoda Paak
Has the hooves of a horse, but is otherwise human. Some stories show it as helpful, while others call it so deadly that you die when it looks at you.

4)Bira (Poltergeist)
Like all poltergeists in the rest of the world. Usually said to be set lose on a family by an enemy.

5)Ghost in the bamboo grove
This one is supposed to bend down a bamboo on your way and if you try to go over it, it'll snap back the bamboo and kill you.

6) Jokhini
A female demon like creature that often tries to lure males and kill them.

7) Bordoisila(the storm goddess)
She's the storm in April who throws a tantrum because she has to return to her husband's house after visiting her mother for the Assamese new year which is around that time.

8) Puwali Bhoot(tiny ghosts)
These are mischiveous ghosts the size of small chilren who steal rice and sweets from the kitchen

 

9) khoba-khubi — a pair of evil spirits who haunt newly-wed couples and can be scared away by reading the hara-gauri (Shiva-Parvati) mantra on the third day of marriage;

 

10) the khetar (a local evil spirit that is said to harm little children);

 

11)the churini bira — a female evil spirit that steals items from the house and kitchen; and many others.

 

Bye

[Amarjeet Nayak]

Hi,

 

There are some really scary bhuts in Orissa as well. I remember some of their descriptions,

though not their names. I am going home (Orissa) today and after 10 days when I am back,

I would have gathered their names, and shall post accordingly. Here are 2 of them:

 

1) A ghost that pores a hole in the roof and directly attacks your chest when you are sleeping.

Its shape is like that of an elongated straw.

2) A ghost that turns itself into a bull and is especially found just outside the graveyard, if I am

not mistaken.

 

 

 

Amar

--
--
One can find a thousand reasons to feel happy. One can also find a thousand reasons to feel sorry about oneself. And I would like to choose the former.

[nirmali]

Thats quite a list! I am getting nostalgic about the time Ma used to
tell us stories of these ghosts during power cuts...
and I am not sure if Khuba Khubi are seen as evil spirits...no 10 & 11
are new to me...but good work

Thanks :-)

Nirmali

> On 6/3/09, debashish bose <dbose...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > was just wondering angreji bhut ko kya bolte honge ?
>
> > bye
> > D
>

> >  On 6/3/09, debashish bose <dbose...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> wiki mentions the following almost all of which I am familiar with thanks

> >> to the *almirah* ... notable absence is that of gobhut ...
>
> >>    - Shankchunni: Female ghost
> >>    - Petni: Female ghost
> >>    - Chorachunni: thief ghost, very mischieveous and usually the souls of
> >>    dead thieves.
> >>    - Penchapechi: ghosts that look like owl and follow people in the

> >>    woods at night and eventually eats them.

> >>    - Nishi: An evil spirit that calls people out by name from their home

> >>    at night, never to be returned again.

> >>    - Mamdo bhut: Ghosts of Muslims <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslims>
> >>    - Brahmadaitto or Brahmodatti: Ghosts of Brahmin<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin>or
> >>    Brahmo <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmo> people
> >>    - Aleya: Marsh gas apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose

> >>    their bearings and eventually drown

> >>    - Skondhokata or Kondhokata: A headless ghost

[Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH]

ब्रह्मदैत्य is not written as brahmadaitto!!

2009/6/4 nirmali <nirm...@gmail.com>

--
शुद्धशील भारतीय घोष
अनुसंधानकर्ता, भू-सूचना प्रभाग, सिविल प्रौद्योगिकी विभाग
भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर
कानपुर, भारत २०८०१६

Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH
Researcher, Geoinformatics Division, Department of Civil Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur, India 208016

[debashish bose]

Amar bhaiya that number 2 matches the description of gobhut in bengal ...

 

I wonder if any sociologist/anthropologist have studied how gender/caste plays a role in the characterisation

and behaviour of the ghosts ? I think the underlying social reality which would be difficult to portray otherwise

explicitly may come out in the form of ghost stories no ?

 

it would be such a haunting topic for a thesis .... aap logo ko Phd student mile to jarur dena ....

 

Bye

D 

 

[debashish bose]

 

Captain Nemo
I am sure you would  like to get a copy of this book http://www.indianexpress.com/news/all-that-haunts-assam-now-in-a-thesaurus/285944/ 

 

actually Assam before it came to be known for its oil and ethnic tension to the mainland india .... was mainly known for its black magic (tantra mantra ) and

the art of taming ghosts no ... I have heard that in Mayong :) you can get old texts as well .... If only some one could gurantee my safe return ...

 

Bye

D
 

[Shruti]

Suddhasheel... your signature is much bigger than your messages... :)

On Jun 4, 12:01 pm, Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH

<suddhash...@gmail.com> wrote:
> ब्रह्मदैत्य is not written as brahmadaitto!!
>

> 2009/6/4 nirmali <nirma...@gmail.com>

[Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH]

my body is also much bigger than the amount i speak!

2009/6/4 Shruti <sbansa...@gmail.com>

Suddhasheel... your signature is much bigger than your messages... :)

[Shruti]

that mean to say the following ?..
...your signature is the GHOSTof Samvaad-Prakash emails signatures
...you are the GHOST of Samvaad-Prakash group :O

On Jun 4, 3:02 pm, Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH <suddhash...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> my body is also much bigger than the amount i speak!
>

> 2009/6/4 Shruti <sbansal.i...@gmail.com>

[Shruti]

Suddhasheel - Please don't mind...I wrote " Suddhasheel... your

signature is much bigger than your messages... :)"

just because I found it little bit difficult to read your message
(because of your signature) :) ...

cheers
shruti

On Jun 4, 3:02 pm, Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH <suddhash...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> my body is also much bigger than the amount i speak!
>

> 2009/6/4 Shruti <sbansal.i...@gmail.com>

[Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH]

With all my mathematics behind me, I am unable to comprehend the following lemma!

2009/6/4 Shruti <sbansa...@gmail.com>

that mean to say the following ?..
...your signature is the GHOSTof Samvaad-Prakash emails signatures
...you are the GHOST of Samvaad-Prakash group :O

[debashish bose]

Thought I will update the list ... I forgot pishach ..and pret pretni or petni is his wife

... shruti was telling me about dakan .. sounds like dakini jogini ( jo ki maa kali ke murty ke paas milte hain)

a friend of mine was telling me about bhuts in bhind .... it seems bhuts over there mostly attack females and

children ... many of the bhut's seems universal and some come with strong local flavor ...

was wondering why different civilisation came up with the concept of bhut independently .. kind of strange

more later as I find out

 

bye

D

 

On 6/3/09, Amarjeet Nayak <n.ama...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH]

A small correction in my opinion would be needed:
Dakini Vidhya is an age old practice in India, one who practices it is known as a Dakini. Dakini and Yogini are related with the tantric practices and they have a certain collection of mantras which are used for "Vashikaran". The western civilisation gives it a misnomer "witchcraft"

http://forum.indianetzone.com/6/dakini_vidya_india.htm

Ghosts and related concepts:
People have been strongly thinking about life after death. Every civilisation has its own explanation.

Back to square one?
I remember a certain discussion going on against occult practices in India and labelling them as defunct, in this very group, regarding a certain collection of elite institutes trying to showcase them. Are we going back on our words or have we gotten benign enlightenment?

2009/6/4 debashish bose <dbos...@gmail.com>

Thought I will update the list ... I forgot pishach ..and pret pretni or petni is his wife

... shruti was telling me about dakan .. sounds like dakini jogini ( jo ki maa kali ke murty ke paas milte hain)

a friend of mine was telling me about bhuts in bhind .... it seems bhuts over there mostly attack females and

children ... many of the bhut's seems universal and some come with strong local flavor ...

was wondering why different civilisation came up with the concept of bhut independently .. kind of strange

more later as I find out

 

bye

D

 

[debashish bose]

are suddha bhai .... main to logo ka beliefs ke piche ka karan aur samaj vyavastha kis tarah se pratifalit hoti hain in kahaniyo ke dwara woh janna chahta tha ....

 

Bye

D

 

[debashish bose]

besides ghosts makes life specially nights so much more interesting you know ....

 

come to think of it ,.... the ghosts are territorial, class and caste conscious hmm

 

and regarding mind control thats pretty interesting topic .....lot of people will be interested in that

 

now tell me what can be more effective than bhuts to keep the children in control at night :) mind control tai na

 

Bye

D

[Shruti Bansal]

At my place the word "kali mata" is not so general. "Sati Mata" is used instead. Sati Pratha has been very common in " thar marusthal " areas till recent past (Devi Rukmani case is alive till date). I remeber when I was learning cooking in my very young age (because my grandmother liked me while doing that :-) ) and whenever Roti got burn at the center , she used to scold me  and explained that Sati Mata eaten that portion of Roti. She never liked my this act as for her Sati Mata was a Dakan and would do some jaadu tonaa and brought poverty in the house.  And finally she stopped calling me in kitchen and I enjoyed many times Roti made by her for me :-) Shruti. --- On Thu, 6/4/09, debashish bose <dbos...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: debashish bose <dbos...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Ghosts in Bengali culture To: samvaad...@googlegroups.com Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:54 PM

Thought I will update the list ... I forgot pishach ..and pret pretni or petni is his wife ... shruti was telling me about dakan .. sounds like dakini jogini ( jo ki maa kali ke murty ke paas milte hain) a friend of mine was telling me about bhuts in bhind .... it seems bhuts over there mostly attack females and children ... many of the bhut's seems universal and some come with strong local flavor ... was wondering why different civilisation came up with the concept of bhut independently .. kind of strange more later as I find out   bye D

[Shruti Bansal]

Here is the link: (related to very recent sati case in Rajasthan) http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2105/stories/20040312002504600.htm I wrote wrong name: Her name was: Roop Kanwar Shruti --- On Fri, 6/5/09, Shruti Bansal <shrutiba...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[Suddhasheel Bharatiya GHOSH]

You hit the nail right on the head. The term Dakan is used for one who can do Jaadu Tona or "Tantra-Mantra" !

2009/6/5 Shruti Bansal <shrutiba...@yahoo.com>

as for her Sati Mata was a Dakan and would do some jaadu tonaa and brought poverty in the house.

Shruti.