Ghosts in Bengali culture
Regrettably, her marital union proved to be marked by cruelty and abuse inflicted upon her by her husband, ultimately culminating in her untimely demise.
Consequently, she targeted contentedly married women, subjugating and usurping their identities to perpetuate an illusion of matrimonial bliss on behalf of her victims.
Researchers of local folklores call this a subtle patriarchal message that women who deviate from a set societal expectations are as abhorrent as Shakchunni.
Rural people from Bengal, obsessed with the occult, used to travel to the Kamrup-Kamakhya in Assam in order to learn the tantric ways and black magic.
[11][12] Many Sadhu (Ascetic Yogis), Tantric, Aghori, Kapalik and Kabiraj even devoted their lives to the pursuit of occult practices.
In Tantra philosophy, if someone were to engage in ascetic pursuit and worship through the Bhoot Damor, the invoked Damori would appear to them and serve them.
It was believed that these harmful ghosts, called the Besho Bhoot, lived within bamboo gardens, and walking past these areas after dusk was considered dangerous.
Sometimes they even steal fish from kitchens in village households or from the boats of fishermen These are believed to be the ghosts of Muslims.
These so-called marsh lights often look like levitating orbs of fire that glow, which confuse fishermen, lure them in the water and drown them.
These spirits search for their missing heads, or ask others to help them find it, even making their victims slaves.Local people calles them golla Kata (গল্লা কাটা ) which means Beheaded .
The Kanabhulo are ghosts which hypnotize their targets and abduct them to a silent and eerie location, which causes the victim to slowly lose its senses.
The Nishi strike only at night, and only if the victim responds to their call, in which case it becomes hypnotised and forced follow their voice until it disappears.
Many fairytales from Bengal also speak of these creatures, describing them as vicious beings who feed on humans and large animals.
They are most likely to stay in dirty places such as rubbish piles, swamps and in jammed water resources .They are also described as having shapeshifting abilities and invisibility.
The female version of the Pishach is called "Pishachini", which is described as either having a hideous appearance or disguised as a young beautiful maiden who lures men.
Most often believed by the Muslim community of Bengal, the Jinn are blamed for any supernatural, ghostly and demonic phenomenon and manifestation.
Malevolent Jinns (Demon) can haunt human residences, toilets, lakes, graveyards, morgues, hospitals and even the wilderness.
It is believed that on the night before Kali Puja, the spirits of these ancestors descend upon the earth, and these lamps help them find their way home.
[22][23][24] Another popular belief is that Chamunda (a fearsome aspect of Kali) along with 14 other ghostly forms ward off the evil spirits from the house as 14 earthen-lamps are lit at different entrances and in the dark corners of the rooms.
It is customary to consume a dish of 14 types of leafy vegetables (choddo shaak) during Bhoot Chaturdashi so that evil spirits are unable to possess the body.
[25][26][27] According to legend, Lalbagh Fort, Golf Heights Banani, Airport Road; Chalan Beel in Sirajganj, Pakri Beach, Mirsarai Highway Crossing in Chittagong and many other places in Bangladesh are claimed to be haunted.
[39] Thakurmar Jhuli is the most classic collection of Bengali children's folk-tales and fairy-tales, which was compiled by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder in 1907.
[59] Some Bangladeshi movies involving supernatural theme are stories about shapeshifting snakes or Ichchhadhari Nag that can take human form.
One of the examples is Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) as mentioned earlier is adopted from the story of Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury and directed by Satyajit Ray.
Nishi Trishna (1989), directed by Parimal Bhattacharya was the first Bengali vampire movie, starring Shekhar Chatterjee, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Moon Moon Sen.[63] In this movie, some friends plan to visit the infamous Garchampa Palace which had a bad reputation for demonic blood-sucking beings that were terrorising the locality.
Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy (2012), directed by Sandip Ray, is a movie based on three classic Bengali ghost stories.
The stories are Satyajit Ray's Anath Babur Bhoy, Brown Saheber Bari and, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's Bhoot Bhabishyat.
It tells the story of a haunted mansion 'Choudhury Palace', where ghosts from different ethnic backgrounds and eras reside (a Bengali zamindar of 18th century, an actress of the 1930s, a modern rockstar, a soldier of Indian Army who died in Kargil, etc.).
While working to preserve historical documents he find a parchment from which he learns about treasures hidden in an old palace in Simulgarh, a village of West Bengal.
Pett Kata Shaw, a 2021 anthology series released on Chorki (OTT), features the modern revival of the mysterious and lurid folklores of Mechho Bhoot, Jinn, Kanabhulo and Nishi.
