Post by Morose on Jul 12, 2023 23:02:49 GMT -5
Most know of nagas, rakshasas, and vetala. Here are some others.
Churel - ( India/Hindu) ghost of a woman who died in child birth come back for vengeance , blood, and semen of all her male relatives, she drains their life force. she has sagging breasts, messy hair, backwards feet or legs, a pot belly, claw like hands, scruffy long pubic hair, a thick black tongue, and tusks
Baital-large brown skinned muscular man bat creature with goat tail can take over bodies buried beneath its tree. skin is impossible to pierce or damage.Baital / Vetal:Another Indian vampire, the Baital may resemble small, bat-like humans, monstrous bats or emaciated corpses that hang upside-down. Their most noteworthy ability is to possess dead
bodies, which take on a grotesque appearance, and, like the Churel, inverted limbs.This creature is most famous for its role in "The Twenty-five Tales of the Baital", a collection of stories often compared to the Arabian Nights.
Preta or hungry ghosts seem to be shared among india and china
Makara (Sanskrit: मकर) is a sea-creature in Hindu culture. It is generally depicted as half terrestrial animal in the frontal part (stag, deer, crocodile, or elephant) and half aquatic animal in the hind part (usually a fish or seal tail, though sometimes a peacock or even a floral tail is depicted.)
Mom- is a strange hybrid, half cat, half lion, though some Lanna artisans present it as a big lizard. As a result, it's often a decorative feature of the entrance to the vihara (chapel) of Buddhist temples. The story behind them is that they are a great deal smarter than human beings (which may not be saying much - just look at us!) but because they cling to what they have and know, they are unable to achieve enlightenment and have forfeited Nirvana. We are supposed to take it as warning to avoid trishna/tanha - 'clinging' - if we want to move beyond our limitations.
Ceremonially, just as for other aquatic creatures - frogs etc - the Mom is invoked for rain. During the hot dry period, before planting, farmers would put a carved representation of the Mom in a wicker basket and take it in procession through the village and to the temple...rain sure to follow - sometimes. For some reason this rain-making business is also attributed to cats. One of the Chiang Mai historians, the late Ajarn Kraisi Nimmanahaeminda, has written of the custom of dowsing a cat during the Songkran period, which citizens believed to be a sure-fire method of getting the downpour they needed. And even nowadays, during the Songkran ceremonies, an important Buddha image is carried through town and respectfully lustrated for the same reason.
To come back to the Mom, some folklorists believe it's akin to the Chinese kilen - a sort of dog/lion hybrid, but the fact is that accurate memory of origins and function have faded, so that to most of us it's become just a decorative feature. One of the places you can see it is in the back of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, next to the sightseeing area.
What's that? You don't want to invoke the rain. You're going trekking? Well, OK, but remember the poor farmers. Just a little bit of rain, Mom, but not too much.
Uchchaihshravas - Created during an event called Samudra manthan, this heavenly seven-headed horse is said to be the Vahana (vehicle) of numerous Hindu deities and demons, such as Surya and Bali, and is also regarded as the king of all equines. There is a legend about deities betting over the colour of its tail, and a demon cheating in this bet. It is coveted by other deities, and one god was cursed by Vishnu for ignoring his commands due to being too distracted by the beauty of the creature.
Churel - ( India/Hindu) ghost of a woman who died in child birth come back for vengeance , blood, and semen of all her male relatives, she drains their life force. she has sagging breasts, messy hair, backwards feet or legs, a pot belly, claw like hands, scruffy long pubic hair, a thick black tongue, and tusks
Baital-large brown skinned muscular man bat creature with goat tail can take over bodies buried beneath its tree. skin is impossible to pierce or damage.Baital / Vetal:Another Indian vampire, the Baital may resemble small, bat-like humans, monstrous bats or emaciated corpses that hang upside-down. Their most noteworthy ability is to possess dead
bodies, which take on a grotesque appearance, and, like the Churel, inverted limbs.This creature is most famous for its role in "The Twenty-five Tales of the Baital", a collection of stories often compared to the Arabian Nights.
Preta or hungry ghosts seem to be shared among india and china
Makara (Sanskrit: मकर) is a sea-creature in Hindu culture. It is generally depicted as half terrestrial animal in the frontal part (stag, deer, crocodile, or elephant) and half aquatic animal in the hind part (usually a fish or seal tail, though sometimes a peacock or even a floral tail is depicted.)
Mom- is a strange hybrid, half cat, half lion, though some Lanna artisans present it as a big lizard. As a result, it's often a decorative feature of the entrance to the vihara (chapel) of Buddhist temples. The story behind them is that they are a great deal smarter than human beings (which may not be saying much - just look at us!) but because they cling to what they have and know, they are unable to achieve enlightenment and have forfeited Nirvana. We are supposed to take it as warning to avoid trishna/tanha - 'clinging' - if we want to move beyond our limitations.
Ceremonially, just as for other aquatic creatures - frogs etc - the Mom is invoked for rain. During the hot dry period, before planting, farmers would put a carved representation of the Mom in a wicker basket and take it in procession through the village and to the temple...rain sure to follow - sometimes. For some reason this rain-making business is also attributed to cats. One of the Chiang Mai historians, the late Ajarn Kraisi Nimmanahaeminda, has written of the custom of dowsing a cat during the Songkran period, which citizens believed to be a sure-fire method of getting the downpour they needed. And even nowadays, during the Songkran ceremonies, an important Buddha image is carried through town and respectfully lustrated for the same reason.
To come back to the Mom, some folklorists believe it's akin to the Chinese kilen - a sort of dog/lion hybrid, but the fact is that accurate memory of origins and function have faded, so that to most of us it's become just a decorative feature. One of the places you can see it is in the back of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, next to the sightseeing area.
What's that? You don't want to invoke the rain. You're going trekking? Well, OK, but remember the poor farmers. Just a little bit of rain, Mom, but not too much.
Uchchaihshravas - Created during an event called Samudra manthan, this heavenly seven-headed horse is said to be the Vahana (vehicle) of numerous Hindu deities and demons, such as Surya and Bali, and is also regarded as the king of all equines. There is a legend about deities betting over the colour of its tail, and a demon cheating in this bet. It is coveted by other deities, and one god was cursed by Vishnu for ignoring his commands due to being too distracted by the beauty of the creature.