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Indian Mythical Creatures


Like other countries India have its own folk lore. Many of them are based on Vedic religion or Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism. There are many non-human creatures portrayed in the mythologies like Rakshasa, Vanara, Naga, Yaksha, Astomi, Gandharva, Asura, Preta, Vritra(Dragon) and many more. Some of them have relation with creatures of other regions like Europe, China and Japan etc while some of them are found in urban legends. Here’s what I think about it.

Vanara: 

Ape like humanoid, with brains & capacities like humans, who helped Rama in war against Ravana in epic Ramayana. Although these creatures are considered as mythical still they shows signs that they could exist. They could be the “Yetis” who dwell in Himalayas. According to legend yetis are those apes like people who like in groups, have backbone like humans & can speak language. Although it is not proved that they exist, if considered they have great similarities with Vanara.

Yaksha: 

They are mythical creatures like demigods who live & guard particular places. They possess magical powers like they can fly, become invisible, disappear etc. Although in Indian mythologies their looks are not specified, in Thailand and Cambodia which were once Hindu countries, they portrayed them as elf like creatures with long ears. These creatures could be the elves of European mythology as they have similar characteristics.

Astomi: 

Not much information is obtained about these creatures, but their description is funny so I am telling it. They were creatures without mouth who can survive on aromas of flowers & fruits. When travelling they used to carry roots, flowers and apples to smell.Now they are extinct. They could faint or even die by smelling an unpleasant smell. No wonder why they got extinct.

Naga: 

These creatures were snakes & serpents, very similar to ichhadhari nag of Hindi films. Although there is no scientific explanation of these creatures, many say the ancient Hindu creatures were actually non Aryan and non Dravidian tribal races in India. So they could be the ancestors of the people of Nagaland.

Vritra: 

This was a dragon demon of its own kind. The description of this demon is that he was a serpant with legs and wings, very similar to Asian dragons. This demon was killed by Indra. This shows that dragons existed in Indian mythologies along with European, Chinese and Japanese.

Asura: 

Asura were demons, pure demons. These were different from Rakshas. Asura were of two types, Daityas and Danavas. Daityas were against Devas(gods) and Danavas were against Manavas(humans).

Rakshas: 

Rakshas can be literally translated to Monsters. As per their description & comparison with other culture’s mythical creatures, Rakshas were giants (possibly different branch of human evolution), wild people and possibly cannibal or man eater.


Stories & lores involving Rakshasa

I have heard two stories from different people and found connections.

Story 1: One man was travelling in a small village with his friend after getting off from a train in a station.(name of village is unknown, may be in Bengal). They were carrying their bags & going towards their destination. It was night, many people were running who came from their back and went ahead. They found it weird. After some time the boy’s friend looked behind and said quietly to him, “Drop the bag and run with me, don’t look behind.” He replied, “But why?” then he replied, “Just drop it & run.” They were somewhere near train tracks. They dropped their bags & ran & after some time the boy got eager to see what’s behind, so he turned back, He saw a giant woman as height of 1st or 2nd floor running after them.

Story2:  Many years ago, a man was travelling in a taxi from some place to another in Mumbai. That time the place wasn’t much developed bushy and trees, they were passing through Girgaon. Suddenly the taxi driver started changing the lane like right-left-right-left. The man asked the driver why he’s doing this, the driver replied, “See in the mirror of the car.” The man saw in mirror that a giant woman dressed in green sari with gajra was running after them and wanted to catch the taxi. They finally reached a place where they saw people. The giant lady was gone. They took a halt at a tea shop “chai wala”. The chai wala saw them frightened and asked them himself weather they saw a giant lady running after them, he said it was a common story and many people have told him who passed from that place.

The description of both ladies was the same. It could be possible that it’s the Rakshas species/race.

Pisacha: 

Creatures who live on fleshes of the dead humans, blood drinkers, and possibly undead. These creatures are very similar to vampires of the western cultures.
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