Valley Of Fear

We are bewitched by the unknown. A cold shudder of fear running down the spine gives us a desire not to shun but to enter into the valley of fear. In the night, in the gathering of pals, someone starts a ghost story in a very light manner, they laugh, make queer faces, produce fake sounds to echo ghostly but all settles into an eerie calm when the story proceeds. It ends with no one left bold enough to walk in dark alone!

And then so many scary movies in which a ghost is lurking behind the scenes, an exorcist struggling to send the spirit back to the dark valley, the obsessed child harassed with a lingering excruciating supernatural agony and lastly the confused parents running to and fro between medical science and exorcism. And a huge interest of a large number of viewers glued to the TV watching the unbelievable. Despite thousand logics of science the interest of the majority never ebbs in the supernatural.

Concept Of Ghosts

The nerve-chilling concept of ghosts is all over the world. In India, Bengal and Assam are the ancient seats of black magic. Nirmala Ghat in Kolkata, Mayong in Assam, and Kamrup Kamakhya temple situated on the Nilanchal Hill in the western part of Guwahati, Assam is famous for black magic, witch doctors, and exorcism. Ghosts are cultural creatures deep embedded in our culture, our folklores, and our scriptures. Whether they exist in the dark corridors or just in our imagination, but they do exist. And ghosts are not one race, as we have classified humans on the basis of religion, race, and caste; we have not lagged behind in classifying the ghosts even.

Let’s investigate an interesting classification of ghosts in Bengal. The ghosts, it is believed, are dissatisfied spirits. The persons prey to fatal causalities also turn into ghosts after death acquiring special powers. In Bengal, they are classified into so many categories, each category having a nomenclature. We discuss here twelve to thirteen categories of ghosts with their powers and idiosyncrasies. Some are rather funny, some mean, some naughty, some really too dangerous, and some surprisingly benevolent. Some are in the river, some in the jungle, some dwell on trees, some are guardians of hidden treasures and some are even flesh eaters.
P.T.O
(written by:  Sanjay Kumar Kundan)