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The Kuntilanak and the Pontianak: Vampiric Ghosts of the Banana Tree

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At the cusp of a vengeful ghost and a vampiric entity, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia, or the Pontianak as she is called in Malaysia, is after both vengeance and to devour her victims. 

In Indonesia, particularly on the islands of Java and Kalimantan, there exists one of Southeast Asia’s most haunting and widely feared spirits known as the Kuntilanak. She is said to be the restless ghost of a woman who died during childbirth or in a violent circumstance, forever trapped between life and death. In Malayan folklore where the story is also told, she is called the Pontianak. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Indonesia and Malaysia

Her domain is said to be in hollow banana trees and if you smell the sweet scent of Jasmine or the frangipani flower, it might just be the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth. And she might be after your blood. 

The Woman in White of Southeast Asian

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. There are different variations of the legend throughout Asia, as we will get more into later. In traditional belief, dying in such a vulnerable state without completing the life cycle left the soul restless and unanchored.

The Kuntilanak is often depicted as a long-haired woman dressed in white as an astral female spirit. In modern media, she is often portrayed as a Woman in White. Often, her dress is depicted as blood-smeared. It is also often a traditional kebaya or funeral shroud.

She lures in unsuspecting men to devour and sometimes also for some sort of revenge. Some say that the phantom is an invention of Malay wives who wanted to discourage their husbands from random sexual encounters with women that they met on the road at night. Or perhaps it acts as some sort of subconscious warning to men to leave women alone at night. 

Signs that a Kuntilanak is nearby include the sound of an infant crying and the smell of plumeria flower followed by the smell of decay.

The Vampiric Creature of the Night

Another thing the Kuntilanak spirit is depicted as, is a monstrous transformation when she has lured her prey, more like a beast or type of vampire than a ghost. 

The Kuntilanak suddenly turns and reveals that her back is hollow, much like the Sundel bolong the prostitute ghost with her large gaping hole on her back.

Another version of this figure depicts her as a woman with long, sharp fangs and fingernails that she is said to use to feed on her victims, digging them into their stomachs and devouring their organs and blood. In some versions, she is also said to have wings she can fly away with making a ke-ke-ke sound as it flies.

The Ghost in the Tree

Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center. In Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle. Kuntilanak are also said to favor certain trees as their “dwelling places,” such as the hibiscus tree, which grows leaning to the side (popularly called “waru doyong”).

When she appears, her wail is a long, high-pitched cry that carries over fields and villages, chilling listeners with its sorrow and fury. Those who hear the cry are believed to be marked by her presence.

The legend holds that the Kuntilanak may call out a person’s name, drawing them nearer with a voice that sounds familiar, kind, or beckoning. They usually announce their presence through baby cries. It’s said that if the cry is loud, she is far away, but if it is soft, then she is nearby. It is also said that if you hear a dog/wolf howl she is far away, but if it’s whimpering, she is nearby.

According to Javanese beliefs and traditions , a kuntilanak will not harm a pregnant woman if she always carries nails, knives, and scissors with her whenever she travels. This is why scissors, needles , and knives are often placed near a baby’s crib. According to Malay beliefs as well, sharp objects like nails can ward off attacks by the Pontianak.

Kuntilanak can be subdued by plunging a sharp nail into the top of her head. Sometimes the story goes that she doesn’t die from this, but once again becomes a normal woman. Sometimes even a good wife. Although, be careful to never remove the nail ever again as she will go back to her old ways. 

The Malayan Pontianak

As mentioned, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia is also called Pontianak in Malaysia. But what exactly is the difference? There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires pontianak and penanggal are shared throughout the region. Often these two names are conflated to one being, just in different languages. 

There are some things that are more quintessential Malayan lore though than you would find in Indonesia. The Pontianak is similar to another entity found in Malayan folklore, the Langsuir. This is a vampiric ghost of a woman who died in childbirth in Malaysia is often connected with the stories of the Pontianak where the Langsuir is the ghost of the mother who died in childbirth, and the Pontianak is the child who died in stillbirth. Modern popular culture often confuses the pontianak with its mother the lang suir. However, traditional myth is clear that the pontianak is the ghost of a dead baby and not a pregnant woman.

There are also some traditions for the Malay Pontianak that are followed. To prevent this ghost to form, as with its mother the lang suir, a needle is placed in each of the corpse’s hands and a hen’s egg under each armpit. The Pontianak is also said to locate their prey by sniffing clothes that are left out to dry, which is the reason Malay’s refuse to keep their clothes outside at night. Also whistling after night is said to draw evil spirits. 

An interesting thing is how the Pontianak stopped showing up in modern media for a long time in Malay media. Films about her had mostly stopped being produced by the 1970s and in the 1990s, the Malaysian government censored horror films. These laws were relaxed in the 2000s, which brought on another wave of films, including the feminist Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam. She once again became something shared in media and culture to this day. 

The City of Pontianak

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with the fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 as a Malay fishing village, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River. The legend of the city of Pontianak holds that the city began as an old trading station, infested with ghosts until Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie and his army drove them away with cannon fire. 

Read More: The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. Holiday celebrations often include firing bamboo cannons to pay tribute to the Sultan.

Some claim that the vanquishing of the ancient creature in Pontianak was a metaphor about how the area entered to a place of a more modern era, ridding itself of old superstition in order to take on new ones. But old stories are hard to get rid of completely. And if they are still firing cannons, did she vanish at all?

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References:

Kuntilanak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

(DOC) INDONESIAN GHOST KUNTILANAK IN FOLKLORE AND MASS CULTURE

Pontianak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

If Singapore has a lion, why should Pontianak not have a ghost? – National – The Jakarta Post

The ultimate survival guide to Malaysian superstitions and ghosts

Ghosts in Malay culture – Wikipedia

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The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

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How haunted is a city to be named after its ghosts? This is the case of the Indonesian city of Pontianak, said to have been haunted by the fearsome ghosts known as the Pontianak or the Kuntilalak ghosts, thirsting for blood and vengeance.

The seductive but bloodthirsty Kuntilanak is a popular character in Malay horror films and novels, where she typically lurks around forested areas with abundant banana or banyan fig trees, waiting for her victims she can drain dry. 

The ghost of the Kuntilanak or the Pontianak as she is known in this city, has given name to the capital of the West Kalimantan on Borneo island, as it was said the place was filled with ghosts. Not just ghosts though, bloodthirsty ghosts, lurking in the deep jungle. 

The Pontianak City Founded on a Coast of Ghosts

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with a fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. Throughout most of Indonesia, she goes under the name Kuntinalak. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 by Syarif Abdurrahim, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River as a fishing village, with the equator line passing through it. There does however seem to have been a more ancient civilisation living here in the late 17th century. The city is also sometimes known as Khuntien in Teochew and Hakka and was a Malay state on the western coast of Borneo in the late 18th century until 1950. 

A nobleman of Arab descent, he was given land because of the strategic importance since the river served as the main trading route for transporting goods from the interior of the island. 

The delta was also home to pirates and building a fortress against them was also an important task. It is said that when they first came by boat, they noticed many disturbances and frightening sounds coming from the thick and dark jungle that surrounded them. The disturbances were perceived as evil ghosts and they frightened the people they didn’t want to stay. 

To scare away the ghosts, Syarif Abdurrahim fired cannon to keep them at bay. The city was built on swampy ground and tropical forest subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. 

It went through many hands, until it became a part of the Republic of Indonesia after the Japanese surrendered after the second world war. Because of its history and blended population, it has a culture unlike other places in Indonesia. But did they really rid themselves of the ghosts said to roam here?

The Pontinak or the Kuntinak Ghost

But what exactly is a Pontinak, or the Kuntinak that the ghost is known as in the rest of Indonesia?

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center and in Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close to drain them of their blood and life like a vampire. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle and take certain measures. 

Some people also claim that the origin of the name Pontianak comes from the Malay language, namely ponti, from the acronym for tall tree, something the place was before turning into a city. 

The Ghost as a Citizen Today in Pontianak

To this day, the story of the Pontianak is important for the city, both as history, and everyday life. There used to be annual festivals in order to commemorate the founding of the city, during which people fired the bamboo cannon and thereby symbolically evicted Kuntilanak. Almost like they still have to do it to keep her at bay.

During the New Order the annual event and the cannon disappeared. However, some citizens have set up cannon again in recent years. An annual festival is still held in Pontianak during which meriam karbit, special carbide cannons made from wooden logs, are fired to ring at the end of Ramadan.

In recent years, the people of Pontianak city stand divided over how to honor their namesake. For years, plans of raising a statue of the Pontianak were put forth. There had long been rumors and ideas about these plans, but it seemed more real when Kartius, head of the Youth, Tourism and Sports Agency in West Kalimantan. Kartius proposed the idea to build the statue, arguing that the monument would increase tourism. Towering over 300 feet, the ghost would dwarf the buildings around it.

Protests started and banners with “Community Movement to Reject Ghost Statue.” They turned up outside of the parliament building, although no official moves had been done.  Turns out, not every person was eager for the idea of their childhood nightmare turned into a tourist attraction. A poll showed 98% of residents were opposed to the idea. 

Fear to attract the ghost perhaps? 

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Kuntilanak – ScienceDirect

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily

Pontianak – Wikipedia

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Langsuyar: The Night Vampire of Malay Folklore

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From the despair of a mother dying in childbirth, a blood thirsty spirit rises in her place. With her alluring appearance and ability to transform into flying entities, she is one of the feared vampires from Malay folklore. 

From the Malay Archipelago is a creature both feared and cautionary known as the Langsuyar or the Langsuir. This spirit is a type of vampire that emerges under very specific and tragic conditions. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Malaysia

The Langsuyar is not just another night ghost, but the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth. Transformed, a spirit driven by hunger, regret and in some cases, vengeance. The legend has survived for generations across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, haunting the night and the edges of village life.

A Death That Cannot Be Rested

At the core of the legend is the belief that a woman who dies in childbirth, or shortly after giving birth, may rise again as a langsuyar. Often after she suffered from a laboring sickness called meroyan. Forty days after burial, her spirit rises as a Langsuyar if proper rituals are not performed. 

Some stories also suggest that betrayal by her husband contributes to her transformation after he’s been cheating. 

In one version, the Langsuir was a beautiful woman who lost her child. When she heard about the stillbirth, she died of shock and became a demon. Upon hearing the news of other stillbirths, the woman claps her hands and flies off to a tree where she perches. The stillborn child becomes the Pontianak.

The Pontianak: The Pontianak is the spirit of the stillborn child and the Langsuyar is the mourning mother. In some versions and stories, the two exist as spectral counterparts in this tragic ghost tale of a mother and her child separated by death. // Image: Malaysian model of a langsuyar.

In most tales, the langsuyar looks like a normal woman and is sometimes described as beautiful by day with hair down to her ankles, often appearing in a green robe. At night, especially near the moonlit hours, her true form emerges.

Her hair becomes unkempt and her fingernails grow sharp like claws. Her eyes gleam red with hunger. In some versions of the legend she has wings like a bat or a bird. Her name is believed to originate from helang, the Malay word for eagle, but it’s often an owl she is compared to. 

Her voice becomes a shriek that carries across forests and fields. Travelers and villagers alike speak of hearing her call at night. Some versions of the tale say she calls out names familiar to her victims, drawing them closer into darkness.

A Predator in the Night

The langsuyar is associated with dark forests and rural areas where she hides. It is also connected with certain trees and the parasitic fern “sakat,” growing in dark green clusters and is said to be a common resting place for her kind. Woodcutters do exorcisms to protect themselves from Langsuyars and other spirits when they harvest wood from the poisonous Rengas trees in Malaysia.

Asplenium nidus (Sakat Fern)

In many stories, the preys upon men and children who travel alone at night as well. She approaches quietly, her feet barely touching the ground, until she is near enough. Then she feeds. In some tellings she bites at the neck, drawing blood and life, but most often her feeding is through her small hole at the back of her neck covered by her long hair. 

Signs and Omens of the Langsuyar

Langhui, Langhuā!
Your beak is stumpy,
Your feathers are cloth of silk,
Your eyes are “crab’s eye” beans,
Your heart is a young areca-nut,
Your blood thread in water,
Your veins the thread for binding on cock’s-spurs,
Your bones twigs of the giant bamboo,
Your tail a fan from China.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser,
Neutralise the Venom in the bones,
Neutralise it in the veins,
Neutralise it in the joints,
Neutralise it within the house,
Neutralise it within the jungle.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser,
And lock up this Langsuir.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser.

Chant of the Sakai people and a charm against the Langsuir from Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula.  While repeating the charm, the sufferer would be rubbed with the leaves or root of the “kělmoyang,” possibly Chamacladon, Homalomena, or Alpina conchigera.

Traditional practices to protect against the Langsuyar vary by community, but most have to do with the burial practices. After death, family members could place glass beads in her mouth, chicken eggs under her armpits, and steel needles in her palms to prevent the corpse from rising as a Languyar. The leaves of the gandasuli were also considered to be a powerful charm against Langsuyars.

There are stories where the Langsuyars were defeated though. It was believed that if her nails and hair were cut and stuffed into the neck cavity, the Langsuyar would lose her powers and revert to a normal woman. In some stories, she becomes a wife and a mother again, almost like a second chance at life.

This can go on for years. But folklore warns that if she ever experiences joy again where dancing is particularly mentioned, her supernatural form will return and she will go back to the forest where she came from.

A Legacy of Fear and Folklore

The earliest written mention of the Langsuyar appears in the English anthropologist Walter William Skeat’s Malay Magic (1891), which recorded tales of local spirits and beliefs in Selangor on the west coast of Malaysia. Of course, the legend existed long before that, although it’s uncertain exactly how old it is. Female and bloodsucking entities that can transform to a winged being, have existed for ages in various forms and stories throughout southeast Asia. 

In modern Southeast Asia, belief in the literal existence of the langsuyar has faded among many, although it still happens that a sighting of the Langsuyar causes panic. 

In 2013, villagers in the Pasir Puteh district in Kelantan, in the northeastern part of Malaysia, bordering Thailand reported sightings of a langsuyar that was terrorizing the town. This state is one of the poorer and conservative muslim parts of the country, and perhaps one of the more superstitious as well? 

The residents in several villages described seeing a long-haired Langsuyar flying and shrieking in the night. The fear spread and reached the news and local authorities urged the villages to remain calm and pray together to repel the spirit. It didn’t die down until a local shaman entered the scene though. He claimed to have captured four of the creatures and put them away. A local religious officer acknowledged the existence of the spirit, but cautioned against talk of magic as it may be sacrilegious.

The Langsuyar embodies ancient fears about death, motherhood, and the consequences of an interrupted life. Her wail echoes among trees, across fields, and in the quiet imagination of anyone who hears a woman’s cry in the night. 

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References:

Langsuyar – Wikipedia

Langsuir

Skeat, William Walter (1900). Malay Magic

https://web.archive.org/web/20160603133323/http://malaysianreview.com/32993/penduduk-kampung-solat-hajat-halau-hantu-langsuir

Langsuyar | Legends From Around The World | Stronghold Nation

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The One-Legged Jungle Ghost Kong Koi of Thai Folklore

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In the thick and dark jungle in the mountainous regions in Thailand, it is said something ghostly lingers. The Kong Koi ghost is said to be thirsty for travelers’ blood. But what exactly lurks behind the trees?

Deep within the forests and mountains in southeast Asia, there is a ghost lingering, hungry for travelers’ blood.. Known as Kong Koi, this being occupies a place in folklore that blends terror with mystery. Called the “one-legged demon,” it is bound to night, shadow, and the unexplained dangers of the wild.

Read More: Check out more ghostly tales from Thailand

The Phi Kong Koi (ผีกองกอย), is found in folklore in many parts of Thailand, stretching as far into Laos and Malaysia as well, being a part of many folklore’s, although the descriptions and ghost stories of this entity varies greatly. What is really haunting the thick forests in these parts?

The One-Legged Ghost

This particular ghost is not the easiest to describe as there are many variants. Most people never see the ghost at all, but claim to have heard it echoing in the night. The name Koi Koi, is given after the sound the ghosts make. It is described as a one-legged ghost, screaming Koi, koi, koi from its fly-like or beak mouth. 

Sometimes the ghost is described as an old woman hopping on one leg, screaming about how hungry she is. Some also describe it looking like a monkey or langur in the dark. In most cases, it is described as something ugly that can’t climb the trees and is after people passing through their domain in the jungle.

The Langur Ghost: The spirit of a deceased langur is said to inhabit the body of a living one. This transformation turns the animal into a fearsome, blood-sucking being. Also, among some groups that if one drinks the blood of a langur, the body will become invulnerable and immortal.

It is also vampiric in its nature and bordering as a vampire like creature and corporal spirit. The Kong Koi ghost is said to suck blood from travelers sleeping in the jungle. It is therefore advised that those going through the jungle should keep their feet covered, or crossed when sleeping. 

The Karen or Kayin group in southern and southeastern Myanmar have a different belief of the Kong Koi as well out for blood. According to them, the Phi Kong Koi is seen as a small, agile creature with small, sharp teeth and fangs used to suck the blood of its prey for nourishment.

The Fish Stealer

In some Lao folktales, Phi Kong Koi is depicted stealing food like fish from traps out of hunger, rather than solely preying on humans. In some retellings, the Kong Koi ghost even marries a human and have children with them. Sometimes it’s voluntarily, sometimes through kidnapping. 

According to the Tai Dam people in Nong Sung district, Mukdahan province northeast in Thailand, they have their own version of the Kong Koi ghost. They believe that Phi Kong Koi is a long-haired, very small  woman with backwards feet and red hair. Some say that she has a body shape similar to a monkey, but smaller than a monkey or a gibbon. They speak in opposites and riddles. 

They also believe that the Kongkoy ghost is living in caves or hollow trees, and foraging for food by catching fish in streams or rivers. Sometimes she steals fish or people’s belongings. It is also believed that fish or valuables found along forest paths should not be taken, as they belong to Phi Kong Koi, who will come to reclaim them. If taken the ghost may harm you by pulling out their livers, kidneys, intestines and eating them as food while they sleep

The Haunted Forest: The stories of the Kong Koi ghost seem to stretch across entire nations and beyond. One of the places it is said to haunt is the ancient “Dong Phaya Fai” (Forest of the Fire King) in northeastern Thailand. It had a terrifying reputation because of the numerous deaths it has claimed. It is said that anyone who enters rarely escapes alive, due to its rugged terrain. The area is teeming with ferocious animals and malaria, and is further complicated by tales of ghosts and spirits. Before the railway came through in the late 1800s, it could only be traversed by foot. The Phaya Fai forest became the Phaya Yen forest when the railway was successfully built. //Image: Ahoerstemeier

The Buddhist Monk Against the Ghost

One of the more well known sightings of this particular ghost comes from a Buddhist monk in Thailand, part of the Thai Forest Tradition. Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo (หลวงปู่แหวน สุจิณโณ; 16 February 1887 – 2 July 1985) was a former abbot of Wat Doi Mae Pang in the Chiang Mai province.

The Buddhist Monk: Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo spent his life as a Thudong monk until he became disabled. He lived alone, practiced alone in forests, and preferred seclusion. Until a royal Thai air-force pilot spotted him meditating in the sky, Luang Por Waen was a hidden gem in rural Thailand. Though he didn’t like fame, this incident made him the most popular monk of Thailand in that decade. One day, a doctor had a rare chance to ask him about the incident of the air-force pilot. ‘Do you think I’m a bird’ – was the reply of Luang Por. // Source: Wikimedia

One of the stories he did tell of though, was about the Kong Koi ghosts. He said that when he traveled in the jungle in Khammouane in Laos, with fellow monk, Luang Pu Tue Ajala Thamฺmo, they fought with many Phi Kong Koi at night. 

He described the Phi Kong Koi as the size of 13–14 years olds, thin with bulging bellies, dark brown skin, dark hair, and a chubby nose. Armed with small crossbows or arrows and shouted “Koi”. The group he was travelling with fought back by meditating, which protected them from the Phi Kong Koi. At dawn, the Phi Kong Koi surrendered and invited both of them to their home.

Do what you will with the fantastical tales about the fabled monk and his adventures as you will. What were the things they fought against in the jungle, really? Some say that it actually could have been what they called the Kha Ra Dae (ข่าระแด) an ethnic group, rumored to be cannibalistic. Although this is not really confirmed at all. 

Who were the Ka Ra Dae?: The term Kha in Thai, is in this context used as the word slave and the Laotian name of the tribe. It was often used on a group of people living in the jungle in the Mekong region that Thai people were enslaved. The Kha people do not call themselves as “Kha”, but call themselves as “Bru”, which means “mountain.” This happened until the reign of King Rama V as he started banning slavery. Could these encounters just be with other tribal groups in the jungle, and the stories about ghosts and blood sucking spirits sprouted from there? 

Origin of the Koi Koi Ghost

Koi koi is not the only name given to this blood-sucking vampire ghost. As most Thai ghosts, it is named as Phi (ghost) and something else. It has been called the Phi Pong (ผีโป่ง) or Phi Pong Kang (ผีโป่งค่าง; ‘mineral lick ghost’) as well as Phi Teen Diao (ผีตีนเดียว; ‘one-footed ghost’).

The Mineral Spirit: There is an additional explanation: Phi Pong refers to a spirit associated with natural salt licks (din pong), areas where wild animals such as deer, gaur, and elephants gather to obtain essential minerals from the soil. The spirit is thought to guard and oversee these sites, which are vital to the survival of wildlife.

As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of controversy about exactly where the stories about jungle ghosts come from. Many think that the encounters of the Kong Koi ghost is actually an encounter with other tribal people living in the mountain and jungle regions, and the ghost stories were actually from a fear of the unknown and also a dose of racism between the different groups.. 

The word koi (กอย) however has most often been used to mean “An ethnic group having black skin, curly hair in the Malay Peninsula, also known as Sakai.” Sakai is in this case referring to the aboriginal peoples of Malaysia. This term in this context most likely refers to the Orang Asli or the Semang groups of people in Malaysia. 

Now, the tales about the Kong Koi ghost are told in so many places that it is difficult to narrow it down to one specific group the stories first came from though. The theory that the jungle ghost is actually a jungle tribe that hasn’t been seen for a long time, has been much discussed. 

Footprints and Modern Sightings of the Kong Koi Ghost

Although the ghost stories about the Kong Koi ghost started in a time when the jungle and mountains were bigger, thicker and more difficult to go through and more uncertain at what actually was inside there, the stories about sighting the ghost have continued to this day. And much like with Bigfoot, it often starts with some mysterious footprints. 

In September 2016, strange footprints were found at a cave in the forest in mountainous Loei province in upper northeastern Thailand. This is also one of the more sparsely populated places in the country. The picture of the footprints taken by tourists visiting the Din Phiang cave on top of Phubobid. After posting them online, they went viral and reached the news. 

The picture seemed to show human feet, only smaller with three toes, more like a monkey. They were shown to some elders and a Buddhist monk, who claimed it had to be of the ghost. 

Perhaps it was only the footprints of a monkey or a langur, animals long connected with the legend. Perhaps it was only a hoax or a prank played on the tourists? The director of a local cultural agency said Phi Kong Koi are real and that they are ethnic group which has not been seen for a long time though. Could it be that the ghost stories are actually just long lost tribes living secluded in the caves and thick forest. 

An alleged sighting of the ghost people could follow on camera in mid-August 2024. This was from one posting on Youtube claiming his home in Surin province, also called Isan ,in the lower part of northeastern Thailand, had been invaded by the Phi Kong Koi. He and his wife had only been living in the house for about three months when  they began to hear strange tapping or knocking sounds on the outer wall of their second-floor bedroom almost every night. 

When investigating, he found nothing so he installed surveillance cameras, but nothing showed up. He sprinkled powder on the balcony and on the stairs leading up to the rooftop. The next morning, he discovered what appeared to be a large, human-like footprint, but only the right foot. It had six toes and a long, pointed big toe. He was convinced it was the footprint of the Phi Kong Koi. He insisted the event was real and not part of a content stunt. It is worth noting he was a Youtuber.

The videos started to catch attention, even ending up on the news. Associate Professor Veerachai Phutthawong, or Professor Odd, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kasetsart University, had another theory though. If it were a real ghost, the force of walking wouldn’t put so much weight on the ground to leave such clear footprints as in the picture. But if it’s a human footprint, it’s possible that the foot stepping in ash, salt, or flour could appear larger because of the water evaporating. 

The mystery remained unsolved and in the quiet hours between sunset and sunrise, when shadows stretch long and paths disappear into darkness, the memory of Kong Koi still lingers in the imagination. Then again, if not a prank and not a ghost. Is it more comforting to have a strange human hopping around your house at night, or is it perhaps even worse?

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References:

<j)hya Anuman CJlajathon &dited by sr(argaret Boughlin 

Kong koi – Wikipedia

LAOS- Folklore Spirits and Legends: The Kasu, Phi Kong Koi & More – Studocu

ผวา! รอยเท้าปริศนาโผล่ขึ้นบ้าน

เปิดตำนาน ดงพญาไฟ-ผีตีนเดียว! ร.๕ เสด็จจึงกลายเป็นดงพญาเย็น สร้างรถไฟไปโคราชได้สำเร็จ!!

ผอ.วัฒนธรรม ยัน!รอยเท้าผีกองกอย จ.เลย เป็นเรื่องเข้าใจผิด!

Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo – Wikipedia 

Tai Kha

Folktales of the Kong Koi Ghost
Lao Folktales: Phi Kongkoi, the Ghost Named Kongkoi – Nye Noona

ผี กองกอย

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Hiyang Athouba: The Neglected and Forgotten Corpse Returned from the Dead

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In Meitei tradition, tales about the Hiyang Athouba warn about the dangers of not taking proper care about the dead and ill in your community and family. Left alone to decay, a corpse can sometimes rise as a vampiric monster. 

In the traditional folklore of the Meitei people of Manipur, death does not always mark an ending. Among the most feared supernatural beings recorded in ancient tales is the Hiyang Athouba, a revenant born not from curse or sorcery, but from neglect. It is a dead body that rises again, transformed into something predatory, aware, and deeply unnatural.

Read More: Check out all haunted legends from India

The Hiyang Athouba belongs to the category of Lai Phattaba, malevolent spirits within Meitei belief systems. Unlike wandering ghosts or ancestral spirits, it is explicitly physical. The danger lies not in an invisible soul, but in the corpse itself returning to motion.

The Manipur Vampire of Neglect

The story of the Hiyang Athouba (ꯍꯤꯌꯥꯡ ꯑꯊꯧꯕ) is and old one, perhaps from the ancient Kangleipak, a lesser known civilisation in modern day Manipur in northeastern India. With strong shamanistic traditions, some of their folktales have the same spirit. 

The Kingdom of Kangleipak: The Kingdom of Kangleipak (present-day Manipur, India) was an independent monarchy with a rich cultural and political history. Traditionally believed to have been founded in 33 CE by King Nongdā Lāiren Pākhangbā, Kangleipak was ruled by Meitei kings, who established a distinct administrative system and patronised the indigenous Sanamahism religion. // Image: Illustration of common people of Kangleipak.

Folktales in Meitei tradition have many cases where the dead have a transformation and come back as something evil. Traditional narratives describe the transformation occurring when a body remains unattended after death. Isolation is central to the legend. A person who dies alone, without funeral rites or communal care, risks becoming something else entirely. Folklore frequently notes a specific omen. If an animal, especially a cat, passes over the corpse, the transformation may begin.

The Returning Wife of Neglect

One widely preserved tale tells of a poor couple separated by necessity. They are poor people and are expecting a baby. The husband leaves home to earn money while his pregnant wife remains behind to rest and wait for his return. 

He gave her enough money to get by for a couple of months, and hopefully their neighbours would also assist when he went away. As months pass, resources disappear. She falls ill. Neighbors initially assist her but eventually withdraw, burdened by their own survival. Also anger toward the man made them eventually stop visiting her.

She didn’t get better though and she died alone in the house. No one knew about her death, and she left unattended for days. A cat jumped over her dead body. 

Days later, the husband returns at night carrying his earnings. When he calls for his wife, she answers from within to get in. At first nothing seems wrong. Yet her clothing hangs loosely, her hair is disordered, and her movements feel unnatural. Gradually he notices signs of decay beneath familiarity. Her teeth appear enlarged. Her gaze does not blink. She had become a Lai Phattaba, a Hiyang Athouba.

Lai Phattaba: (ꯂꯥꯏ ꯐꯠꯇꯕ), also spelled as Lai Phataba (ꯂꯥꯏ ꯐꯇꯕ),[1] is a term in the Meitei language that refers to an evil spirit. Meitei polytheism recognizes multiple evil spirits, which can be grouped according to their nature and domain. Hiyang-Athouba being a demonic and haunting spirit. When offering food to the Lai Phataba spirit, devotees always face east. This is considered the correct direction for prayer. It is believed to roam around the surroundings of every family. During the offering, the head of the family places the food on a plantain leaf set on a bronze plate. // Image: The long handed demoness Lai Khutsangbi aiming to the lonely house in the village, by Subadani, Ksh.

Realizing the truth, he flees into the darkness while Hiyang Athouba pursues him through the village. Doors remain closed. No one answers his pleas.  Some say it was simply night and no one heard. Some say they heard, but ignored. He survives only by climbing some lianas beyond the creature’s reach and waiting for dawn. With daylight, the being returns home and collapses once more into lifeless flesh.

The villagers later cremate the corpse immediately, understanding that destruction of the body is the only safeguard against further return.

The Persistence of the Dead

The Hiyang Athouba remains one of the clearest examples of a Southeast Asian corpse revenant tradition. Whose fault is it that she died, and whose responsibility is it that the dead doesn’t come back as a vampiric revenant? The husband or the bigger society? One thing is sure though. No one gains anything with a Hiyang Athouba on their tail. 

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References:

Hiyang Athouba – Wikipedia

Kangleipak – Wikipedia

Lai Phattaba – Wikipedia

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Kanjirottu Yakshi: The Vampire Spirit of the Sacred Vault B of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple

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Sealed away in Vault B of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala is an old and bloodthirsty deity said to pray to atone for her sins. Known as the vampiric Kanjirottu Yakshi, people still fear her wrath and refuse to open her vault. 

Along the backwaters and shaded groves of Kerala, where river and forest blend into shadows long before nightfall, old folk tales speak of a being as beautiful as she is deadly. She is known as the Kanjirottu Yakshi, a female spirit once human, now hunting for blood. 

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The yakshi spirits are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies. The benign ones are worshipped as tutelaries and are attendees of Kubera, the treasurer of the gods, and also the Hindu god of wealth who ruled Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. There are also malign and mischievous yakshinis with poltergeist-like behaviours. Many folk stories feature murdered women reborn as vengeful yakshis. Among these, the Kanjirottu Yakshi is one of the most feared, admired, and enduring figures.

Yakshi Spirits: Here depicting The Besnagar Yakshi, from the 3rd–1st century BC.

The Vengeful Courtesan

Kanjirottu Yakshi, also known as Mangalathu Sreedevi or Chiruthevi was said to have been born into a Padamangalam family called Mangalathy. She grew up in Kanjiracode, a small village in Southern Travancore that is now in Tamil Nadu.

Said to have been a beautiful courtesan, she had a relationship with Raman Thampi, son of King Rama Varma and rival of Anizhom Thirunal Marthanda Varma in the 1700. She was also known as a flirtatious woman, playing with men’s feelings and driving them to financial ruin for sport. 

She loved her servant and palanquin-bearer named Kunjuraman though. The job of Kunjiraman was to carry Sreedevi and her brother Govindan on his back. He was a married man and one of the few that had no interest in her romantically. 

He was close with her brother, Govindan though, some even claiming they were lovers. They often shared the same room, but she didn’t do anything about this. Instead, she directed her anger toward his wife.

Frustrated and arrogant, she plotted to have his wife killed, although her brother intervened and stopped the plan by spilling it all to Kunjiraman. Thinking she had gotten her way, Kunjiraman agreed to sleep with her. But he was plotting for himself and murdered her to avenge his wife. Some say he strangled her to death when they were in bed together. Her brother turned a blind eye to his crime and protected his friend. 

After her death, she turned into a yakshi, the malevolent kind. She was reborn in the village of Kajirottu in Kundara as a grown woman, still as beautiful as always. Hunting Kunjuraman and terrorising the rest of the villagers, she drank their blood. She said that she would stop if he decided to marry her. 

Her brother was a devoted upāsaka and follower of Lord Balarama, a deity of farming. She made a deal with him that she would spend a year with Kunjuraman if she agreed to become a devotee of Narasimha after this year ended. 

Narasimha: is a deity in Hinduism, revered as the fourth of the ten principal avatars (Dashavatara) of the god Vishnu. Narasimha is venerated as a fierce protector who destroys evil and safeguards his devotees. He is the destructor of not only external evil, but also one’s own inner evil of “body, speech, and mind”

She also had to agree to pray for Govindan and his relationship with Kunjuraman in this birth and all subsequent ones. The yakshi swore on ‘ponnum vilakkum’ in agreement.

Later, she was installed at a temple that Kanjiraccottu Valiaveedu owned. devotees used to give ‘Pongala’ to the Sreedevi Yakshi Amma on Pooram on the first Friday in every Malayalam month except Meenom. This temple no longer exists, so where is she now?

Pongala: Pongala is a harvest festival of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The name ‘Pongala’ means ‘to boil over’ and refers to the ritualistic offering of porridge made of rice, sweet brown molasses, coconut gratings, nuts and raisins. Generally women devotees participate in this ritual. Here from the Kalam Karikkal festival on Makara Chovva at Kalathil Sree Rudhiramala Bhagavathy Temple, Manatthala, Chavakkaadu, Thrissur. // Source

The Vampire of the Night in the Vault

The Kanjirottu Yakshi is now said to reside in Vault B of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. which supposedly also contains an enormous treasure and secrets inside of their sealed vaults.

Source

B vault is one of the six vaults of the temple and its original name being “Mahabharata Kallara” and is the largest cellar. A four-day Ashtamangala Devaprasnam conducted in August 2011 declared Kallara B as a “forbidden zone”. The enchanting and ferocious forms of this Yakshi are painted on the south-west part of Sri Padmanabha’s shrine. This is where Kanjirotty Yakshi is said to dwell. 

The temple was originally built in 6th century A.D., and later beautified further by the Kings of Travancore after 10 centuries. The royal family of Travancore is believed to be descendants of the adored saint Kulashekhara Alwar and are the ones watching over it.

Interior of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple from the early 20th century.

The vault remains unopened due to ongoing legal issues and the legend of the Yakshi, whom some believe will wreak havoc on the world if her prayers to Lord Narasimha within Vault B are disturbed by opening the vault.

Around a hundred years ago, when the area was grappling with serious famine, the temple authorities tried to open the chamber to use the treasure kept locked behind the doors. But, when they heard the sound of gushing ocean waves from behind the door, they stepped back and gave up the idea. Since then, it is believed that the chamber is connected to the Arabian Sea, and any attempt made with the modern technology to open the door will unleash catastrophes across the state and in Kerala.

Legend has it that in the 1930s, when a gang of temple invaders tried to siphon off the belongings of Vault B. But when they encountered Cobras, they fled the scene. 

In 2011 following the Supreme Court’s order five of them were opened and were found to be one of the largest treasure troves in the world. bags full of ancient gold coins, diamonds, gemstones, very heavy and huge gold and diamond necklaces.

The untimely death of Sundarajan, the petitioner, a month after the doors were opened. Another observer lost his mother to death as a result of the curse.

Kanjirottu Yakshi of Fear and Reverence

So what of the bloodthirsty Yakshi? Has all her years in prayers changed her terrorizing nature, or would she go back to her old ways if let out? 

Over the years, her deity has also garnered followers. Sundara Lakshmi, an accomplished dancer and consort of HH Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, was an ardent devotee of Kanjirottu Yakshi Amma.

In July 2020, the Supreme Court of India upheld the rights of the Travancore royal family to manage the Temple. The royal family has maintained that they oppose the opening of Vault B, stating that it is a “secret and sacred place.” According to them, no amount of treasure hidden inside would be worth the danger of letting her out. 

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References:

Kanjirottu Yakshi – Wikipedia

Yakshini – Wikipedia

Kanjirottu Yakshi: Blood Drinking Tale of Kerala – Scientific Monk

Padmanabhaswamy Temple ‘Vault B’: facts about the scary, inaccessible chamber, Thiruvananthapuram – TimesTravel

Kanjirottu Yakshi – Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

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Krasue: The Floating Head of Southeast Asian Nightmares

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Floating in the air in rural parts of Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia, the disembodied ghost of the Krasue is hunting for blood. 

Across Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and parts of Malaysia, villagers share a haunting vision that lives in whispered folklore. They speak of Krasue, a spirit unlike ghosts tied to graveyards or old houses. Krasue is a night creature that floats, haunting fields, villages, and the spaces between human life and the unseen world. In tradition she is known as a flying female ghost whose existence is bound to hunger, loss, and a body untethered from death.

Read More: Check out more ghostly tales from Thailand

While exact details differ by region, the core of the legend remains consistent: Krasue is a detached head with its internal organs trailing below like shimmering tendrils. She moves by night, drawn to life, to blood, and to the living body.

An Unquiet Spirit of Loss

Origins of Krasue vary in telling. In some versions she was once a human woman who died a violent or untimely death. In others she was cursed, punished, or transformed because of forbidden knowledge or unclean acts. After she dies, her sins cause her to be reborn as a phut (Thai: ภูต) that has to live off wasted, uncooked or rotten food.

There are others claiming that this spirit was formerly a rich woman, who had a length of black gauze or ribbon tied around the head and neck as protection from the sunlight. This woman was possessed by an evil spirit and cursed to become a Krasue.

Perhaps most popular is the origin story of the Krasue, a woman dabbling in black magic. While casting a spell, she made a mistake or used the wrong spell, causing her head and body to separate. These witches and witchcraft are also called “Mae Mot” (แม่มด) or “Yai Mot” (ยายมด). If not the witch turned into a Krasue herself, her daughters or granddaughters could, like an ancestral curse.

Usually, her upper part is described as a young and beautiful woman, at least in visual media. She has also been described as an older woman. Her head glows faintly in the dark, often compared to a flickering lamp or a will-o’-the-wisp, floating in the air.  

Below the head hang her organs, trailing down from the neck. In contemporary representations her teeth often include pointed fangs in yakkha (Thai: ยักษ์) or vampire fashion. This as well as the belief she is hunting blood, has made people see her as a vampire-like creature as well as a restless spirit. 

A Predator of Night and Flesh

Krasue is not content to wander silently. She hunts. In the day she looks like any other person, perhaps a bit tired. But at night she sheds her lower par of her body at home or somewhere else to seek substance. Every night she floats through the forest looking for food. Most often this consists of rotting meat or the blood of living animals. 

But although her victims are often livestock, she loves the blood of humans as well. Especially children, and sleeping villagers whose breath and warmth draw her closer. 

In some regions she feeds by licking blood from wounds or drinking from open water. There is a legend that says that the people who are wounded should be aware of the Krasue because it can smell the blood and will come to eat the blood at night when people fall asleep. Thai people also believe that it’s a bad idea to leave your clothes hanging outside overnight because the Krasue might just come by and wipe the feces and blood from her mouth on them. 

Her lust for blood of children has especially struck a cord in the collective fear against the Krasue. This makes many in the olden days fear when someone is giving birth, as they believe a Krasue will be able to smell it and come devour on fresh placenta and newborns.

Protection Against the Night

The Krasue is, as mentioned, mostly spotted in rural areas, especially in marshy places. According to Thai ethnographer Phraya Anuman Rajadhon, the Krasue is accompanied by a will-o’-the-wisp-like luminescent glow. The explanations attempted about the origin of the glow include the presence of methane in marshy areas. The Krasue is often said to live in the same rural areas as Krahang, a male spirit of Thai folklore and these two spirits are often mentioned or represented together.

The Krahang: The Krahang (กระหัง) manifests itself as a shirtless man, wearing a traditional loincloth, who flies in the night. Krahang uses two large kradong (กระด้ง), round rice winnowing baskets to fly in the It also often rides a sak tam khao (สากตำข้าว), the long wooden pestle of a traditional manual rice pounder. Legends of the Thai oral tradition say that this is an evil spirit that may harm people walking at night in out of the way areas.

Because belief in Krasue was strong, so were the protective practices to keep her out of the house. House-owners usually build spiky fences or grow spiky bamboo to protect themselves from the Krasue. The Krasue is scared of spiky things because it fears its intestines will get stuck and it will not be able to escape.

If the top part of the body fails to find the lower half before daybreak it will die in terrible pain. The Krasue will also die if its intestines get cut off or if its body disappears or gets hidden by someone and exposed by the sun. Some folk beliefs hold that the creature can be destroyed by burning it. 

But can you destroy her completely? Some say the danger of her transforming someone into one of her own is high. It is said that if a human consumes food that is stained with the blood or saliva of a Krasue, they will be doomed to become one. In some versions she also shares her saliva when she is at the brink of death to move host bodies. 

The Southeast Asian Fear and Krasue in Modern Imagination

In modern interpretation, the Krasue has been morphed into a Khmer princess. One story tells about a Khmer princess many years ago who was in love with a man from a lower status even though she had been set to marry a Siamese nobleman. Eventually, he found out about this and sent her to be executed by burning at the stake. The night before the execution, the Khmer princess got in touch with a powerful witch and placed a spell over her to protect herself from the flames. Unfortunately, the affect arrived too late and only her head, neck, and her internal organs remained intact while the fire charred her body.

As mentioned, the Krasue is not only told in one place, but across many southeast asian countries and cultures. There are many variations to the legend, but one common denominator to it is the floating head and torso with her organs hanging down. 

The Name of the Monster: Krasue กระสือ (Thai), អាប Ahp (Khmer, Penanggal or Palasik (Malay), Kuyang ກະສື (Lao), Kui’yang, Leyak or Pok-Pok (Indonesian), Ma lai (Vietnamese). 

There have been written records of this lore since the Ayutthaya period (around 14th – 18th century), but even today she is grabbing headlines of people claiming to have seen her, causing panic and fear, and also a bit of intrigue. Often, women acting strangely in a community are suspected of becoming a Krasue at night by other members of the village. Many sightings are still being reported each year in rural areas with people blaming Kra Sue activity for mysterious livestock deaths and villages have set up night patrol squads after a reported Krasue sighting in the last few years.

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References:

Krasue – Wikipedia

The Tale of Phi Krasue and Her Floating Head – Spooky Stories From Thailand

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Manananggal: The Night Splitter of Filipino Folklore

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As part of the shapeshifting Aswang demons of the Phillipines, the Manananggal was soaring the sky in her bat-like appearance on her hunt for human blood. 

Magtatangal. A witch. They say that it flies and eats human flesh, but when it flies, it only has half its body, and that is why it is called that because it’s tangal which means that it can disengage, and he dislodges half of his body and carries the other half home.
— Fray Domingo de los Santos, Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala (1703)

In the haunted forests and rural villages in the Philippines lives one of the most terrifying figures. Known as the Manananggal, this creature is a type of vampire spirit that strikes under the cover of night, feeding on the living.

Unlike the typical vampire tales of Europe, the Manananggal is not a corpse that rises from a grave nor a spirit that floats invisibly through walls. It is a living woman by day who becomes a monster by night, revealing a grotesque dual nature that makes her one of folklore’s most haunting night beings.

A Woman Who Becomes Night

The legend holds that the Manananggal appears in human form during the day, indistinguishable from any ordinary person. She may be a neighbor, a villager, or a quiet woman passing through town. But when darkness falls, her body undergoes a terrible transformation. Its name comes from the Tagalog word tanggal, meaning “to remove,” because this being literally separates itself in two before it hunts. The torso splits from the legs. The lower half remains rooted to the earth, while the upper body sprouts bat-like wings and soars into the night on stealthy wings. 

Once airborne, the Manananggal hunts for her prey. She is very similar to other vampiric Visayan legends like of the Mandurug, vampiric being that live as people during the day. Sometimes the Mandrugo is said to have a bat-like appearance, but one thing setting them apart is the victims of the Manananggal. 

Read More: Mandurug is said to live in the region of Capiz and disguises itself as a beautiful woman. It sucks blood using a proboscis-like tongue. Some live in forests far from human communities, but the Mandurug can infiltrate human society by marrying into a community, either slowly draining their husband of blood or using him strictly as a hideout and leaving at night to raid other villages, thereby maintaining their cover. // Image: Capiz/ Source

The Manananggal’s favorite victims are sleeping humans, especially pregnant women. According to tradition, she uses a long, thin proboscis-like tongue to penetrate sealed doors and windows without disturbing the sleepers. With this horror-like organ she drains the blood of her victim or feeds on the unborn child inside the womb.

She is also said to target newlyweds and lovers, newborn children and men who were left before marriage. It’s not just a single bite, but often a slow death of feeding on them over a longer period of time. 

The Manananggal is not always hunting alone. The Tiktik is a type of bird that makes a “tik-tik” sound, warning people of the creature’s presence. As the sound gets louder, the farther away the Manananggal is. If it goes completely quiet, the Manananggal is too close for comfort. 

Image: Gian Bernal/Wikimedia

How to Battle the Manananggal

Can you fight against a creature like the Manananggal? According to legends, you have to strike on the body left behind while the Manananggal is out hunting. Folklore holds that if villagers find and sprinkle salt, garlic, or ash onto the detached lower half before sunrise, the monster cannot rejoin its body. When morning light arrives, the separated torso will burn and the creature will die. They are also thought to avoid daggers, light, vinegar, spices and the tail of a stingray, which can be fashioned into a whip and fight them. 

But the safest thing to do is to protect your house for the Manananggal before it gets close. Small containers of salt, ash and raw rice, and the smell of burning rubber are said to deter the Manananggal from approaching one’s house.

Birth of a Creature

But where does Mananaggal really come from? In some instances, shamanists or other practitioners of the occult have also been called Manananggal, using the word as a type of witch. And according to some lore, a Manananggal is not born, but created. 

The Filipino Shaman: Filipino shamans, commonly known as babaylan, were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. Babaylan were women serving in spiritual leadership roles or effeminate men (asog or bayok). There are also sorcerers who are said to have hereditary powers. This type of sorcerers are often conflated with the aswang, evil vampire-like supernatural beings capable of appearing human (or were originally human). The Spanish colonization of the Philippines and the introduction of Catholic Christianity resulted in the extinction of most native shamanistic practices and persecution of the practicioners. // Image: Babaylan Festival in Bago City by Hptina24

Some say that to become a Manananggal you need a special ointment and an egg containing a black chick. While chanting a special incantation you should anoint yourself with the ointment and place the egg in your armpit until it disappears.

Other traditions say when a Manananggal does not kill their victims outright they will turn into another Mananaggal.

Origins of the Manananggal Legend

The Manananggal appears most prominently in Tagalog and Visayan folklore, especially in Capiz, but similar beings are recorded throughout Philippine culture. The Manananggal is a part of the Aswang, or evil spirit lore in the Phillipines. 

Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil and malevolent creatures in Filipino folklore and the Spanish colonists noted that the aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines in the 16th century. Aswang are traditionally described as one-dimensional monsters and inherently evil by nature, with no explicable motives beyond harming and devouring other creatures.

Among the Aswang types, the Manananggal is also often compared to the Wakwak, a vampiric and bird-like creature as well. The main way to tell the difference between the Manananggal and the Wakwak is that the Wakwak cannot separate its torso from its body.

Wakwak: The Wakwak is a vampiric, bird-like creature in Philippine mythology. In some places the Wakwak is believed to be another form a vampire can take or a type of witch-like entity. The Wakwak is generally described as a very large bird with either feathery or leathery wings, which is said to be as sharp as a knife. It is often described by old folks to have long sharp talons, which it uses to slash its victims and to get their heart. The sound associated with the Wakwak is considered to be an indicator that something is nearby. 

Colonizing Folklore

There are many witness accounts written down from the Spanish colonizers about the locals witnessing these types of entities. But what is the truth about the Manananggal legends, and exactly who shaped it into being what it is today?

The Manananggal legend is most likely from colonial times. The way to repel these entities are very similar to European vampire lore, especially Balkan lore. Chances are that the Spaniards likely villanised and demonized the Aswang entities when they came with Christian missionarries, trying to convert them from their pagan ways. 

The Spanish Colonizing the Phillipines: The colonization of the Phillipines by the Catholic Christian Spaniards shaped the way we view Filipino mythology today. // Image: The Principalia of a rural parish in colonial Philippines, joining the Holy Week procession. Illustration, c. 1870.

Spanish chroniclers like Antonio de Morga and Francisco Ignacio Alcina provided some of the earliest written accounts of Philippine beliefs and have therefore shaped them a lot in terms of how we view them. 

Why the Manananggal showed up during this time period is up for debate and even some conspiracy theories. Some speculate during this time of conversion, the Spaniards created the legend of the Manananggal, as an attempt to draw the local people out of the forests and into the cities. Making them easier to control.

What the truth is difficult to say today, and how the Manananggal legend changed and was shaped before colonisation is tricky as the lack of written documentation. 

A Legend Alive in Story

In modern times the Manananggal remains one of the Philippines’ most iconic supernatural figures. She appears in horror films, literature, and oral storytelling. 

When the moon rises and the world grows quiet, some still say she watches from treetops and rooflines, awaiting the moment when the last lamp goes out and the night feeds again.

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Aswang – Wikipedia

https://mythologicaencyclopedia.com/Manananggal

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The Churel: The Vengeful Vampire Woman of South Asian Folklore

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Fueled by anger and vengeance, the vampiric Churel of South Asian folklore, is said to haunt down men to drain their blood as a vengeful spirit brought back from the dead.

Across South Asia, there are countless legends of spirit beings that stalk the night and prey on the living like a vampire. Among the most feared and vivid of these is the Churel (चुडैल in Hindi and چڑیل in Urdu), a female spirit often associated with death, betrayal, and unfulfilled fate. 

The Churel appears in stories from all over South Asia, but is perhaps most predominantly told in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and today she remains one of the most potent ghost figures in regional folklore. Her presence is distinct, terrifying, and symbolic.

A Spirit Born of Suffering

The legend tells that a woman might become a Churel under tragic or unjust circumstances. Most commonly after she died during childbirth or pregnancy, but also that she was murdered by her family or husband can make her come back as the bloodsucking Churel. 

Instead of finding peace, she becomes trapped between realms, bearing resentment and a thirst for retribution. This way, she is known as an entity much like a vengeful ghost as well as a vampiric or even demonic creature. 

Other names she is known under: There are so many variations of this legend, she also comes under different names depending where her tales are told. She is called Chudail, Chudel, Churrail, Churreyl among otheres. In Gugarat she is also known as Jakihn, Jakhai, Mukai, Nagulai, Alvantin. In Punjabi they are often called Pichal peri or pichhal pairī.

The Churel is often described with a face that may be hideous and distorted. Her hair is long and unkempt. Her eyes are dark and burning with rage, her breast saggy, and her hands like claws. They are also described to have pig faces with large fangs or human-like faces with sharp tusks

Her appearance is based on what people deem unattractive in their time and culture it seems like. Sometimes she has the ability to shapeshift into a beautiful woman or a little girl to lure the men to her. 

One thing about her appearance she is known for is her backward-facing feet. Something that could be the only way to set her apart from other livingn women when she appears in her beautiful form. 

The Backward Facing Feet Vampire in Other Cultures: In Dominican folklore, people have the legend of ‘La Ciguapa’, a beautiful woman roaming through the trees at night. The only way you can tell she’s something other than human is by her backwards facing feet, and she as well lures men into their death. How did such a similar legend appear on the opposite side of the world? Some believe that it has African roots. Some believe it came with the Spaniards from the classics.  

Predator of the night

In folklore, the Churel is known to stalk men and especially young men traveling alone at night. She may call to them in the voice of a loved one, lure them to isolated places, and then reveal her true form. At that moment, the victim becomes trapped by fear and confusion.

Some tales describe the Churel’s attack as sucking the life force or blood from her victims. She is often said to attack people from the youngest to the oldest, or perhaps most handsome to the least. Working herself through families and friend groups. Legend also tells about Churel’s kidnapping of young men, imprisoning him until he is elderly, or else using him sexually until he withers and dies.

It is also said that she is a danger to new mothers as well. In other versions, the Churel’s goal is not consumption but revenge. Her victims may be men who wronged women, men who harmed others, or simply those unlucky enough to encounter her.

She stalks her prey close to graveyards, forests, crossroads and cremation grounds, feeding on her victims blood, and even semen. Some are said to die instantly, some youth surviving her initial attack is slowly wasting away and dying. 

Types of Churel According to Lore

Although it is a rather old legend spanning across countries, languages and religions, the variations of the legends are vast and many. There are those who have tried to break the types of legends down into three categories though. 

Most Churel are Soshi Churel, women who were neglected in life and now stalk men to drain their blood and semen. Often they will be particularly fond of the blood of their own relatives.

Some Churel specifically target and molest children. Known as Poshi Churel, they only feed upon children and are submissive to their husbands, should he still be alive.

Toshi Churel, and are kind and beneficial to their families. They often become protectors of their family and serve their husbands after death.

Regional Variations of the Legend

But from where does the legend come from, this particular bloodsucking monster with her feet backwards? The Churel myth likely originated in Persia, where similar spirits were said to arise from women who died with unfulfilled desires. And there are Persian accounts of travelers seeing reversed footprints and by mistake, running right toward her. 

The legend spread into South Asia and merged with local traditions. In some accounts, they are associated with demonic entities or identified with dakinis female spirits or servants linked to the goddess Kali.

The Dākinī: The concept of the ḍākinī varies by context and tradition. In early Hindu texts and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, it refers to demonesses who consumed human flesh or essence. In Hindu Tantric literature, Ḍākinī is a goddess linked to specific chakras or the seven elements of the body. In Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhism, ‘ḍākinī’ can signify fierce female embodiments of enlightened energy or spiritually developed women who aid Tantric initiates in achieving enlightenment.

There are many variations of the legend, many of them found in Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Among the Korwas of Mirzapur, a woman who dies in a lying room for childbirth can become a Churel. The Pataris and Majhwars say a girl who dies during pregnancy or in an “unclean” state becomes a Churel, appearing as a girl in white who lures men into mountains. To free the captives they need to sacrifice a goat. 

The Kharwars believe that when the soul leaves the body, it becomes air but if it comes in contact with a person, the soul becomes troublesome. The Bhuiyars claim a girl who dies before 20 days of age becomes a Churel.

In Punjab, it is believed that women who die without proper funeral rites related to their bed may return as Churels. In Punjabi they are often called Pichal peri or pichhal pairī (ਪਿੱਛਲ ਪੈਰੀ, پچھل‌ پيری), meaning reversed footed. They are said to roam the mountains of India and Pakistan and are found in the Himalayas, though it occasionally comes from the mountains and enters some Indian villages.

In Pakistan, sightings are usually reported in the rural mountainous regions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, however sightings in the Punjab province are also occasionally reported.

The Reversed Feet Tribe: Abarimon or antipode in mythology are people whose feet are reversed, however, in spite of this disability, were able to run at extreme speeds. This majestic tribe was first described in Europe by Pliny the Elder, in his book, Natural History (VII 11), who believed them to be native to India or somewhere in the Himalayan mountains.

In Gujarat, any woman who dies unnaturally may become a Churel, though earlier traditions linked this specifically to lower-caste women. In South Gujarat, a village near Mandvi is battling an unusual crisis as it is named the same as the monster, creating problems for the locals. For more than a decade, villagers have been striving to change the name. They say they do not even know how the village came to be called Chudel. Families face difficulties during marriage negotiations. Young men struggle to find brides, as many families hesitate to send their daughters to a village with such a name. Similarly, girls from the village find it hard to secure matches elsewhere, as prospective grooms are reluctant to visit.

It is also believed if a woman died during the Diwali festival, she would return as one of the undead as well as days where she was menstruating. Churel is also the word for a living witch.

Rituals and protection

The best way to avoid a Churel is to prevent her creation. Across regions, people believed in various ways to protect themselves from a Churel and various rituals to appease or ways to content them, like spitting three times, reciting prayers and other spiritual rituals. 

In Tamil culture human priests gather and collectively propitiate her with offerings. In some villages, a Stonehenge-like structure is used to ward off the Churel.

How to prevent a Churel Forming: The body of the woman is anointed with five different products of a cow and sacred texts recited. The place where she died is cleaned thoroughly and mustard (Sarson) is sprinkled on the spot, and along the path used to carry the body. Mustard is said to grow in the land of the dead, and the sweet smell keeps her pacified. Sometimes a Baiga who is someone who pacifies spirits, will step in. In some villages, people believed that placing a corpse face down or burying it in a specific posture would prevent the spirit from rising. If Hindu, the remains are cremated as per Hindu tradition.

The Churel in modern memory

Today the Churel appears in South Asian horror films, television dramas, and contemporary storytelling. She is often depicted as a terrifying female figure, her feet turned backward, her eyes glowing in moonlit fields.

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References:

Churel – Wikipedia

The Name Of This Gujarat Village Has Become A Curse For Its Women

Pichal Peri – Wikipedia

Rajaram Narayan Saletore (1981). Indian Witchcraft. Abhinav Publications. pp. 121–2. ISBN 978-0-391-02480-9

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The Mandurugo Vampire Bride of Philippine Folklore

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Hidden among human society, the vampiric Mandurugo creature is slowly draining her unassuming husbands of their blood and life to sustain her eternal youth and beauty. 

In Philippine folklore terminology, Mandurugo is distinguished from the broader category of aswang, a general term for malevolent shape-shifters. The name mandurugo itself comes from the root word dugo, which means “blood” in several Philippine languages. A mandurugo is literally “one who deals in blood.”

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from the Philippines

The mandurugo is typically described as a woman of striking beauty by day, indistinguishable from any other person in her community. And unlike many vampiric notions, she is not seen as a revenant or a part of the undead, but rather a real life woman or creature with powers.

A Beautiful Woman in the Dark

As mentioned, the mandurugo blends in with the rest of human society and targets mainly young men. She marries time and time again to feed on her husbands.  She feeds on her husband at night, laying in bed next to him as he sleeps. She has a pointed tongue she uses to prick and suck his blood and life. 

She also has the ability to shapeshift into a harpy-like creature with wings and at night she can fly and hunt her prey, something she has in common with another vampiric creature in Filipino mythology we’ll come back to.

Her appetites give rise to fear and mystery. If a man suddenly falls ill without explanation, communities whisper that a mandurugo may have visited him in the night. If livestock weaken or drain perplexingly, people suspect the same hunger at work. 

For protection, some would make a concoction of duhat (Java plum) mixed with ginger, manzanitas bark, yantok, blood and makahiya leaves and used as an offering to the mandurugo, so she wouldn’t harm those in the household.

Folklore and Fear of the Filipino Shapeshifters

The Mandurugo is thought of being a type of Aswang creature, shapeshifting monsters in Filipino myths and legends. These creatures were documented to be some of the most feared in folklore and their motifs were often nothing but causing most harm.  

Asawang: Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil and malevolent creatures in Filipino folklore, such as vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and transforming human-beast hybrids. Spanish colonists noted that the aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century.

Most of the stories and legends about the Mandurugo are found in both Tagalog and Bicol lore, specifically around Capiz, Panay Island it seems to have been most prominent.

We have documented tales about the lore from the Spanish from the 16th century and where the lore about the Asawang and Mandurugo were seen and understood through the Christian lense and demonology, that made an impact about how they are seen today. 

It seems that the lore about the Mandrurugo changed drastically. In pre-colonial Philippines the Mandurugo used protective rituals during vulnerable life stages such as childbirth. It is also likely that once, the mandurugo were a type of Kinnara or kinnari, gentle and beautiful winged creatures that resemble slim youths. They have wings same as birds on their backs, some on their buttocks, in oral tradition it is believed that the Kinari will love and serve devotedly any human who has treated it kind and when the human breaks the creature’s heart the kinari turns into a blood sucking monster.

Kinnara: (Sanskrit: किन्नर Kiṃnara) is a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology that the monster of Mandurugo could have sprung out from. They are described as part human and part bird, and have a strong association with music and love. Believed to come from the Himalayas, they often watch over the well-being of humans in times of trouble or danger. // Source: Wikimedia

The Manananggal Vampiric Creature Targeting Pregnant Women

As mentioned, the Mandurugo is only one of many vampiric creatures with a bird-like appearance. The manananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings. 

They are definitely similar and have sometimes been used interchangeably in stories. The main difference being who they are hunting. The Manananggal prey on unsuspecting, sleeping pregnant women in their homes. The myth of the manananggal is widely recognized in the Visayan regions of the Philippines.

The word manananggál is derived from the Tagalog word tanggál, meaning “to remove” or “to separate”, and literally translating to “remover” or “separator”. They also use an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suck fetuses from these pregnant women. They also prefer to eat the heart and the liver and the phlegm of sick people. Folklore also associates the creature with targeting newlyweds, lovers, newborn children, and occasionally grooms who were abandoned before marriage.

Traditional practices for killing a manananggal include applying salt, garlic, ash, or fire to the lower half, thereby preventing the upper torso from reuniting with it. If it fails to recombine before sunrise, the creature is believed to die.

The Girl With Many Lovers

One of the most famous stories about the husband hunting mandurugo vampire, is the Tagalog story of The Girl With Many Lovers. 

A young girl said to have been the most beautiful in the land, married at the age of sixteen. Although she was from an unknown place and an unknown family, her beauty won everyone over. Her husband was young and strong, but something was wrong. Although there were no clear signs of illness or disease, he withered away within a year and died. 

After his death she remarried, but her second husband, and then her third, suffered the same fate. After all the death that kept following her, suspicion around her grew, although nothing could be proved. 

Her fourth husband, having been warned, feigned sleep one night while keeping a knife close at hand. At midnight he felt a presence looming over him and then a prick in his neck. He stuck at the creature with his knife, and heard a screech and the flapping of wings. 

The next day, his bride was found dead near their house with a knife wound in her chest, having been a blood sucking Manurugo the whole time. 

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References:

Mandurugo – Wikipedia

mandurugo | Facts, Information, and Mythology

https://solarspell-dls.sfis.asu.edu/mea/wikipedia/wp/v/Vampire.htm

Bicolano Myths : ASWANG (BIKOLANO MYTHOLOGY)

Mandurugo: A vampire from Filipino folklore

Kinnara – Wikipedia

Manananggal – Wikipedia

https://www.aswangproject.com/creatures-mythical-beings-philippine-folklore-mythology/