.
Bhootas are able to shape-shift into various animal forms at will, but are most often seen in human shape. However, their feet often reveal them to be ghosts, since they face backwards. As the earth is regarded as sacred or semi-sacred in many traditions of the Indian subcontinent,
bhootas will go to great lengths to avoid contact with it, often floating a fraction above it, although sometimes as much as a foot off the ground. They often lurk in the branches of specific trees and prefer to appear in white clothing. Sometimes
bhootas haunt specific houses (the so-called
bhoot banglas, i.e.
bhoot bungalows), which are typically the places where they were killed or places which hold some other deep significance for them. Many
ghost stories in the region combine these elements. For instance, they might involve a protagonist who fails to flee or take countermeasures when they run across a
bhoota. Instead, they unwittingly accept the ''bhoota's'' companionship (e.g., keep the ghost company as he/she walks through a forest, or (if a man) picks up the ghost in his car because it looks like an attractive woman waiting by the roadside at night). They become progressively aware that their companion is dressed entirely in white and has a strangely nasal voice, before the horrifying realization dawns on them that their companion's feet are turned backwards, or he/she is not casting a shadow in the moonlight, or is walking without actually touching the ground.
Bhootas are said to seek out milk and immerse themselves in it. Consuming
bhoota-contaminated milk is considered a typical route for
bhoota-
possession of humans, which has also been a frequent plot element in bhoota stories. A particular kind of
bhoota, that of a woman who died during pregnancy or childbirth, is known as a
churel.
Churels look like human women, but their feet are turned backwards or other features are turned upside down. They can change their forms at any time. Churel often try to lure young men at road crossings and fields or similar places. If a man is enamored of a
churel, it is believed that she will cause his death. There are, however, stories of people living with a
churel, or even marrying one. ==Thwarting
bhootas==