Churel

The legend of Churel supposedly originated from Persia where they were described as being the spirits of women who died with "grossly unsatisfied desires". In South-East Asia, the Churel is the ghost of a woman who either died during childbirth, while she was pregnant, or during the prescribed "period of impurity". The period of impurity is a common superstition in India where a woman is said to be impure during her period and the twelve days after she has given birth. According to some sources, in India, if a woman dies an unnatural death or during childbirth, especially during Diwali, she will become a Churel. 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. In western India, especially Gujarat, any woman who dies an unnatural death is believed to turn into a Churel, also known as , , , and . Originally, it was believed that only a low-caste woman turns to a churel. ==Appearance==

The true form of a Churel is described as extremely ugly with saggy breasts, a black tongue, and thick rough lips although sometimes she is reported to have no mouth at all. She may have a pot belly, claw-like hands, and scruffy, long pubic-like hair. They are also described to have pig faces with large fangs or human-like faces with sharp tusks and long, wild hair. She is sometimes described as having a fair front and a black back, but she invariably has her feet turned backward. A Churel may also be a shape-shifter. She can assume the form of a beautiful young woman, carrying a lantern with her head covered to charm any man she comes upon. The Petni/Shakchunni of West Bengal and Bangladesh wears traditional bangles made of shell (a sign of married women) and red and white sari. ==Activities==

Churels are most often reported in and around cemeteries, cremation grounds, abandoned battlefields, thresholds of houses, crossroads, and toilets. If the Churel was one who died due to ill-treatment by family members, she avenges her early death by going for the males of her family, starting with the youngest. She would drain him of blood until he is shriveled up into an old man and then go for the next male. When all the males in her family are done, she moves on to other people. Any person who has seen a Churel can also be attacked by a deadly disease and those who answer to her night calls can end up dead. In the poem Lalla Radha and the Churel, a priest warns the protagonist to not go near the Peepul trees because that is where the Churel lives and she might take him away and kill him. He still went to the Peepul tree and she called out to him in a sweet tone and seduced him until he went to her. Blinded by his desire, he did not notice that while he lay with her, his body seemed to get frailer until he died in a state of ecstasy. In the guise of the enchantress, this femme fatale hunts for young men on highways and seduces the lone traveller to accompany her. Another tale narrates that a young man who is seduced by the churel and eats the food given to him, returns at dawn to the village, turned into an aged man. This demon also has associations with the various accounts of the Mother Goddess as well as the Rakshasi. Within Hindu belief, Churels may turn into dakinis and serve the goddess Kali, joining the goddess in her routine of feasting on human flesh and blood. ==Prevention and remedies==

The best way to avoid a Churel is to prevent her creation. This means that people have to take good care of pregnant women. However, if a woman dies, the creation of a Churel can be still prevented and precautionary measures exist and are taken if a woman becomes one. 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. In some places in India, the corpse may be carried out of the house from the side door, rather than the front door so that the deceased does not find her way back in the house. If a woman dies during childbirth or during her menstrual cycle, her "corpse is anointed with five different products of the cow and special texts are recited." In the Hilly regions, the place where a pregnant woman died is carefully scraped and the earth removed. The spot is then sown with mustard (sarson), which is also sprinkled along the road traversed by the corpse on its way to the burial ground. The reason behind this is that the mustard blossoms in the world of the dead, and the sweet smell pleases the spirit and keeps her content, so that she does not long to revisit her earthly home; secondly, the Churel rises from her grave at nightfall and seeks to return to her friends but when she sees the minute grains of the mustard scattered abroad and stoops to pick it up, and while she is engaged, the sun rises and she is unable to visit her home. This story also tells us that the Churel usually only comes out during the night. Some sources say she can only be stopped by a Baiga (someone who gets rid of evil spirits) after a goat has been sacrificed. In one story, a boy described his visits from the Churel. Medicine men (men who were in charge of concocting herbal medicines and reciting incantations to get rid of evil) were called in and they helped get rid of the Churel which led to the survival of the boy. Burial techniques for prevention The forming of a Churel is prevented by burying the corpse of any woman who is likely to become one, instead of the usual Hindu cremation. Rites and rituals of her burial should be performed with utmost care. The woman should be remembered in songs and prayers. Many methods, which differ according to different regions, exist to stop a woman from turning into a Churel. One way is to bury the body and fill the grave with thorns and pile heavy stones on top to stop the evil spirit from getting out. If a woman dies during pregnancy, her body is cut open to take the child out and both mother and child are buried in the same grave. The Majhwar of Mizapur bury their corpses with thorns and pile heavy stones on top to stop Churels from getting out. In the hilly regions of India, the dead woman is anointed with five products of a cow and texts are recited. Her coffin is then burned and then either buried or thrown in the river. Other techniques include nailing the four fingers and toes and roping together all the thumbs and big toes with iron rings and planting mustard in the soil in which she died. According to the Oraon, the most evil Churels have their eyes sewn up with thorns and their hands and legs are broken. They are then laid down in the grave with their faces downwards while a spirit doctor follows the body all the way to the graveyard scattering mustard seeds all over the place and reciting prayers. The Gonds of Southern Mandla protect themselves from Churels "by tying down the corpse of a woman who dies in childbed with the child surviving". The Bhumias, who are highly suspicious of witchcraft, rest the women with their faces down to stop them from returning as Churels, while men are laid to rest on their backs. ==Stories==

Among the authors who have written stories about the Churel are Rudyard Kipling, Humayun Ahmed, Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, and Sukumar Ray. The Churel also figures into children's literature (such as Thakurmar Jhuli [Bengali children literature]) and television series. In the Indian Bengali horror film Putuler Protishod (1998), a girl who is murdered by her in-laws returns as a Churel to exact revenge. Netflix original film Bulbbul (2020) is a retelling of this legend which gives a fictional origin of Churel. But without depicting her as an antagonist, this film takes a more feminist approach by narrating the story in a different perspective. Bhoot FM, a live radio program aired by Bangladeshi radio channel Radio Foorti 88.0 FM was famous for sharing allegedly true paranormal stories. In that show, people from all over the country often called in to share their own stories of supernatural creatures and there have been several accounts of Churels. ==See also==