Legends and horror stories about vampires exist among many peoples, but only in India, almost all mythology is crammed with cannibalistic monsters and bloodsuckers.
The most ancient Indian vampire demons are named Rakshasa and are very often mentioned in cultural monuments such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana. They live in the underground land of Tala and are portrayed as fanged monsters that change shape.
Many Rakshasa properties are similar to those. which is inherent in vampires. The Rakshasas come out only at night, they have long sharp fangs, and the sunlight can hurt or kill them. And they feed on the blood of living beings. A special treat for them is the blood of newborn babies and pregnant women.
People most often encountered Rakshasas in cemeteries, where they loved to walk and taunt mortals who came there to bury their loved ones. In addition to natural immortality, the Rakshasas were almost impossible to kill with any weapon, so the bravest heroes in Indian legends were those who fought with the Rakshasas and fought them back.
It was possible to defeat the Rakshasa either by calling for help a deity named Agni, or by arranging a trap for him by driving him under the bright sunlight.
Even more disgusting monsters were ghouls called Pishacha, which literally translates as "Raw Meat Eaters."
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The Pishachi arose out of the wrath of Brahma and are portrayed as bestial and very aggressive beings. Compared to them, the Rakshasas were intellectuals, because the Pishachi were only aggression and a desire to devour human flesh.
In Indian tradition, they are depicted with bulging eyes, swollen veins and uneven teeth. Sometimes they can move into a human body and make this person do various nasty things.
You can also kill them with fire or sunlight, but even simply engaging in combat with them is deadly, since anyone who has close contact with them will still die within 9 months.
Another bloodthirsty creature from Indian legends and myths bore the name of Vetala. They could take any shape, but most often they appeared in the form of half bat - half human.
Vetals are the main characters in the literary work "Baital Pachisi" - a collection of Indian fairy tales, which was recorded in Sanskrit as early as the 11th century AD.
Vetals are very vicious and sadistic demons, they can eat corpses, but they attack the living, drink blood, especially preferring children. There is also a belief that a person buried without observing the basic rituals will become a Vetala, and in order to correct this mistake, it will be necessary to perform a ritual of exorcism over them.
Now let's move on to the being called Bhuta. After death, the insane, crippled, deceased children or people who died a sudden violent death, for example from murder, turn into Bhutu. Most often, Bhuta appears as a light, fast shadow or ball of light, sometimes as a hazy ghost, bat, or owl.
They hide near cemeteries, old ruins, abandoned houses. and in places of cremation. They attack vagabonds and random travelers and drink their blood. And the sweetest treat for them is milk extracted from the stomachs of babies who have recently been breastfed.
Let's move on to the next monster, which is called the word Mulo, which in translation from Gypsy means “He who died”. These are the ghosts of suicides or people who have died from accidents. Mulo come to those who tortured them during their lifetime or caused them to die and drink their blood. Mulo most often looks like this or that person during his lifetime, and only by some details, for example, by a bite wound on his arm or neck, it can be understood that this is not a living person.
In addition to his thirst for blood, Mulo, both men and women, has an irrepressible sexual appetite.
Mulo has many traits that make them akin to European vampires, such as a fear of sunlight and the possibility of death from a hawthorn or aspen stake. However, in the case of Mulo, to be sure, steel or iron needles are driven into the corpse, thrusting them into the heart, mouth or eyes.
But one of the most fearsome Indian vampires is a demon named Brahmaparusha. With his huge fangs, he gnaws off the victim's head and drinks blood directly from the severed neck. After that, he devours the brain, rips open the belly of the corpse and wraps himself around it with still warm intestines.
After that, in a state of ecstasy, he performs a wild and strange dance on the remains. And it is impossible to kill or drive away Brahmaparusha in any way, as well as to escape from him, therefore, if you meet him, this will be the last thing you will see in life.
