Magic in South Asia
Mantra, yantra and tantra, the lemon and chillies hung against the evil eye, astrology, and temple healers and exorcists. 195 entries on EveryJaadu so far.
Places of magic
Ujjain 4Varanasi 4Manipur 3Gaya 2Haridwar 2Khajuraho 2Knossos 2Mathura 2Moirang 2Tarapith 2Thiruvananthapuram 2West Bengal 2Ahmedabad 1Allahabad 1Anand district 1Anandpur Sahib 1Angkor Thom 1Angkor Wat 1Artigas 1Arun Valley Region 1Atla village 1Batu Caves 1Bhedaghat 1Bodh Gaya 1Bukkur 1Bungamati 1Canary Islands 1Chandradwip 1Charkhi Dadri 1Chaurasi 1
Rites of the region
Nimbu-mirchi and nazar utarnaThe kajal dot on a childConsecrating a yantraTheyyamBhuta KolaKolam at the thresholdNavagraha shanti
Countries
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession
A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreHoliहोली
A Hindu spring festival marked by coloured powders and bonfires to celebrate love and virtue.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreYoginiयोगिनी
A female master of yoga and tantra, or a fierce goddess aspect in Indian temples.Tradition · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreTantraतन्त्र
An esoteric yogic tradition from India focusing on ritual, mantra, and body-based spiritual practices.Tradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNavagrahaनवग्रह
A group of nine celestial deities in Hinduism that govern fate and astrologyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDaayanदायन
A vengeful female spirit from Indian folklore, often blamed for misfortune and witchcraft accusations.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 morePishtacoñañaq; kharisiri
An Andean bogeyman said to steal human fat for oil and medicineBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreYakshiniयक्षिणी
Some guard, some haunt: female nature spirits of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain loreBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreBrahmarakshasaब्रह्मराक्षसः
A cursed Brahmin spirit in Hindu lore, feared for harm and venerated in temples.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreDakiniḍākinī
A goddess figure in Hinduism and Buddhism, ranging from flesh-eating demoness to enlightened energy.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 6 moreChurel
A female revenant of South Asian folklore, feared for luring men awayBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaWitch-hunts in India
Violent persecution of people accused of witchcraft, mostly women, in rural IndiaBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 IndiaKaliकाली
A fierce Hindu goddess of time and destruction, worshipped as a protective mother.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 IndiaParashuramaपरशुराम (Paraśurāma)
The warrior sage of Hinduism who wields a divine axe to restore cosmic balance.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePishachaपिशाच (piśāca)
A flesh-eating demon from Indian religions, feared for possession and madness.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBhairavaभैरव
A fierce manifestation of Shiva and a Buddhist protector deity worshipped across South and East Asia.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 IndiaAlakshmiदेवी अलक्ष्मी
A Hindu goddess of misfortune and the shadow opposite to LakshmiBeing · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 IndiaChödགཅོད
A Tibetan Buddhist ritual that uses fear and self-offering to sever attachment to the selfTradition · Cursing and harm · Change and initiation Living
🇮🇳 IndiaPashupata Shaivismपाशुपत
An early Hindu ascetic school focused on liberation through ritual and devotion to ShivaTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreBhootभूत
A restless spirit of the dead in South Asian belief and folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePichal periਪਿੱਛਲ ਪੈਰੀ
A backward-footed female spirit of northwestern South Asia and Central AsiaBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAsian witchcraft
A broad overview of magical practices and persecution across Asian culturesTradition · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇮🇳 IndiaIndrajalaइन्द्रजाल
A Sanskrit term for illusion and conjuring, linking stage magic to Hindu philosophy.Belief · Wonder and entertainment · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRavanaरावण (Rāvaṇa)
A ten-headed demon king of Lanka and a devoted follower of Shiva in Hindu tradition.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇱🇰 Sri LankaMara
A Buddhist figure representing the forces that block spiritual awakening and keep beings trapped in rebirth.Being · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Living
🇮🇳 IndiaMahishasuraमहिषासुर
A bovine asura slain by the goddess Durga in Hindu myth and legendBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇵🇾 Paraguay and 2 moreKurupiCurupí
A Guaraní forest spirit known for his elongated phallus and role as a protector or abductor.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreCrocotta
A mythical dog-wolf of India and Ethiopia that mimics human voicesBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇧🇴 Bolivia and 1 moreAnchanchu
A shapeshifting vampire of the Andes that drains blood and demands offerings from miners.Being · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaKeibu Keioiba
A tiger-headed man from Manipur folklore who was once a priestFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaEcheneis
A legendary fish said to hold back ships and influence legal proceedingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaPinglak
A lion from the Panchatantra whose friendship with a bull is destroyed by cunning advisorsFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreWerecat
A feline shapeshifter found in global folklore and occult beliefBeing · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Legendary
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreSanni Yakumaසන්නි යකුම
A traditional Sinhalese exorcism ritual featuring eighteen masked dances to banish illness-causing demons.Rite · Healing · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 IndiaBramrachokh
A demon in Kashmiri myth that mimics a light to lead travellers astrayBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaHingchabiꯍꯤꯡꯆꯥꯕꯤ
A giantess figure from Meitei folklore who feeds on raw fleshBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreBlack Orlov
A black diamond linked to a legend of theft and tragic deathsCharm · Cursing and harm Historical
🇵🇪 Peru and 2 moreTsentsak
Invisible darts used by Amazonian shamans for healing and sorcerySubstance · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDamnation
A state of divine punishment or separation from the sacred after deathBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇳 IndiaChedipeचेदिप
A witch-vampire spirit of the Godavari region that drains men and feeds on sorrowBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaBaakবাক
A shapeshifting water spirit from Assamese folklore that mimics humans and fears torn nets.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇮🇳 IndiaIndus worm
A giant carnivorous river creature from ancient Greek accounts of the IndusBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bhoot: Anilbhardwajnoida, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holi: Jitenderasingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Keibu Keioiba: Haoreima, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Crocotta: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Yogini: Soumendra Barik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kurupi: FrankOWeaver, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tantra: William Clark, Public domain, source
- Navagraha: Kiran891, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yakshini: Brihaspati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Brahmarakshasa: Chaitnyags, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dakini: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
- Churel: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Indrajala: Abishekrl15156, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch-hunts in India: Granger, Public domain, source
- Kali: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Parashurama: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pishacha: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Bhairava: Saankav, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mahishasura: Prakashsubbarao at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Ravana: Gita Press Gorakhpur, CC0, source
- Anchanchu: Arizz4k, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mara: Under the Bo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Damnation: Didier Descouens, Public domain, source
- Hingchabi: Bemni, N, CC0, source
- Chöd: Christopher J. Fynn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Asian witchcraft: Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Public domain, source
- Sanni Yakuma: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tsentsak: Veton PICQ, CC BY-SA 3.0, source