It is generally believed that old unoccupied houses are haunted by evil spirits
- Date of account
- Published 1915
- Source
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. II—Konkan
- Reference
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. II—Konkan · selected passage 45
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
It is generally believed that old unoccupied houses are haunted by evil spirits
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyIt is generally believed that old unoccupied houses are haunted by evil spirits. Persons who wish to inhabit such houses first perform the Vástu shánti ceremony, and give a feast to Bráhmans. In former times, in the districts that were ruled by the Portuguese, religious persecution prevailed. To escape from these persecutions, people were compelled to leave their houses unprotected. Before leaving their houses, they used to bury their treasure in the ground, and on that spot a human being or an animal was sacrificed in order that the spirit of the dead should hover about the place, and prevent strangers from coming. [612]
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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