PULLI DUMBA

"PULLI DUMBA"

This story is set in the early 1800s in a village called Santhabayalu, located in a hilly mountain far from the city.

Without delay, let me tell you a story about a ghost named “Puli Dumba” which means “Tiger Ghost” in English. Despite its name, the ghost’s behavior doesn’t match its appearance.

In a village named Santhabayalu, there were rumors that at night especially at full moon no one should come outside after 12′clock as it is dangerous for them. Many people have disappeared at night without a single trace of them. It is said that the ghost, Puli Dumba will come around at night time to kill people, but no one knows how it kills its prey.

To reveal these secrets villagers have tried many methods like doing pujas offering praying to the gods but it is no use. Even they brought different ‘Manthragadu’ which you may call Whitchers from a different region but it was no use as the ghost would escape from their magic.

One night, a family of five - consisting of a mother, father, son, daughter, and their grandmother - were all sleeping in their house. The house was built using Clay Ruff Wall Cladding, also known as ‘Penkulu’ in their language. While everyone was sleeping, the grandmother suddenly heard some noises above the roof. She initially thought it might be a cat on the roof, but to her surprise, it turned out to be a Puli Dumba. Despite her fear, she went back to sleep. However, the ghost removed one of the clay ruff walls and peered through it to see where the humans were. The ghost spotted the grandmother’s son, who was right below it.

“The ghost wasted no time and immediately possessed Grandma’s son’s body, starting to suck his blood. As the son began to feel discomfort, he woke up and was surprised to find himself unable to stand. He tried moving his body, but it seemed paralyzed or held down by an external force. Despite his efforts to move, he remained unable to do so.”

The boy tried to speak, but his efforts were in vain. After struggling for a long time, he touched one of his mother’s fingers. She woke up and saw her son struggling to move. The Grandma quickly understood what was happening and brought some herbs from the kitchen. She threw the herbs around her son, and to their surprise, the ghost left the boy’s body. The boy was finally able to move freely. Afterward, Grandma asked her son to explain what had happened in the morning before they went to sleep.

Morning came the son was eager to explain the situation to his mother. He told her the whole story of how he woke up and how he was not able to speak and move and started asking questions about how his mother was able to deflect the power of the ghost. The mother told the son that it was to by her father and there was some animal or ghost with the same character who used to climb the roof of the houses and suck blood from the people for its pleasure.

To prevent ghosts from coming they used to hang onion garlands around the back and front door. and put some herbs under their pillow to prevent them from it to capture them it was just a temporary solution but it was effective to use. As there were fewer cases around that time. But for the surprise at full moon night, there was no stopping that ghost as it was no use of that technique to hold the ghost that what happened last night it was luck that I had saved from herbs for future purposes otherwise it would been a disaster.

The boy had told about the story that happened to him to the village head and villagers. The whole village was shocked and afraid that they might be the next target of the victim. The village head decided to do something about the situation which was going out of control. The Village called a witcher and explained the situation.

Witcher after doing some witchcraft and learning about the situation tells them he cannot defeat such a ghost, but he can describe what the ghost looks like so they can be aware and how to prevent it at some level but not completely. The villagers were shocked to hear that, but the villager’s head told the witcher to describe the ghost for them so they knew what kind of ghost it was.

The Witcher explains the physical appearance of the ghost by as the ghost’s head is like an animal such as a tiger and has long hair that touches to knees of the ghost and the body has the human body and has sharp nails and a long tail. As for the ghost character, its favorite food is the blood of humans and it is most powerful at full moon. It can run fast and has jumping ability far extreme from any animals.

The witcher then said that this type of ghost or animal is called the name ‘PULLI DUMBA’ and is also called tiger ghost. The witcher told the villagers that the ghost had lived a way ahead before us it may have lived around 400 years ago which is no surprise. The witcher’s grandfather has also mentioned that ghost to him. And also mentions that it is unclear whether this thing is a ghost or an animal.

After describing the physical appearance and characteristics of the so-called ghost. He told the villagers some tips and tricks on how to avoid the ghosts from hurting them. he said no one should be outside their house after 12′clock because that’s the time that the ghosts come to the village for the feast. And told the villagers to tie some onion and red chilly garland around their front and back door to prevent it coming from the door. and put some Banyan tree leaves over the roof for some extra safety.

And for the inside home, he told the villagers to collect some herbs from the village and put those herbs under their pillows while sleeping this would prevent the ghosts to not to hurting them. In case the attack took place the person should drink the juice of the herb under their pillow and one of the family members should recite some mantras to the affected person in his ears three times for the effect of the mantras.

The witcher had told the villagers that by doing that they could prevent death happening from in their village, but it is not a full solution to the problem, and there is no getting rid of the ghost completely but they prevent it from happening to their village by following some simple rules.

As of today also there is a mystery about so so-called ghost ‘PULLI DUMBA’ called Tiger Ghost it is unclear until this day also whether it is a ghost or animal or some other thing that is far beyond the imagination of the people on earth. Until these days the villagers follow the rituals to the fullest without any mistakes. People in the village believe that as of today also the ‘PULLI DUMBA’ is roaming around the village forest and waiting for someone to make a mistake in their ritual so it can re-enter the village to feast upon the villagers and complete its thirst.