Tales of marrying a “Chudiyal” or female evil spirit

In India, the belief in an evil spirit called chudiyal is strong and many tales are cited.

an evil spirit
Chudiyal in Indian folklore is an evil spirit that can take the form of a beautiful woman. The Chudiyal is a part of Hindu mythology and denotes a female evil spirit who has been denied entry into the spirit world for some terrible crime such as the murder of a child or the murder of the husband. Said spirits are destined to roam the human world and frequently encounter men, who are their target. Such spirits will even marry a man and then, at the appropriate time, kill him. In the villages of India there are many stories of female spirits marrying men. Most of the people who tell these tales swear they are true. Perhaps there is an element of truth in it, as the spirit world has yet to be explored by man and science.

The first time I heard the story of a Chudiyal was when I was very young. He had gone to my village and my uncle told me a strange story. He said there was a lonely bachelor in town who wanted to get married. One day, while he was walking along one of the mountain paths, he saw a very beautiful and seductive lady crying. She told the man that her father had kicked her out of her house and that she had nowhere to go. Enamored with her beauty, the man took the woman home and married her. But a peculiar aspect of his life began to make the man wonder. The woman did not ask for firewood and this intrigued him very much. One day he decided to unravel the mystery and came home early. He looked out the window and saw the woman whose leg was on fire and was using it as firewood, putting it inside the Chula or stove instead of a log.

This scared the man very much and when he got home and the woman slept with him, he began to sweat with fear. There was a lamp some distance away and the lady asked him to put out the flame. She just lay down and wondered what to do. The woman laughed and suddenly she stretched out her leg and with a movement of her feet she put out the flame. Seeing this man she ran out of the house saying that a Chudiyal had entered her house. All the villagers got together and called a fortune teller. He told the gathering that the lady inside the house was a Chudiyal and that she would kill the man. Reciting mantras, the diviner entered the house and, by means of additional sensory powers and mantras, expelled the Chudiyal, who fled naked from the house into the forest.

Chudiuyal tales abound in India and one wonders if there is any truth to them. Authentic research may be required