The Bridal Party
Scary Books: Indian Ghost Stories: S. Mukerji
In Benares, the sacred city of the Hindus, situated in the United
Provinces of Agra and Oudh, there is a house which is famed pretty far
and wide. It is said that the house is haunted and that no human being
can pass a night in that house.
Once there was a large Bridal party.
In India the custom is that the bridegroom goes to the house of the
bride with great
and the ceremony of "Kanya Dan" (giving away the girl) takes place at
the bride's house.
The number of the people who go with the bridegroom depends largely upon
the means of the bride's party, because the guests who come with the
groom are to be fed and entertained in right regal style. It is this
feeding and entertaining the guests that makes a daughter's marriage so
costly in India, to a certain extent.
If the bride and the bridegroom live in the same town or village then
the bridegroom's party goes to the bride's house in the evening, the
marriage is performed at night and they all come away the same night or
early the next morning. If, however, the places of residence of the
bride and the bridegroom are say 500 miles apart as is generally the
case, the bridegroom with his party goes a day or two earlier and stays
a day or two after the marriage. The bride's people have to find
accommodation, food and entertainment for the whole period, which in the
case of rich people extends over a week.
Now I had the pleasure of joining such a bridal party as mentioned last,
going to Benares.
We were about thirty young men, besides a number of elderly people.
Since the young men could not be merry in the presence of their elders
the bride's father, who was a very rich man, had made arrangements to
put up the thirty of us in a separate house.
This house was within a few yards of the famed haunted house.
We reached Benares at about ten in the morning and it was about three in
the afternoon that we were informed that the celebrated haunted house
was close by. Naturally some of us decided that we should occupy that
house rather than the one in which we were. I myself was not very keen
on shifting but a few others were. Our host protested but we insisted,
and so the host had to give way.
The house was empty and the owner was a local gentleman, a resident of
Benares.
To procure his permission and the key was the work of a few minutes and
we took actual possession of the house at about six in the evening. It
was a very large house with big rooms and halls (rather poorly
furnished) but some furniture was brought in from the house which we had
occupied on our arrival.
There was a very big and well-ventilated hall and in this we decided to
sleep. Carpet upon carpet was piled on the floor and there we decided to
sleep (on the ground) in right Oriental style. Lamps were brought and
the house was lighted up.
At about 9 P.M. our dinner was announced. The Oriental dinner is
conducted as follows:--
The guests all sit on the floor and a big plate of metal (say 20" in
diameter) is placed in front of each guest. Then the service commences
and the plates are filled with dainties. Each guest generally gets
thrice as much as he can eat. Then the host who does not himself join
stands with joined hands and requests the guests to do full justice, and
the dinner begins. Very little is eaten in fact, and whatever is left
goes to the poor. That is probably the only consolation. Now on this
particular occasion the bride's father, who was our host and who was an
elderly gentleman had withdrawn, leaving two of his sons to look after
us. He himself, we understood, was looking after his more elderly guests
who had been lodged in a different house.
The hall in which we sat down to dine was a large one and very well
lighted.
Adjoining it was the hall in which our beds had been made. The sons of
_mine host_ with a number of others were serving. I always was rather
unconventional. So I asked my fellow guests whether I could fall to, and
without waiting for permission I commenced eating, a very good thing I
did, as would appear hereafter.
In about 20 minutes the serving was over and we were asked to begin. As
a matter of fact I was nearly half through at that time. And then the
trouble began.
With a click all the lights went out and the whole house was in total
darkness.
Of course, the reader can guess what followed.
"Who has put out the lights?" shouted Jagat, who was sitting next but
one to me on the left.
"The ghost" shouted another in reply.
"I shall kill him if I can catch him" shouted Jagat.
The whole place was in darkness, we could not see anything but we could
hear that Jagat was trying to get up.
Then he received what was a stunning blow on his back. We could hear the
thump.
"Oh" shouted Jagat "who is that?"
He sat down again and gave the man on his right a blow like the one he
had received. The man on the right protested. Then Jagat turned to the
man on his left. The man on Jagat's left evidently resisted and Jagat
had the worst of it.
Then Narain, another one of us shouted out.
"What is the matter with you?" asked his neighbour.
"Why did you pull my hair" shouted Narain.
"I did not pull" shouted the neighbour.
Then a servant was seen approaching with a lamp and things became
quiet.
But the servant did not reach the hall. He stumbled against something
and fell headlong on the ground, the lamp went out, and our trouble
began again.
One of the party received a slap on the back of his head which sent his
cap rolling and in his attempt to recover it he upset a glass of water
that was near his right hand.
Matters went on in this fashion till a lamp came. The whole thing must
have taken about 4 minutes. When the lamp came we found that all the
dishes were clean.
The eatables had mysteriously disappeared.
The sons of _mine host_ looked stupidly at us and we looked stupidly at
them and at each other. But there it was, there was not a particle of
solid food left.
We had therefore no alternative but to adjourn to the nearest
confectioner's shop and eat some sweets there. That the night would not
pass in peace we were sure; but nobody dared suggest that we should not
pass the night in the haunted house. Once having defied the Ghost we
had to stand to our guns for one night at least.
It was well after 11 o'clock at night when we came back and went to bed.
We went to bed but not to sleep.
The room in which we all slept was a big one as I have said already, and
there were two wall lamps in it. We lowered the lamps and--
Then the lamps went out, and we began to anticipate trouble. Our hosts
had all gone home leaving us to the tender mercies of the Ghost.
Shortly afterwards we began to feel as if we were lying on a public road
and horses passing along the road within a yard of us. We also imagined
we could hear men passing close to us whispering. Sleeping was
impossible. We all remained awake talking about different things, till a
horse came very near. And thus the night passed away. At about four in
the morning one of us got up and wanted to go out.
We shouted for the servant called Kallu and within a minute Kallu came
with a lantern. One of our fellow guests got up and went out of the room
followed by Kallu.
We could hear him going along the dining hall to the head of the stairs.
Then we heard him shriek. We all rushed out. The lighted lantern was
there at the head of the stairs and our fellow guest at the bottom.
Kallu had vanished.
We rushed down, picked up our friend and carried him upstairs. He said
that Kallu had given him a push and he had fallen down. Fortunately he
was not hurt. We called the servants and they all came, Kallu among
them. He denied having come with a lantern or having pushed our friend
down the stairs. The other servants corroborated his statement. They
assured us that Kallu had never left the room in which they all were.
We were satisfied that this was also a ghostly trick.
At about seven in the morning when our hosts came we were glad to bid
good-bye to the haunted house with our bones whole.
The funniest thing was that only those of my fellow guests had the worst
of it who had denied the existence of Ghosts. Those of us who had kept
respectfully silent had not been touched.
Those who had received a blow or two averred that the blows could not
have been given by invisible hands inasmuch as the blows were too
substantial. But all of us were certain that it was no trick played by
a human being.
The passing horses and the whispering passers-by had given us a queer
creepy sensation.
In this connection may be mentioned a few haunted houses in other parts
of India. There are one or two very well-known haunted houses in
Calcutta.
The "Hastings House" is one of them. It is situated at Alipore in the
Southern suburb of Calcutta. This is a big palatial building now owned
by the Government of Bengal. At one time it was the private residence of
the Governor-General of India whose name it bears. At present it is used
as the "State Guest House" in which the Indian Chiefs are put up when
they come to pay official visits to His Excellency in Calcutta. It
appears that in a lane not very far from this house was fought the
celebrated duel between Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of
India and Sir Philip Francis, a Member of his Council and the reputed
author of the "Letters of Junius."
While living in this house Warren Hastings married Baroness Imhoff
sometime during the first fortnight of August about 140 years ago. "The
event was celebrated by great festivities"; and, as expected, the bride
came home in a splendid equipage. It is said that this scene is
re-enacted on the anniversary of the wedding by supernatural agency and
a ghostly carriage duly enters the gate in the evening once every year.
The clatter of hoofs and the rattle of iron-tyred wheels are distinctly
heard advancing up to the portico; then there is the sound of the
opening and closing of the carriage door, and lastly the carriage
proceeds onwards, but it does not come out from under the porch. It
vanishes mysteriously.
To-day is the 15th of August and this famous equipage must have glided
in and out to the utter bewilderment of watchful eyes and ears within
the last fortnight.[2]
There is another well-known ghostly house in Calcutta in which the only
trouble is that its windows in the first floor bedrooms open at night
spontaneously.
People have slept at night for a reward in this house closing the
windows with their own hands and have waked up at night shivering with
cold to find all the windows open.
Once a body of soldiers went to pass a night in this house with a view
to solve the mystery. They all sat in a room fully determined not to
sleep but see what happened; and thus went on chatting till it was about
midnight. There was a big lamp burning on a table around which they were
seated. All of a sudden there was a loud click--the lamp went out and
all the windows opened simultaneously. The next minute the lamp was
alight again. The occupants of the room looked at their watches; it was
about 1 A.M. The next night they sat up again and one of them with a
revolver. At about one in the morning this particular individual pointed
his revolver at one of the windows. As soon as the lamp went out this
man pulled the trigger five times and there were five reports. The
windows, however, opened and the lamp was alight again as on the
previous night. They all rushed to the window to see if any damage had
been done by the bullets.
The five bullets were found in the room but from their appearance it
seemed as if they had struck nothing, evidently the bullets would have
been changed in shape if they had impinged upon any hard substance. But
then this was another enigma. How did the bullets come back? No man
could have put the bullets there from before, (for they were still hot
when discovered) or could have guessed the bore of the revolver that was
going to be used.
On the third night to make assurance doubly sure, these soldiers were
again present in the room, but on this occasion they had loaded their
revolver with marked bullets.
As it neared one o'clock, one of them pointed the revolver at the
window. He had decided to pull the trigger as soon as the lamp would go
out. But he could not. As soon as the lamp went out this soldier
received a sharp cut on his wrist with a cane and the revolver fell
clattering on the floor. The invisible hand had left its mark behind
which his companions saw after the lamp was alight again.
Many people have subsequently tried to solve the mystery but never
succeeded.
The house remained untenanted for a long time and finally it was rented
by an Australian horse dealer who however did not venture to occupy the
building itself, and contented himself with erecting his stables and
offices in the compound where he is not molested by the unearthly
visitors.
There is another ghostly house and it is in the United Provinces. The
name of the town has been intentionally omitted. Various people saw
numerous things in that house but a correct report never came. Once a
friend of mine passed a night in that house. He told me what he had
seen. Most wonderful! And I have no reason to disbelieve him.
"I went to pass a night in that house and I had only a comfortable
chair, a small table and a few magazines besides a loaded revolver. I
had taken care to load that revolver myself so that there might be no
trick and I had given everybody to understand that.
"I began well. The night was cool and pleasant. The lamp bright--the
chair comfortable and the magazine which I took up--interesting.
"But at about midnight I began to feel rather uneasy.
"At one in the morning I should probably have left the place if I had
not been afraid of friends whose servants I knew were watching the
house and its front door.
"At half past one I heard a peculiar sigh of pain in the next room.
'This is rather interesting,' I thought. To face something tangible is
comparatively easy; to wait for the unknown is much more difficult. I
took out the revolver from my pocket and examined it. It looked quite
all right--this small piece of metal which could have killed six men in
half a minute. Then I waited--for what--well.
"A couple of minutes of suspense and the sigh was repeated. I went to
the door dividing the two rooms and pushed it open. A long thick ray of
light at once penetrated the darkness, and I walked into the other room.
It was only partially light. But after a minute I could see all the
corners. There was nothing in that room.
"I waited for a minute or two. Then I heard the sigh in the room which I
had left. I came back,--stopped--rubbed my eyes--.
"Sitting in the chair which I had vacated not two minutes ago was a
young girl calm, fair, beautiful with that painful expression on her
face which could be more easily imagined than described. I had heard of
her. So many others who had came to pass a night in that house had seen
her and described her (and I had disbelieved).
"Well--there she sat, calm, sad, beautiful, in my chair. If I had come
in five minutes later I might have found her reading the magazine which
I had left open, face downwards. When I was well within the room she
stood up facing me and I stopped. The revolver fell from my hand. She
smiled a sad sweet smile. How beautiful she was!
"Then she spoke. A modern ghost speaking like Hamlet's father, just
think of that!
"'You will probably wonder why I am here--I shall tell you, I was
murdered--by my own father.... I was a young widow living in this
house which belonged to my father I became unchaste and to save his
own name he poisoned me when I was _enceinte_--another week and I
should have become a mother; but he poisoned me and my innocent
child died too--it would have been such a beautiful baby--and you
would probably want to kiss it'
and horror of horrors, she took out the child from her womb and showed
it to me. She began to move in my direction with the child in her arms
saying--'You will like to kiss it.'
"I don't know whether I shouted--but I fainted.
"When I recovered consciousness it was broad day-light, and I was lying
on the floor, with the revolver by my side. I picked it up and slowly
walked out of the house with as much dignity as I could command. At the
door I met one of my friends to whom I told a lie that I had seen
nothing.--It is the first time that I have told you what I saw at the
place.
"The Ghostly woman spoke the language of the part of the country in
which the Ghostly house is situate."
The friend who told me this story is a responsible Government official
and will not make a wrong statement. What has been written above has
been confirmed by others--who had passed nights in that Ghostly house;
but they had generally shouted for help and fainted at the sight of the
ghost, and so they had not heard her story from her lips as reproduced
here.
The house still exists, but it is now a dilapidated old affair, and the
roof and the doors and windows are so bad that people don't care to go
and pass a night there.
There is also a haunted house in Assam. In this house a certain
gentleman committed suicide by cutting his own throat with a razor.
You often see him sitting on a cot in the verandah heaving deep sighs.
Mention of this house has been made in a book called "Tales from the
Tiger Land" published in England. The Author says he has passed a night
in the house in question and testifies to the accuracy of all the
rumours that are current.
Talking about haunted houses reminds me of a haunted tank. I was
visiting a friend of mine in the interior of Bengal during our annual
summer holidays when I was yet a student. This friend of mine was the
son of a rich man and in the village had a large ancestral house where
his people usually resided. It was the first week of June when I reached
my friend's house. I was informed that among other things of interest,
which were, however, very few in that particular part of the country,
there was a large Pukka tank belonging to my friend's people which was
haunted.
What kind of Ghost lived in the tank or near it nobody could say, but
what everybody knew was this, that on _Jaistha Shukla Ekadashi_ (that is
on the eleventh day after the new moon in the month of Jaistha) that
occurs about the middle of June, the Ghost comes to bathe in the tank
at about midnight.
Of course, Jaistha Shukla Ekadashi was only 3 days off, and I decided to
prolong my stay at my friend's place, so that I too might have a look at
the Ghost's bath.
On the eventful day I resolved to pass the night with my friend and two
other intrepid souls, near the tank.
After a rather late dinner, we started with a bedding and a Hookah and a
pack of cards and a big lamp. We made the bed (a mattress and a sheet)
on a platform on the bank. There were six steps, with risers about 9"
each, leading from the platform to the water. Thus we were about 41/2
feet from the water level; and from this coign of vantage we could
command a full view of the tank, which covered an area of about four
acres. Then we began our game of cards. There was a servant with us who
was preparing our Hookah.
At midnight we felt we could play no longer.
The strain was too great; the interest too intense.
We sat smoking and chatting and asked the servant to remove the lamp as
a lot of insects was coming near attracted by the light. As a matter of
fact we did not require any light because there was a brilliant moon. At
one o'clock in the morning there was a noise as of rushing wind--we
looked round and found that not a leaf was moving but still the whizzing
noise as of a strong wind continued. Then we found something advancing
towards the tank from the opposite bank. There was a number of cocoanut
trees on the bank on the other side, and in the moonlight we could not
see clearly what it really was. It looked like a huge white elephant. It
approached the tank at a rapid pace--say the pace of a fast trotting
horse. From the bank it took a long leap and with a tremendous splash
fell into the water. The plunge made the water rise on our side and it
rose as high as 41/2 feet because we got wet through and through.
The mattress and the sheet and all our clothes were wet. In the
confusion we forgot to keep our eyes on the Ghost or white elephant or
whatever it was and when we again looked in that direction everything
was quiet. The apparition had vanished.
The most wonderful thing was the rise in the water level. For the water
to rise 41/2 feet would have been impossible under ordinary
circumstances even if a thousand elephants had got into the water.
We were all wide awake--We went home immediately because we required a
change of clothes.
The old man (my friend's father) was waiting for us. "Well you are wet"
he said.
"Yes" said we.
"Rightly served" said the old man.
He did not ask what had happened. We were told subsequently that he had
got wet like us a number of times when he was a youngster himself.
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In 1867, Miss G., aged eighteen, died suddenly of cholera in St. Louis. In 1876 a brother, F. G., who was much attached to her, had done a good day's business in St. Joseph. He was sending in his orders to his employers (he is a commercial travell... The Cold Hand
[Jerome Cardan, the famous physician, tells the following anecdote in his De Rerum Varietate, lib. x., 93. Jerome only once heard a rapping himself, at the time of the death of a friend at a distance. He was in a terrible fright, and dared not lea... The Cold Hand
[Jerome Cardan, the famous physician, tells the following anecdote in his De Rerum Varietate, lib. x., 93. Jerome only once heard a rapping himself, at the time of the death of a friend at a distance. He was in a terrible fright, and dared not lea... The Coral Sprigs
Mrs. Weiss, of St. Louis, was in New York in January, 1881, attending a daughter, Mrs. C., who was about to have a child. She writes:-- "On Friday night (Jan. 21) I dreamed that my daughter's time came; that owing to some cause not clearly define... The Coral Sprigs
Mrs. Weiss, of St. Louis, was in New York in January, 1881, attending a daughter, Mrs. C., who was about to have a child. She writes:-- "On Friday night (Jan. 21) I dreamed that my daughter's time came; that owing to some cause not clearly define... The Cow With The Bell
I had given a glass ball to the wife of a friend, whose visions proved so startling and on one occasion so unholy that she ceased to make experiments. One day my friend's secretary, a young student and golfer, took up the ball. "I see a field I ... The Cow With The Bell
I had given a glass ball to the wife of a friend, whose visions proved so startling and on one occasion so unholy that she ceased to make experiments. One day my friend's secretary, a young student and golfer, took up the ball. "I see a field I ... The Creaking Stair
A lady very well known to myself, and in literary society, lived as a girl with an antiquarian father in an old house dear to an antiquary. It was haunted, among other things, by footsteps. The old oak staircase had two creaking steps, numbers seve... The Creaking Stair
A lady very well known to myself, and in literary society, lived as a girl with an antiquarian father in an old house dear to an antiquary. It was haunted, among other things, by footsteps. The old oak staircase had two creaking steps, numbers seve... The Daemon Of Spraiton In Devon {111} Anno 1682
"About the month of November in the year 1682, in the parish of Spraiton, in the county of Devon, one Francis Fey (servant to Mr. Philip Furze) being in a field near the dwelling-house of his said master, there appeared unto him the _resemblance_ of... The Daemon Of Spraiton In Devon {111} Anno 1682
"About the month of November in the year 1682, in the parish of Spraiton, in the county of Devon, one Francis Fey (servant to Mr. Philip Furze) being in a field near the dwelling-house of his said master, there appeared unto him the _resemblance_ of... The Dancing Devil
On 16th November, 1870, Mr. Shchapoff, a Russian squire, the narrator, came home from a visit to a country town, Iletski, and found his family in some disarray. There lived with him his mother and his wife's mother, ladies of about sixty-nine, his ... The Dancing Devil
On 16th November, 1870, Mr. Shchapoff, a Russian squire, the narrator, came home from a visit to a country town, Iletski, and found his family in some disarray. There lived with him his mother and his wife's mother, ladies of about sixty-nine, his ... The Dead Shopman
Swooning, or slight mental mistiness, is not very unusual in ghost seers. The brother of a friend of my own, a man of letters and wide erudition, was, as a boy, employed in a shop in a town, say Wexington. The overseer was a dark, rather hectic-loo... The Dead Shopman
Swooning, or slight mental mistiness, is not very unusual in ghost seers. The brother of a friend of my own, a man of letters and wide erudition, was, as a boy, employed in a shop in a town, say Wexington. The overseer was a dark, rather hectic-loo... The Deathbed
Miss C., a lady of excellent sense, religious but not bigoted, lived before her marriage in the house of her uncle D., a celebrated physician, and member of the Institute. Her mother at this time was seriously ill in the country. One night the gir... The Deathbed
Miss C., a lady of excellent sense, religious but not bigoted, lived before her marriage in the house of her uncle D., a celebrated physician, and member of the Institute. Her mother at this time was seriously ill in the country. One night the gir... The Deathbed Of Louis Xiv
"Here is a strange story that the Duc d'Orleans told me one day in a tete-a-tete at Marly, he having just run down from Paris before he started for Italy; and it may be observed that all the events predicted came to pass, though none of them could h... The Deathbed Of Louis Xiv
"Here is a strange story that the Duc d'Orleans told me one day in a tete-a-tete at Marly, he having just run down from Paris before he started for Italy; and it may be observed that all the events predicted came to pass, though none of them could h... The Denton Hall Ghost
A day or two after my arrival at Denton Hall, when all around was yet new to me, I had accompanied my friends to a ball given in the neighbourhood, and returned heartily fatigued. At this time I need not blush, nor you smile, when I say that on... The Devil Of Hjalta-stad {246}
The sheriff writes: "The Devil at Hjalta-stad was outspoken enough this past winter, although no one saw him. I, along with others, had the dishonour to hear him talking for nearly two days, during which he addressed myself and the minister, Sir G... The Devil Of Hjalta-stad {246}
The sheriff writes: "The Devil at Hjalta-stad was outspoken enough this past winter, although no one saw him. I, along with others, had the dishonour to hear him talking for nearly two days, during which he addressed myself and the minister, Sir G... The Difficulty Of Crossing A Field
One morning in July, 1854, a planter named Williamson, living six miles from Selma, Alabama, was sitting with his wife and a child on the veranda of his dwelling. Immediately in front of the house was a lawn, perhaps fifty yards in extent betwe... The Dog Fanti
Mrs. Ogilvie of Drumquaigh had a poodle named Fanti. Her family, or at least those who lived with her, were her son, the laird, and three daughters. Of these the two younger, at a certain recent date, were paying a short visit to a neighbouring co... The Dog Fanti
Mrs. Ogilvie of Drumquaigh had a poodle named Fanti. Her family, or at least those who lived with her, were her son, the laird, and three daughters. Of these the two younger, at a certain recent date, were paying a short visit to a neighbouring co... The Dog In The Haunted Room
The author's friend, Mr. Rokeby, lives, and has lived for some twenty years, in an old house at Hammersmith. It is surrounded by a large garden, the drawing-room and dining-room are on the right and left of the entrance from the garden, on the grou... The Dog In The Haunted Room
The author's friend, Mr. Rokeby, lives, and has lived for some twenty years, in an old house at Hammersmith. It is surrounded by a large garden, the drawing-room and dining-room are on the right and left of the entrance from the garden, on the grou... The Dog O' Mause
Account of an apparition that appeared to William Soutar, {145a} in the Mause, 1730. [This is a copy from that in the handwriting of Bishop Rattray, preserved at Craighall, and which was found at Meikleour a few years ago, to the proprietor of wh... The Dog O' Mause
Account of an apparition that appeared to William Soutar, {145a} in the Mause, 1730. [This is a copy from that in the handwriting of Bishop Rattray, preserved at Craighall, and which was found at Meikleour a few years ago, to the proprietor of wh... The Dream That Knocked At The Door
The following is an old but good story. The Rev. Joseph Wilkins died, an aged man, in 1800. He left this narrative, often printed; the date of the adventure is 1754, when Mr. Wilkins, aged twenty-three, was a schoolmaster in Devonshire. The dream... The Dream That Knocked At The Door
The following is an old but good story. The Rev. Joseph Wilkins died, an aged man, in 1800. He left this narrative, often printed; the date of the adventure is 1754, when Mr. Wilkins, aged twenty-three, was a schoolmaster in Devonshire. The dream... The Ducks' Eggs
A little girl of the author's family kept ducks and was anxious to sell the eggs to her mother. But the eggs could not be found by eager search. On going to bed she said, "Perhaps I shall dream of them". Next morning she exclaimed, "I _did_ dream ... The Ducks' Eggs
A little girl of the author's family kept ducks and was anxious to sell the eggs to her mother. But the eggs could not be found by eager search. On going to bed she said, "Perhaps I shall dream of them". Next morning she exclaimed, "I _did_ dream ... The Dying Mother {101}
"Mary, the wife of John Goffe of Rochester, being afflicted with a long illness, removed to her father's house at West Mulling, about nine miles from her own. There she died on 4th June, this present year, 1691. "The day before her departure (de...