Bhoota (ghost)

A bhoota (Sanskrit: भूत, bhūta) is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the Indian subcontinent.^[1] Interpretations of how bhootas come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to transmigration, non-being, nirvana, or swarga or naraka, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.^[1]

Belief in ghosts has been deeply ingrained in the minds of the people of the subcontinent for generations. There are many allegedly haunted places in the subcontinent, such as cremation grounds, dilapidated buildings, palaces, havelis, forts, forest bungalows, burning ghats, etc. Ghosts also occupy a significant place in the Bengali culture. Ghosts and various supernatural entities form an integral part of the socio-cultural beliefs of both the Muslim and Hindu communities of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. Fairy tales often use the concept of ghosts and references to paranormal activity are found amply in modern-day Bengali literature, cinema, radio and TV programmes. In Pakistan, the word jinn is used to refer to both the Arabic jinns as well as bhootas. Influenced by Arabic and Persian mythology, bhootas in the Pakistani society have a more varied and fluid identity, ranging from jinns from another realm made of fire, to ghosts of humans who died painful deaths.