"YAKSHI" - THE VAMPIRE STRIKES BACK

 

 "YAKSHI" -  THE VAMPIRE STRIKES  BACK

 

 

Yakshi - A she-ghost in a most beautiful seductress clothing ! The Yakshi seduces a lone traveler on a moon lit night and the victim follows her to a secluded spot. Reaching where she turns back and showing her ghost self, and killing him with her compass tooth a la Dracula.

                             

 

 

In Indian Mythology, Yakshi is associated with the fertility of the earth, love and beauty.  The Yakshi is a feminine spirit equivalent to tree nymphs and water nymphs.  

 

Yakshi is portrayed as beautiful and voluptuous woman, having big breasts, full hips,  and with jewelries. 

 

Yakshi folklore is widely seen in the state of Kerala, India. 

 

                            

 

A lone traveler, walking at night with a country torch in the narrow roads that separate the rich rice fields of Kerala, is enchanted by the heady fragrance of jasmine flowers and is drawn to a palm tree under which he finds a ravishingly beautiful woman who looks scared and requests the traveler if she can walk with him to her house. It is dark, and she is afraid. Naturally the lone traveler, spellbound by the scent and her beauty, and bound by the code of chivalry agrees. 

  

After they walk some distance, and she has enchanted him with her melodious voice and her wit, she offers him some betel leaves. ‘I will make pan with areca nuts and spices, if you have some lime (chunnambu) on you.’ The traveler will know that this is no simple request and is in fact a local code where a woman expresses her desire to be intimate with a man. As soon as he offers the lime, a house appears: an impressive house that clearly belongs to nobility. ‘Would you like to come in?’ she would ask gently and the smitten man would follow her inside.  But as soon as the door would shut, the lady would turn into a fierce monster with fangs and claws – a Yakshi !  The next day, under a palm tree, people would find the remains of the traveler, some hair, and his betel stained teeth.

 

The only thing that keeps a Yakshi away is iron and so travelers were advised to offer the yakshi lime on the tip of an iron pen used to write on palm leaves. There were occult specialists or mantra-vadis who knew how to catch a yakshi and pin her to the Strychnine tree using iron nail.

 

Many say that Yakshi may have been the ghost of a woman who died of heartbreak and so stayed trapped in the land of the living seducing young men, taking revenge against all men, for what one man did to her.

 

Significantly, a yakshi in Kerala can also transform into a goddess, admired and adored by many. There are many Yakshi temples in Kerala. Her beautiful and fierce images are found on temple walls as she finds peace in the presence of a divine being, as in case of the famous reclining Padmanabha-swamy (Vishnu) of Thiruvananthapuram.

The Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It is considered as the richest place of worship in the world. The name of the city of 'Thiruvananthapuram' in Malayalam translates to "The City of Lord Ananta", (The City Of Lord Vishnu)  referring to the deity of the Padmanabhaswamy temple. The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the Chera style of architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century Gopura.

 

The Padmanabhaswamy temple is the richest temple in India.   

 

Various estimates have it that the temple in Thiruvananthapuram holds treasures containing thousands of tonnes of gold, valued in excess of US$22 billion (Rs1. 5 trillion). The Padmanabha Swamy temple estimated treasure so far is around Rs. 90,000 crore ($22 billion) after gold, jewels and a small elephant statue in gold were unearthed from the 16th century shrine.

The temple has six underground vaults which were discovered by archaeologists in 2001 labelled from A to F with the aid offered by the temple priests. In search of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple exotic treasure they discovered:

1. Gold coins which can be traced back to thousands of years, including 7 kg of gold coins which could be traced back to the 1700s, 18 coins from the era of Napolean's rule, valuable stones wrapped in bundles of silk in addition to 1000 kg of gold in the form of coins as well as trinkets.

2. Jewellery including a 9 foot long gold necklace weighing 2.5 kg, 1 ton of rice gems made with gold, gold sticks, diamond sacks, gold ropes, multiple pieces of antique jewelry adorned with diamonds and emerald and many other ornaments in chamber A.  All this jewellery were kept in ancient baskets, earthen pots, copper pots and more. 

3. A small golden statue of an elephant. 

4. 3 1/2 feet tall statue of Mahavishnu made in gold and studded with diamonds, rubies and hundreds of other precious stones. 

There were some sovereigns with the 1772 seal meaning that they belonged to the time of King Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma.

However, as of now the existence of another inner chamber which is hidden under Vault B has not been taken into account. This chamber is quite ancient and is believed to be made up of thick walls of gold. This is exactly where the mystery continues since the royal family of Travancore is not permitting officials to open the vault as they believe it may anger the Gods and befall a terrible curse upon the nation.

  

 

 

There are many folklore written and many movies made about the beautiful Yakshi.

  

Kanjirottu Yakshi is a folkloric deity of South India. According to the myth, she was born into an affluent Nair tharavadu by name Mangalathu at Kanjiracode in Southern Travancore (now in Tamil Nadu).



2000 yrs. old Tamil literature has over 100 references to Anangu (Yakshi), a feminine spirit equivalent to tree nymphs and water nymphs. Yaksha and Yakshini are closely associated with Ashoka or Mango trees.

 

The folklore of Yakshi show a clear development and progression that establishes certain characteristics of the Yakshi figure such as her nudity, smiling face and evident (often exaggerated) secondary sexual characteristics that lead to their association with fertility. 

                                 

                               

         Yakshi  Statue  in Malampuzha,  Kerala, India

 

It was a nice way to have an aerial view of this nice Dam by Ropeway Cable Cars.   Scenical view of the Gardens, Fountains is indeed great.   The Garden is nicely maintained.  The Gardens have eye-pleasing illuminations in the evening which no tourist would like to miss. 

 

 

Malampuzha dam is the largest dam and reservoirs in Kerala located near Palakkad.

 

 

 

The Yakshi was then made a protector of children at Kilimanoor Palace and a temple was built for her where she resides to this day. She is now called "Yakshi Amma". She is the Amma (maternal figure) to everyone in the family.


 Lord Krishna is worshipped widely in all parts of Kerala, Guruvayur being one of the most famous temples in the state.   Malayali Hindus also worship Bhagavathi as a form of Shakti.

 

 

Now let us examine the Yakshini (Yakshi) and their male counterpart Yakshas.

 

Yaksha, also spelled yaksa, Sanskrit masculine singular yakṣa, Sanskrit feminine singular yakṣī or yakṣinī, in the mythology of India, a class of generally benevolent but sometimes mischievous, capricious, sexually rapacious, or even murderous nature spirits who are the custodians of treasures that are hidden in the earth and in the roots of trees. They are powerful magicians and shape-shifters. Principal among the yakshas is Kubera, who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom called Alaka.

 

Yakshini (also known as Yakshi; Yakkhini in Pali) are mythical beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology.  Yakshini (Yakshi) is the female counterpart of the male Yaksha, and they are attendees of Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth.

 

Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the yakshas, are one of the many paranormal beings associated with the centuries-old sacred groves of India. Yakshis are also found in the traditional legends of Northeastern Indian tribes, ancient Christian legends of Kerala, and in the folktales of Kashmiri Muslims.

 

Malayalee women are scared of Gandharva! A charming seducer with a melodious voice, who can drive women mad that has even led to the creation of a superstition advising women never to sleep without undergarments.

The way Yakshi and Gandharva are seen in Kerala is very different from the way they are typically presented in Puranic, Buddhist and Jain lore, where Yakshi is a tree-nymph, different from Apsaras who are river-nymphs. They were buxom beauties visualised in paintings as clinging to the branch of a tree, their drunken laughter making the trees burst into flower and fruit. And Gandharvas were celestial musicians who entertained the gods. They were harmless fairies, at best irritation to uptight celibate monks. Only in Kerala, they transform into fierce monsters: the succubus who sexually charms and destroys men, and the incubus who sexually charms and destroys women. These stories reveal an anxiety about sex with strangers: a traditional warning for boys and girls.

An  incubus is a demon in male form who, according to mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleeping women in order to engage in sexual activity with them.  Its female counterpart is a succubus.  Salacious tales of incubi and succubi have been told for many centuries in traditional societies.

 

The fairy tales of Yakshi and Gandharva are told by grannies to their children and grand children and passed it on to the generations.




The writer does not believe in occults (mantra-vadis), black magic, killer spirits / ghosts and the ways and means to trap the spirits via tantric rituals. However, it is of-course a fascinating read and entertainment to learn about Yakshis and Gandharvas.