Aliases: Brahmarakshasa

The brahmaparusha is an Indian male vampiric spirit. The Indians believed it was a demon who could possess the living and destroy them slowly from the inside. His appearance is described as terrifying. For example, he would wear animal and human intestines around his head like a crown and also wore them around his neck. He did this to show off his killings like trophies.

He first attacks the victim, then he would pour the blood from the victim into a skull that he would carry around, and drink from it like a cup. He would then eat the brains and sometimes eat the whole body. After he was finished he would take the intestines and wrap them around his entire body to perfrom a ritual around the dead body. The brahmaparusha doesn’t get full on one human, it takes many humans for him to be satisfied.

There is no known protection against this blood thirsty vampire. The brahmaparusha is closely related to the Indian spirit the bhuta.

A sketch of the Indian vampire, the Churail.
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The churail is a female vampire found in Indian lore. She is white in the front and black in the back. She has been described by having long breasts, a black tongue, dirty tangly hair, sharp needle-like teeth, and thick slimy lips. A woman who dies pregnant or dies ritually unclean will become a churail. They attack relatives first and can be stopped by being buried face down or by putting a ball of twine in the grave to occupy the vampire.

The Baital, an Indian vampire with Iron-like skin.
©BloodyLexicon.com

The Baital is an Indian vampire and is the older term for what is now called the Vetala. It is known as an evil spirit that is mischievous and goes into cemeteries, taking over a dead persons’ bodies. It is described as being half man, half bat, and is approximately four to five feet tall. It also has iron-like skin which acts as a sort of shield and protector.

In a Hindu folktale it’s described as having huge greenish-brown eyes and brown hair. He also had a brown face, (brown was a color that was associated with witches), had a tiny tail and was very smart. Its body looked like a skeleton and didn’t seem to have blood. The skin feels cold and clammy to the touch. The baital hangs upside down like a bat in a mimosa tree (siras-tree). Dead bodies that the Baital inhabits are often found by these trees.

This vampire can drive people mad, cause miscarriages, and also enjoys killings children. Despite their evil they were also used to guard villages. They are a favorite to sorcerers who often take the creature and uses it as a slave or use them to fortell the future. They also hold knowlege about the past and present.