India, a land of ancient tales and mysteries, has more history than some other countries combined and harbors some of the most bone-chilling urban legends passed down through generations.
From vengeful spirits and mysterious cryptids to terrifying witches, let’s look at the top 10 scary urban legends in India that explore the darkest corners of Indian folklore.
10. Nale Ba
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One of the most popular urban legends in India, Nale Ba was a defensive sign that people wrote on their doors to ward off a malevolent spirit or a witch.
In the 90s, there were reports of a witch visiting houses in Bangalore India. She would come at night, knocking on the door and calling out to the person inside.
What’s creepy is she was said to use the voice of one of their relatives, especially their mothers. If they opened their door, they would be dead within 24 hours. As panic spread, rumors of a solution did too.
Some said to write ‘Nale Ba’ on the door. That means ‘come tomorrow’ so the witch would see the sign and return the next day. For many years after, it became a tradition – a way of warding off evil spirits.
Some say that Nale Ba has been forgotten by the younger generation, who have now put themselves at risk of the witch returning. A 2018 Indian movie ‘Stree’ was based on this popular legend.
9. Monkey Man
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In 2001 people in Delhi claimed that an ape-like monster known as the ‘Monkey Man’ was roaming the streets at night. It was said to be attacking people but it was deemed as a case of mass hysteria.
Description of the Monkey Man differed people to person but in the police report, it was about four feet tall monkey covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, glowing red eyes, metal claws, and 3 buttons on its chest.
Many people reported being scratched and some even said 2 or 3 people died when leaping from the tops of buildings or stairwells in a panic. It’s been years since the event but some people still claim the Monkey Man is out there and could attack another day.
8. The Curse of the Grand Paradi Towers
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In a city as populated as Mumbai, which is home to 18.41 million people, you probably don’t want to live in the Grand Paradi Towers, a 28-story residential tower in the central south section of the city. Why?
Well, according to an urban legend, the towers are cursed. So, before 1998, the buildings built in 1975 had seen a higher-than-usual spate of suicides from seemingly stable people.
However, when the three generations of a family ended their lives by jumping together off their eighth-floor balcony, residents started to get nervous.
A lot of people will now avoid the towers – which many locals claim are haunted. Even if you put the haunted theory aside – why so many people have killed themselves exactly there?
Well, the residents think the nearby Tower of Silence (Parsee’s burial ground) that can be seen by the Towers has something to do with it. Some people believe the negativity of the Tower of Silence is somehow infecting the dwellers.
7. Mande Burung
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For many people, this is the Indian equivalent of the North American bigfoot. An ape-like cryptid, the Mande Burung is said to inhabit the subtropical forests in Northeast India.
It’s been described as a large, hairy bipedal hominid. The locals call him the ‘Man of The Jungle’ and say they’ve seen it for generations. More often though, they hear it, its strange calls echoing out across the rice paddies.
Some say it stands 10 feet tall and weighs over 600 pounds. In 2008, a group of Yeti hunters gave two hairs they found to a renowned British primatologist.
After examining them, Ian Redmond said they most closely resembled humans, chimps, gorillas, or other so-called Yeti. However, with or without science to back it up, the legend of Mande Burung still lives on.
6. The White Lady
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There are stories of a mysterious woman in white that haunts the Delhi Cantt road. Locals say she is seen at night, wrapped in a white saree, trying to hitchhike with any drivers who pass through.
It is strictly advised not to stop and give her a lift at any cost, for she is not of this world. She waves at people to catch her ride and those who have heard the stories know that people who stop are never seen again.
Unfortunately, even if you don’t stop, you can see her running after the vehicle at inhumane speeds, almost matching the speed of the car while smiling hysterically. However, she disappears into thin air after you cross that certain area.
Then, there are the people who stop and ask her for directions – they say those people are then unable to find their way home for the entire night, completely lost until morning while going in circles around the city.
According to a local legend, her life ended tragically, when she asked some men for a lift one particular night on that same road as she wanted to reach home.
Tragically, the men assaulted her and dumped her body at Delhi Cantt. Ever since that night, she has been stuck in a death loop, as her vengeful spirit keeps asking for a lift and repeating the events of her death each night.
5. Pandubba
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Pandubba is a water ghost of Bihar folklore and deemed one of the scariest urban legends in India. The stories of the encounters of water ghosts have been passed down from generation to generation.
These are the ghosts of people who once died by drowning in rivers or lakes. They are said to be short, and muscular and are also known for their strength.
They might pull your legs deep inside the water if you happen to pass along/through a river after evening. Sometimes they would be often found sitting on the edge of a rock at night looking at the abode.
If you are bold enough to venture out near the water at dark hours, they would mystically appear next to you and ask, “Do you have tobacco?”
They would just stare at you until you plan on giving them some. That’s when they would hold your hand and pull you underwater away from the shallows.
Even if refused, they would drag the person inside and drown them. However, if you encounter one of these entities asking you things, simply ignore him. That’s how you can come back alive.
4. The Wolves of Pavagada
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In 1983, in the village of Pavagada, Andhra Pradesh, several girls younger than 5 went missing at night. They were taken right under their parent’s noses but nobody saw who or what did it.
On one occasion, the clothes of the missing child alongside the pool of blood were found by the villagers. The footprints of an animal were visible and the police dogs tracked the sent back to a cave, its entrance blocked by a wall of bricks.
According to the police, several man-eating wolves were on the prowl. However, others were confused though, why would all the targets be girls – all of them the only daughters of their parents?
Why were they always taken from their sleeping parents and why were there no drag parks on the ground? One father even reported the wolf threw stones at him.
This led some locals to believe the children were actually taken by a cult of black magic practitioners but there was no evidence to back up their claim. To this day, the case remains a mystery.
3. Agrasen Ki Baoli
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According to legend, the stepwell was built by the legendary king Agrasen. It is an old, traditional stepwell with 3 levels and 103 steps. It is considered to be one of the most haunted places in Delhi.
Visitors often report a dark overwhelming feeling dousing over them when they stare down the depth into the water below. For many years, locals warned of the black water that is found at the bottom of the well.
They say it has mysterious power – an ability to hypnotize people and lure the mover to the edge where they fall to their death. Creepy.
Some say that spirits live in the well, perhaps responsible for drawing people to their deaths or maybe they are the the spirits of those who have already died.
The place is closed to the public at night, but that hasn’t stopped some dark tourists from wanting to climb the walls and see for themselves if the well indeed has any mysterious effect on them.
2. The Onion Witch
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In 2005, part of India was in panic when a witch was said to be prowling the streets at night – and she was thirsty for blood. The witch, or sometimes 3 of them, were turning up at people’s doors and asking them for onions.
A peculiar request but especially given how creepy they were, most people were obliging to it. A housemaid accounted – When you give her an onion, she cuts it in half and blood starts dripping. Then you die instantly.
Another witness said – She is an evil soul. She can disguise herself as someone you know and take away your soul. As you’d expect, with stories like these, people were scared and wanted to defend themselves.
People believed that by putting a palm print in turmeric or henna on the door could ward off the evil witch. Because of this, the yellow handprints on the door wasn’t an uncommon sight on houses all over the country.
Although the rumors of the onion witch have died down in the years since then, some still believe that she stalks the streets at night, waiting for someone to answer her call. It’s quite similar to one of the urban legends of India, Nale Ba.
1. The Muhnochwa
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In 2002, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was gripped by a panicked frenzy. People had reported seeing the Muhnochwa – a beast whose name roughly translates to The Face Scratcher.
It would reportedly dash through the air at night like a UFO, emitting red and green beams of light. When it got close, it would slash their face with steel claws, leaving deep scratches that burnt and bled.
Hundreds of people were reported to be injured or burned by Muhnochwa. The fear led to severe panic, such as elderly men dying of heart attacks and much more. Terrified people even stayed awake at night and formed watch groups.
As the panic continued, the theories began. Some said it was an angry spirit or an elemental creature. IIT Kanpur suggested it was caused by ball lightning, a rare meteorological phenomenon.
Even the intelligence agency chipped in to suggest it was either extra-terrestrials or genetically engineered insects from Pakistan. However, doctors suggested that the phenomenon was mass hysteria.
Whatever it was, people were so scared they held special ceremonies at their local temples to ward away The Face Scratcher. It did eventually go away but some believe it may return.
So which one of these urban legends from India interested you the most? Comment below.
