Mayong, the black magic capital of India

Last week I was in Dallas for my day job, and I met a Ananya, a colleague from near Mayong, India. As I always do when I get a chance to meet people from different parts of the world, I asked her if she recalled a legend or a supernatural creature from their hometown. Her expression was immediate, she told me she was from near Mayong, and she explained that Mayong is considered the “Black magic capital of India.”

She told me how whenever she and her family passed through Mayong on her way to or back from home, her mother would ensure they tied their hair. This was to make sure they wouldn’t lose a single strand. This is because strands of hair are used in rituals.

She said there were many dark stories from Mayong. One she brought up was about the Chudail. She said there are several variations of this legend, but she told me one about a woman, who was mistreated in life, and had suffered greatly and then died tragically when giving birth. The Chudail became a sort of evil spirit creature that was hideous, and had a strange characteristic of having backwards feet. Meaning her heals pointed to the front and her toes to the back of her body.

This evil spirt would shape-shift into a beautify lady and lure people into the forest to drain their life, turning them into old men. I could tell she could see images of this creature in her mind when she told me about this. I told Ananya that this characteristic of backward feet was similar to the Ciguapa from Domincan republic, and that the Ciguapa (in the dark version) also lured men into the forest which surprised her to know the similarities between the Chudail and the Ciguapa.

I find it intriguing to learn similarities among different supernatural creatures from all over the world, between creatures that are so far away, I find it impossible for them to just come up with the same story (different version), I always wonder if there can be a connection, or if it's the same creature.

Do you know of a similar legend? Let me know.