In the forgotten summer of 2001, the village of Mangalajodi held its breath every nightfall. A towering banyan tree, known only as "the cursed root," loomed at the village's edge. Locals whispered that a possessed girl, a child of unholy rage, had once slaughtered 21 souls beneath its shade, just days before Dussehra. Since then, no sane being dared near it after sunset.
Except for one — Mr. Raghunath Pradhan, the newly transferred physics teacher at the village school.
Skeptical of village superstitions, Raghunath believed only in the laws of nature. One evening, after a late extra class for his senior students, he decided to cut across the fields, past the haunted tree, to save time.
As he neared the Mangalajodi Tree, the air thickened. His flashlight flickered. A low humming filled his ears, growing louder with every step. Suddenly, a shriek — bone-chilling and blood-curdling — tore through the night.
Frozen, Raghunath watched in horror as a figure emerged from the hollow trunk of the banyan — a young girl in a tattered white lehenga, her mouth stretched unnaturally wide, blood dripping from her fingernails. Her dead eyes locked onto his, and before he could react, she lunged.
In a split second, Raghunath felt himself ripped from reality — dragged into an endless dark void beneath the tree. Whispers clawed at his mind, chanting in a language not meant for human ears. His body stiffened; his vision blurred.
Just as his soul was about to tear apart, a sudden force pulled him back. It was as if an invisible hand had seized him, flinging him across time and space — and when he opened his eyes, he found himself inside the sanctum of a nearby abandoned temple.
The deity, shrouded in moss and shadows, glowed faintly. It was said that the temple had once been dedicated to a forgotten guardian spirit, now faded from human worship but still lingering, waiting for a worthy soul to protect.
Something inside Raghunath shifted that night.
He realized he could now "mimic" himself — create a near-instant copy of his being in sacred spaces, slipping through dimensions within minutes to escape danger.
But the curse wasn’t broken.
The girl’s ghostly presence followed him, lingering in reflections, calling out to him during his lectures, trying to lure him back under the tree.
For six long years, Raghunath remained trapped between realities — half in this world, half tethered to that cursed night. His only survival weapon was his newfound ability to split his existence in seconds whenever she came close.
It wasn't until 2007, when the authorities, pressured by growing supernatural incidents, chopped down the Mangalajodi Tree under heavy police protection, that the grip finally loosened. The screams ceased. The whispers died.
Today, tourists roam the grounds, ignorant of the horrors buried beneath their feet.
And sometimes — just sometimes — if you listen carefully near the old temple ruins, you can hear a second voice whispering behind your own, mimicking your words in perfect synchronization.
Raghunath still watches.
The guardian spirit still protects.
But the girl... she may not be done yet.
*A story inspired by true events shared in various forums about the haunted Mangalajodi Tree in Odisha
Read Stories From "Bhoota Gappa" in a non digital format by getting these two books available now:
Comments
Post a Comment