Photo Travelogue :
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Mayong -
the land of black-magic and witch-craft~
Since childhood, even the mention of Mayong would send shivers down our spine. I had heard all sorts of stories about it - all unbelievable ones ~ yet, they do occur ~
in Mayong, they say! Don't believe it? Better believe it. I was intrigued no doubt.
All spooky places intrigue and beacon me anyways ~ I have a special interest in visiting old spooky haunted places alone. Once alone, it gets really adventurous venturing into the unknown, not knowing what you will come face to face with over 20 top haunted locations ( in India ) are under my belt! Mayong? Are you serious? Its not safe to go alone. Many people don't ever come back, those who do are forever trapped in its black-magic; some go mad, some commit suicide and some forever haunted. These warnings didn't stop me from going deep inside Mayong and coming out alive to tell its tale as well.
I tried searching various articles on Mayong
( in internet ), before I visited there - to know what all to expect; however, except for the various scary tales, I didn't come across many pictures of the place itself. So, I was going to the place without having much idea of it ~ as in visuals; the stories ~ that, I was loaded with! My Pobitora safari ended by 1 pm, so while returning, I started a friendly chat with my tracker-wala asking him about Mayong and its magic, what all he knew, if the rumours were indeed true. It wasn't agreed earlier that we'd go there too, so, it was kinda impromptu - I asked him, if he could take me around the place, and visit some ancient temples connected to '
those things'. He had this weird look in the rear-view mirror, as he threw suspicious glances at me -
what was I up to, he perhaps, wondered! Nonetheless, I said that I had heard so many stories, and so was curious; also, since we were in the vicinity
( with time on hand too ), it'd only make sense to make a short visit around the place. Let me make it clear here, Mayong was in my mind ever since I was planning Pobitora, only to the tracker-wala I made it seem as though it was a sudden thought. Of course, I'll pay him bit extra too, I told him.
( I had wanted to visit the Mayong Central Museum and Emporium too, as it stores lots of stuff related to the spook world, but I learnt it was undergoing some renovations, so I let it pass ). The driver, alas, agreed, although had a pretty suspicious look - like a ~
have-you-gone-mad look. Only when we took off, he started relaxing a bit, and then, even ended up telling few horror tales, himself.
"Even now its going on. One guy did bahaduri/bravery, he was turned into tiger. Every family has someone who practices. They'll talk so nicely, you'll not know when they put a spell. Whole place is magic. Outsiders are scared to go alone inside. They can change your mind. Officer people cannot return. Even though they may be working various other things, they've been passed the skills."
initially, although bit hesitant, my tracker-wala ended up sharing endless horror-tales...
off to Mayong...
driving along the road...woods on one side...
driving past yellow mustard fields...
some cultivation and cattle grazing...
the road that goes inside the town...of Mayong...
going deeper into the villages...
passing by village houses...and other structures...Here, every house in the village has black-magic knowledge, which have been passed down generations
orally. My driver said, they not just do magic on outsiders, but on each other too; and, then, someone else - a third person from the village has to be called to undo the magic on each other, but the third person has to protect himself first, lest, the previous duo does a spell on him too - I found this bit quite amusing. He also said, many people didn't believe in the tales and tried to challenge
( pretending to be brave ), but they found themselves turned into animals or birds and could never leave the place. They were tied to it eternally by some spells and could not escape, till this date. The driver, while narrating, threw glances at me through the mirror, and I was like -
Okay, I believe you! He was from Mayong too after all, and I didn't want to take any chances, lol.
we pass somebody's house...do they practise black-magic too? hmmm...
narrating more stories, the driver then takes me through this spooky path...
we reach the first temple site...
lots of stairs to the temple...
don't go by the looks of it, I was told, its where occult rituals takes place..at night...
there was no one, but the offering etc were fresh...so, someone was there earlier...
views from the top...I spend sometime looking around, before deciding to go to the next site...
this time heading back mid-way, we drive through what looks like someone's compound...
we reach the main road again...but, we go off it, into a smaller road now...
passing through some nice views...
crossing a wooden bridge...
driving alongside, and underneath giant boulders...
through a small narrow path...
through another village...
till we reach a signboard...Narashimha Temple...
its a short drive up, till we reach the gate of a temple...the driver waits here, while I go up!
lots of stairs to climb...
and then, spook happened...
As I was climbing up the stairs, I was pretty quick the first few steps. I wasn't tired as such, rather, really excited to see what lay ahead. When I reached the middle, suddenly, I could not move my feet anymore. It was weird, because, I had climbed up till there quite effortlessly. I found that I couldn't even lift my foot up. It felt very heavy as though a huge weight was holding them down, and, something invisible had tied them to the ground. I was stuck to my spot. I tried to wriggle out, but couldn't even lift my feet - either one. I got pretty scared at this point. What was happening? Why couldn't I lift my feet? How will I go any further? or even back, for that matter? I wasn't ill or anything. I was fine the whole day. It was just that my feet would not move, as though tied to the spot. I struggled a bit more, then suddenly, after couple of minutes
( that seemed like a lifetime ), I could move them. I lifted both legs one by one, I could move them. The strange 'tied' and 'weight' feeling had vanished. I hopped rest of the stairs up ~ in the back of my mind wondering
all the while, if someone did a spell on me. I had seen no one on my way up here. But, had someone seen me and tried to stop me from going further by putting some spell on me? It was strange, a minute ago I could barely lift my legs, and now suddenly, I could run those very steps.
the stairs disappear after a while, and a path appears instead...
I turn behind, there's no one...I reach the top, there's a temple, but it was closed...
it didn't look like a temple, rather like a small tinned-house, and its doors were shut...
so, I just satisfy myself with the views of the river down below - brahmaputra...
I head back the same way I had come...my mind filled with thoughts of what happened earlier...
meet a tantric sadhu family at mid-base..I hadn't seen them on my way up, but apparently, they had seen me as all were waiting for me when I went down. I was still bit wary of what happened earlier, so, I turned a friendly face at them and chatted, lest, they try capture me with some more spells
( I was suspicious by then, if it was them who had cast a spell on my feet earlier, rendering them motionless ). They asked me where I had come from, where in Ghy, my surname etc. I told him
( there were two sadhus, and both asked the questions ), I was visiting Mayong and its temples. To win their trust, I spoke in very friendly tones
( mind you, I was terrified inside ), asking what all they did. They asked me if I was some officer. On learning that I would write about my trip, they told me to write about the sorry state of affairs in the temples around Mayong, their pitiable conditions, how there was no development, how they didn't get funds etc, and they didn't get much tourists too ~
nobody visited, they said ~ koyi nahi aata hai yaha. They told me to write these things 'aloud' -
jor se. I promised, I will. Inside, I thought, its because of the rumours not many people come here. They don't want to get stuck by some spell and never be able to return.
I was myself stuck by some spell and couldn't move my feet earlier. I bid bye to them, and left as fast as my feet
( pun intended ) could carry.
( It was later while returning, when I told him of my strange ordeal that my driver said that the sadhu had seen me going up the hill and it could be him casting a spell. "The baba knows a lot", he said. He was expert in all of these and people feared him. He also trapped girls, and currently had 10 wives, all gotten that way ).
Whoa... After this experience, I could believe why some people never returned from Mayong!
can you see any monster in middle of the road...?While returning, my driver told me another story
( true one, he added ), when in a particular stretch of road, at a particular time and on particular days, a huge 20ft+ huge devta/bhoot/monster, with eyes in his chest
( looks weird although humanoid ), appeared and spread his legs wide apart and waited. He is quite huge and can spread both his legs on either sides of the road. If any vehicle or people passes by from underneath him
( as they can't see it/him ), between his legs, when his legs are spread ~ bad things happen to them, could be accident or even death. Locals avoid that stretch on those particular time/day.
Was is the road we just passed? I had my fill of horror stories that day, add to it my own spooky experience. I wanted to get out of that place asap,
alive!
Later that night, I had a strange feeling of knocking in my head and
unexplained scratch marks appeared in my right calf. A strange fly-type insect kept hovering around me as I ate dinner for few minutes, and then, vanished. I didn't see it fly away, it just vanished. Some days later, I heard a grunt sound. I was all alone. There was a noise at one end of the dining table; and then, another ~ in the other end. Are these connected with the trip to Mayong?
Hmmm...
Mayong is 40kms from the city of Guwahati. As per legends, it is said Ghatotkacha ( son of Bhim of the Pandavas ) was Mayong's ruler, with the place mentioned in the ancient epic as well. Once considered the cradle of black magic in India, Mayong is a tourist attraction because of its history ( wiki ). Mayong is a place known to be surrounded by spirits; known for black-magic that can turn people into animals and birds, and also for women in the town, who practise magic and trap men making them their life partners and never letting them escape. There are also rumours of body raised 6 foot above ground or a brass plate stuck in someone's back defying gravity. A mountain nearby also holds some frightening truth.
Mayong is famous for various temples and ample numbers of ancient shrines. People of Mayong always offer their prayers to the panch devtas of Dinesh, Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva and Parvati before performing any auspicious deeds. Some of those shrines and temples were used as centre for the study of black magic and witchcraft too in the past. Noteworthy shrines and temples are the Kechaikhaiti Than of Burhamayong, Narashimha Ashram of Hiloikhunda, Ganesh Temple of Hatimuria, Shiva Than of Kachashila, Lakhmi Mandir and Bhagavati Than of Hatimuria, Hari Mandir of Rajamayong, Rangadangaria Than of Rajamayong, Ganesh Temple of Hatigarh, Vishnu Temple of Kajolichawki, Ganesh Temple of Boha, Bhagavati Than, a Ganesh Temple and a Shiva Than at Chanaka village, a Bhagavati Than at Burhamayong, a Shiva Than and a Burhi Aai Than at Hiloikhunda village, a Bamun Gohain Than and a Burhi Aai Than at Hatimuria village, a Kechaikhaiti Than, a Shil Gossain Than at Rajamayong and a Ganesh Than at Govali village.
https://www.storypick.com/mayong-black-magic
https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/society/article/mayong-black-magic-witchcraft-mughal-aurangzeb/188418
Address : Mayong, Morigaon District, Assam
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