VAASTU OR GHOSTS

Ghosts scare off villagers


Hyderabad, Nov. 18: Majority of the 200 families living in the tiny village of Gosuvaripalle in Anantapur district have abandoned it after being haunted by ill-luck, diseases and “wandering ghosts”. Only about 10 Dalit families now remain in the village near Tadipatri town. Villagers say their bad luck started after they moved to pucca dwellings between two hillocks called Bhogasamudram kondalu in 1993. The shadow of the hillocks fell on their houses and their lives became miserable. “We had no problems when we were living in thatched houses within the Bhogasamduram gram panchayat,” said Mr Naganna, an elder.

Soon after they started living in the pucca houses, the villagers started contracting strange fevers and mysterious diseases. “Doctors could not cure us and the talisman tied on the hands of people by a sorcerer mysteriously fell to the ground,” said Mr Naganna. There were tales of the ghost of a woman haunting the streets of the village at night. There were knockings at doors in midnight and pelting of stones.

After consulting several priests, the villagers came to the conclusion that all this harrowing experiences were because of the inauspicious shadows of the hillocks falling on their houses. The families then shifted the entire village to another spot nearby which was away from the dreaded shadows. There was peace for a few years, but soon the villagers started experiencing a repeat of the earlier incidents. “The new colony also was also found to be imperfect in terms of Vaastu,” said Mr Peddanna, who is still staying in the village.

“The nightmarish experiences continued.” Harrowed families then started migrating to different places, deserting their houses and fields. Many moved to towns such as Tadipatri, Guntakal and Hindupur and are living there. “There were 200 families with a total population of 1,500 in the village earlier,” said Mr Peddanna. “Now there are only 10 families in a Dalit colony. They work as labourers and sell firewood.” The dwellings are silent, roads are empty, schools are closed and borewells have dried up. Ironically, Goosuvaripalle really resembles a haunted village now.