“The Raakhas – Born of Darkness”

A Personal Account:
I remember that night quite vividly. It was during the late 1950s in the Morne Diablo area, South Trinidad. My aunt had just given birth, and I was standing outside their home, listening to the pandemonium inside. From where I stood, I could hear the chaotic noises, but I didn’t see anything directly. I was told that my uncle, normally a strong man, was frozen in fear in the corner when he saw the newborn child. Vashti, the mother, was said to be slipping in and out of consciousness.
Inside, Ms. Ingrid, the ‘chaamine’, was struggling to control the situation. She told me later that she tried in vain to hold down the child, but it scratched her fiercely and scurried under the bed. During a brief moment of silence, when the child had stopped screaming and growling, it was said to target the father with insults. With a disturbingly deep, unsettling voice it shouted: "Boysie! Wey yuh mudda? Watch yuh, yuh moorkh!" From outside, I could hear the cries, the screaming, the moving furniture.
Ms. Ingrid said that earlier, as soon as the child was delivered, it asked her in ‘a big man’s voice’ what she was doing there. She said she never expected the raakhas to be that strong, that the “kala jaadu that griping Vashti was too much.”
Ms. Ingrid described the creature as looking like a slippery, black ‘crapaud,’ with teeth like a dog. We were told to go ‘up de road’, away from the house. I heard later that when they eventually mustered the courage to look under the bed, the ‘thing’ was gone.
The trauma of that night left my aunt mute for nearly two years, and my uncle, unable to cope with the stress, fell into alcoholism, which ultimately led to his death. Ms. Ingrid herself was never the same after that night. To be honest, nothing was right after that, especially with Auntie Vash—no amount of puja, or visits from priests and pundits could bring her back to her old self. She eventually passed away in 2004. To this day, the memory of that night haunts me—the eerie cries, the growls, the stories from Ms Ingrid, it was really something else yes.”
- D. Bheepat
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"The Raakhas"
The tale of the “Raakhas” is a chilling legend that likely evolved with the East Indian indentured labourers who came to the Caribbean and was propagated by their descendants. This folklore may have been influenced by the “Rakshasa” of Indian mythology—demonic or ‘goblin-like’ beings known for their shape-shifting abilities, immense strength, and in some instances, an insatiable appetite for human flesh.
In Trinidad, a Raakhas/Raa-khas is a sinister newborn creature, often resembling a young rat, monkey, or frog, with a complexion as dark as night. It bears a high, sloping forehead, and its menacing grin reveals four protruding teeth—two on the upper jaw and two on the lower. Its long fingernails, toenails, and hair add to its eerie appearance, and it may even possess a tail. Upon birth, the raakhas immediately attempts to flee, leaping through windows and scaling rooftops, all the while shrieking the names of its parents as a chilling omen of impending doom.
The chaamine (midwife) faces a grim task: to kill the raakhas by strangling it or crushing its chest with a grinding stone (sil) the moment it is born. If the creature survives, it becomes a relentless predator, seeking to end the lives of its parents and others by clawing at their flesh and piercing their necks with its razor-sharp teeth.
The child never lives beyond a few days; it either perishes naturally or is mercilessly destroyed by human hands. A child is cursed to become a raakhas as a result of its mother's dark karma.
Have you ever heard of this tale?
Further Reading:
- Mahabir, K., & Khan, A. (2010). Indian Caribbean folklore spirits. Chakra Publishing House.
- Pattanaik, D. (2003). Indian mythology: Tales, symbols, and rituals from the heart of the subcontinent. Inner Traditions.
- https://www.nalis.gov.tt/.../Indian-Caribbean-Folklore
(Source: San Fernando North Community Library, July 20, 2024)