Thayé
Summary
In the ancient and eerie tales of Vanara, the Thayé are malevolent hordes of demonic dead, haunting the living and spreading dread through disease and pestilence. These sinister spirits take on various forms, as documented in the intriguing Vanara literature:
• Thaber Thayé, the souls of women who perished during childbirth, transform into grieving spirits upon their return to the mortal realm.
• Tase Thayé, the grotesque giants, were once people who met violent deaths. They wield their dark influence to propagate smallpox, cholera, and other deadly maladies. Furthermore, these fiends delight in appearing at the bedsides of the dying, cruelly laughing at their plight.
• Hinza Thayé, on the other hand, enter the bodies of crocodiles, tigers, and dogs to unleash their attacks upon unsuspecting people. These malevolent spirits frequent the locations where they once suffered in their past lives, imbuing those areas with an aura of haunting despair.
To ward off the chilling presence of Thayé, the Vanara employ various rituals. Banging pots and creating cacophonous noise serve as deterrents to keep these spirits at bay. Alternatively, appeasing the Thayé through sacrifices and captivating dances is believed to placate their wickedness momentarily. An intriguing practice involves burying the deceased without grave markers, a desperate attempt to erase their memory of their former abodes, thus reducing the likelihood of their demonic return.
