Bestiary.us

The word Duma (or sometimes Dumma) means “ghost” or “ancestor spirit” in several tribal languages of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

In the Gadaba tribe, for example, there is a process of transformation from life to death to benevolent ancestor spirit. For some time after a person dies, their Duma roams the village, visiting the houses of family members. People who died of natural causes don’t cause much trouble; their relations leave them offerings of rice and beer, and gradually they withdraw. After a few weeks, their individual life-force becomes reincarnated in the womb of a mother.

But those who die bad deaths stay volatile, their spirits wandering in the forest with malicious intent. Women who die in childbirth become Sunguni Duma; those who fall from trees, Mursu Duma; those killed by tigers, Bag Duma; those who hang themselves, Utshki Duma; and those who are struck by lightning, Betani Duma. Pacifying these spirits requires a special sacrifice of twelve animals. If the ritual is not done correctly, the Duma transforms into a horrifying demon called a Sagbo Duma, who causes people’s necks to swell up and makes them vomit blood.

It is said that some magicians can capture a peaceful Duma and turn it into a Betani Duma, using it as a weapon against their enemies.

Every three or four years, when there is a good harvest, a Gotar or Duma Puja is performed. This is an elaborate month-long ceremony in which the spirits of the deceased are pushed into a buffalo. The ceremony culminates in the sacrifice of many buffaloes, by slicing open their bellies and tearing out their intestines while they are still alive.

It is thought that the Gotar ceremony brings the Dumas peace, allowing them to join the benevolent ancestor spirits. Without it, the Dumas would go on wandering restlessly, attacking people and causing crops to fail.

The Ganda of Odisha are another community who believe in a complex process by which the jeo or soul is absorbed into a larger ancestral Duma. After a Ganda person dies, a feast is held on the tenth day. The deceased is eulogized in song to the accompaniment of drums, and a goat is sacrificed and offered to the jeo. Then, that night, in a more private ceremony, close friends and family head home, carrying a brass plate with a wet ball of wheat flour on it. Whatever insect or other creature falls into the flour and is trapped there becomes the symbolic jeo; it must be guarded, lest it be attacked by other roaming evil spirits. The jeo is brought home to the pidar, the household shrine of the ancestral Duma, and a covered plate of flour is left next to the shrine.

The next morning, the plate of flour is inspected by the elders to know what sort of Duma the jeo has become. If they see the shape of a bunch of paddy, then the Duma will bring peace and prosperity. If they see the shape of an elephant’s paw, the Duma is less auspicious, but still peaceful. If they see the shape of a cat’s paw, then the Duma is a troubled spirit, who died unfulfilled.

Ganda people believe that every Duma has a different favourite paar or rhythm, which is used by a ritual drummer to invoke them in ceremonies.

The Parangi Porja tribe recognizes several varieties of Dumma, including:

• Bagh Dumma, the ghost of a person who was killed by a tiger in the forest and whose body was never recovered. It is said that the half-eaten corpse regrows so that it is half-human and half-tiger.
• Dongria Dumma, a mischievous spirit who wanders on hilltops on new moon and full moon nights. This ghost likes to pull hair, rip clothes, and pull other such pranks.
• Nor Dumma, the ghost of a person who died with unfulfilled wishes. These ghosts appear human. They wander around at night making a low hum or moaning noise, and if anyone ventures outside to investigate, the Nor Dumma will possess them.
• Kamini Dumma or Pathala Kamini Dumma, a female demon who lives in streams and springs. She afflicts new mothers and their babies with fever and diarrhea unless she is propitiated on the fifth day after birth with a ritual involving cow dung, charcoal, eggs, soil of different colours, and bangles. Kamini Dumma can also act as a seductress, preying upon lonely men or boys.
• Sorgoni Dumma, a whirlwind spirit.
• Merching Dumma, an infant ghost and ruler of the cemetery.