The Annual Indian “Ghost Fair” or The Bhoot Mela

The Annual Indian “Ghost Fair” or The Bhoot Mela Indians love fairs and fairs and festivals, and all the fanfare that accompanies them. But a fair held exclusively for ghosts!! Yes, you heard it right. Betul, a small nondescript village in the Malajpur... More

The Annual Indian “Ghost Fair” or The Bhoot Mela Indians love fairs and fairs and festivals, and all the fanfare that accompanies them. But a fair held exclusively for ghosts!! Yes, you heard it right. Betul, a small nondescript village in the Malajpur district of Madhya Pradesh holds an annual fair where people come from far and wide to get rid of the evil spirits possessing them. This fair which begins on the Paush Purnima every year continues till Basant Panchmi. This annual ritual, which has been going on for nearly 250 years now, is meant to be a tribute to Sant Guru Deoji. The aforesaid saint was supposedly a man with mysterious superpowers who lived in that area in the early 18th century and could turn sand to sugar or clay to gur(jaggery) merely by looking at it, restore blind men’s eyesight and even produce tons of grain out of nowhere during times of drought. A memorial was built to immortalize this great man after he died and an annual fair has been held ever since in Less