Recently in a bizarre event, many girls of a government high school in Bhimtal town of Nainital district apparently started getting ‘possessed’. And to get rid of whatever ‘possessing’ the girls, the education department officials turned to the villagers for help. And, the cure they got will really shock you.
While talking to Hindustan Times, the principal in-charge of the school at Kairagaon in Okhalkanda block, Chhatrapal Singh said, “A class 7 student was possessed last Thursday and started doing bizarre activities like breaking chairs and shouting loudly. When other girls tried to calm her down and offered water, the influence spread to them as well. Over the next 3-4 days, five girls were possessed. They started shouting loudly, dancing, jumping here and there.”
As the problem started worsening, principal went to the head of the village Madan Singh Nauliya. Nauliya said that around 14 girls were influenced, and none of the boys from the school were affected in any way. The principal in-charge said: “They were crying loudly as they were scared looking at the other girls.”
The villagers and the school management then decided to conduct a ‘Jagar’ in the school premises, Jagar is a form of ancestor spirit worship which is performed by Jagariyas or priests. After Jagariyas performed Jagar, “The girls calmed down after Jagar was conducted. They also informed that there is a problem with a room which functioned as the classroom for standard 8. So as of now, a picture of Goddess Saraswati and a lit earthen lamp were placed in the classroom and it has been locked,” said the village head.
Talking about the alleged possessed classroom, the principal sad, “Everything is peaceful now. We will wait till Sunday to see if any more such incidents take place. If everything is normal, a puja will be conducted in the locked room on coming Sunday to ensure no such incidents are repeated.”
The school was recently upgraded to class 10, and have more than 180 students studying, “When we asked the Jagariya as to why this incident took place now and nothing of this sort happened before, he told us that often spirits remain dormant for up to 20 years. He said even on the buildings constructed above a graveyard, the spirits may not cause any trouble for up to 14 to 20 years and reveal themselves only later,” the village head said.
