Assam’s ghosts take digital form with AI art

According to one of the earliest compilations by Pathsala-based Jayanta Kumar Sarma, Bira is among the most dangerous spirits and is usually controlled by sorcerers. 
| Photo Credit: Instagram/@thebabayaga07

The spooks of Assam have become spookier with a digital makeover. 

More than a decade ago, author Pranavjyoti Deka brought out a bilingual thesaurus on all things Assamese. One of the chapters was on some 60 types of ghosts and spirits – some benevolent, mostly evil. 

Now, mechanical engineer turned short film maker Chinmoy Barma has given a digital shape to some of these spirits through artificial intelligence-driven software. 

Topping his list in an AI art series, titled ‘Assamese folklore legends and ghosts’, is Bira. According to one of the earliest compilations by Pathsala-based Jayanta Kumar Sarma, Bira is among the most dangerous spirits and is usually controlled by sorcerers. 

Haunting spirits

People across the State believe that a male Bira possesses boys or men and a female Bira possesses girls or women. It is also believed that the delirium of a possessed person ends only after a sorcerer or priest drives a Bira away with special rituals and chants. 

Among the other spirits Mr. Barma developed digitally are Jokhini, the female spirit said to haunt pregnant women to steal their child; and Kon Bhoot, the king of ghosts sporting three legs and an eye on the chest but who has no neck. 

The eerie quotient goes a notch higher with Ghorapak, a part-horse part-human creature, among the most feared in Assamese folklore. Villagers who claim to bump into one say that it is seen on river banks, ponds, and swampy areas at night. 

Then there are the Puwali Bhoots, dwarfed mischievous ghosts that steal rice and sweets from the kitchens; the slender and long-limbed Dolua that primarily targets people passing by a bamboo grove; the short-and-dark Jaukar Paal that hunt in a group and feed off corpses; Pixaas or a bloodthirsty demon; and Baak, a malevolent spirit that often troubles fishermen and carries its soul in a pouch attached to its frame. 

Limited Assamese imagery

“Ghost stories told by my grandmother and picked up from villagers inspired me to mix horror, fantasy, social evils, and facets of Assamese culture to tell unconventional stories through films and art. Unfortunately, the options provided by AI platforms do not offer the Assamese motifs or images to give my creations a localised look,” Mr. Barma, based in western Assam’s Nalbari, told  The Hindu. 

That handicap made his AI avatar of Bordoisila, the storm goddess in Assamese mythology, appear more ‘Bollywood-like’ than Assamese. But Burha Dangoriya, a revered spiritual figure who is believed to protect Namghars or community prayer halls, came out closer to the one who occupies the Assamese subconscious. 

Straddling the unknown

Mr. Barma initially made a mark with 7 ^th Sin, a 15-second film given a horror treatment to underline gluttony as a social evil. That film went to a Canadian festival. 

Some of his other short films straddle the known and the unknown. They include Ghorapak, which showcases the Ojapali folk dance form, and Jokhini, which incorporates a similar legend from Meghalaya. 

He has also deviated from horror to make films such as Morome Ringiai on the relationship between a cow and a man mourning the loss of his wife, and Tezor Tukura, which uses traditional Assamese puppetry to critique the social misconceptions about menstruation.