RANTAS : MYSTERIES OF KASHMIR
There was very little knowledge amongst the folks of Kashmir about the female humanoid creature residing in the deep forests of the valley, until only once when a male returned to the village from her captivity. He described the witch to be extraordinarily beautiful, with long hair, pointed nose, wings and inverted feet.The man was a strong hearted farmer who by chance was taken away by this mysterious creature from the woods, he narrated his story and explained that the power of a Rantas is in her hair and the comb, she is always desperately in search of male humans to finish her search for a companion.Every year the news serving agencies of Kashmir have something on ‘Rantas’ which indeed keep the myth and the excitement in the valley alive. There are rumours about sightings of a Rantas, screams heard in some part of the valley, some individual missing and being kidnapped by her, which has made this myth to be a part of daily life of an average Kashmiri.The Koshurs have named her as Rantas however, the Gujjars and Bakarwals of Kashmir have given her a more human name ‘Vanbudhi’ translating into the ‘female of forests’. The Gujjars and Bakarwals also believe that there is a male version of this humanoid creature as well, who is named as ‘Vanbudha’ meaning ‘male of forests’. However, the population of the male version is believed to be very less because there are almost no stories of sighting a ‘Vanbudha’.Of all those who have been through a similar story through the recently famed web series ‘Dahan’, which also speaks of a ‘Rakan and Ridhiyakan’ on a potentially contaminated coal mine to keep the human population away from it, the story of ‘Rantas’ would sound alike with a clear motive of the local populace of Kashmir. The stories of Rantas are used to scare the children from venturing out into the deep forests and keeping them safe from the wild. However, the Kashmiri male will keep fascinating about this magical imagination with a sweet tinge of fear in it.Kashmir is the valley of mysteries, it is often said that a beautiful jungle from the outside, is often dangerous and wild from the inside. The seasons in Kashmir play with the landscape of Kashmir, like an artist playing on its canvas, it changes a lot of colours from lush green fields to various colourful meadows and the black and white of winters. Most of the Valley is covered by pine forests, and the jungles are dense and wild from inside, nobody knows as to what is hidden inside these jungles. There are many folklores and myths associated with the mysteries of jungles primarily to keep them untouched and preserve their flora and fauna and also to keep away from the wild animals.
