Many Bengali women Traveling to or living in West Bengal for educational, work or other reasons. And there is one question that most of them keep hearing: “Do you know Kala Jadu (black magic)?” The question is often asked casually, out of curiosity or sometimes even in jest. In reality, it is a stereotype that Bengali women are constantly confronted with outside their home state.
I too have had similar experiences. As someone who lives outside West Bengal, I have been asked if I learn Kala Jadu so often that it eventually became routine. Once, when my Bengali roommate and I were leaving our rented apartment, we were told that our landlord had performed a cleansing ritual. This made us realize that our very identity as “Bengali women” had somehow made him associate us with Kala Jadu. A friend of mine, who has naturally curly hair, was suspected of practicing black magic and was repeatedly treated with fear and suspicion by some of her dorm mates. Eventually, one of them left the hostel and blamed the “Bengali girl with curly hair,” who had no idea what she had allegedly done.
This made me think about the topic more seriously. The stereotype points to a larger cultural phenomenon. Why are Bengali women more often associated with black magic and vashikaran in the popular imagination than women from other regions of India? This is not simply superstition. The stereotype was shaped by several other factors including the colonial perception of Bengal and Orientalismpatriarchy and its fears about women’s agency, as well as decades of depictions of this kind in cinema, television and, more recently, social media. Over time, these portrayals have reduced an entire community of women to a single stereotype: seductive, manipulative, dangerous, and somehow capable of exerting supernatural control.
Historical and religious roots of the stereotype
The connection between Bengal and these practices did not arise by chance. historical science (Engels1989; Urban2001) discusses the colonial misrepresentation of Bengal’s tantric traditions and how these traditions became associated with ideas about gender. The intersection of Shakta Tantra and patriarchy played a role in shaping these myths. British missionaries tended to evaluate unfamiliar religious practices from the perspective of their own cultural and religious framework. As a result, they demonized the worship of Goddess Kali in Bengal. They viewed a female deity who was dark and fierce, wore a garland of severed heads, and was worshiped through animal sacrifice as the embodiment of “dangerous femininity.”
Kali’s imagery was in stark contrast to the Victorian ideal of femininity. Later Ramakrishna Paramahansa offered a new interpretation through his religious practices an exploration of Kali, Tantra and female spirituality, questioning to a certain extent the association of female power with the supernatural and dangerous. His own tantric training was led by Bhairavi Brahmani, a woman who became his guru and spiritual authority. This story provides an important cultural context through which these later associations took shape
Witches and supernatural female characters such as Daini and Shankchunni often appear in Bengali folk tales and literature, especially in stories for children. Examples include Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar’s Thakumar Jhuli and many other folk tales. This helped establish such archetypes in rural Bengal.
According to Bengali folklore and tantric texts, a dakini is a supernatural tantric figure associated with the goddess Kali and accompanies her in battles and cremation grounds. Folklore and later colonial interpretations contributed to the notion that acknowledging Kali’s power also meant acknowledging the power of her anger. Therefore, a woman who worshiped Kali could be considered to have possessed a form of supernatural female agency that was not easily controlled by conventional patriarchal norms. This in turn made them comparable to the European idea of the witch.
These depictions were among the many historical influences that contributed to the broader construction of the “witch” as a symbol of illegitimate and uncontrolled female power. Over time, they interacted with other sociocultural stereotypes.
Patriarchy and gender dynamics
Historically, women in parts of Bengal were educated, outspoken and unapologetic about their sexuality. Figures like Rassundari Devi, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Nati Binodini, Swarnakumari Devi and Sarala Devi Chaudhurani and many others openly challenged patriarchy and advocated women empowerment. From Matangini Hazra, Pritilata Waddedar and Bina Das to Sarojini Naidu, Bengali women also played an active role in the Indian independence movement. Such women challenge patriarchal norms, and the underlying logic is simple: if you can’t control her, call her a witch.
Bengali women’s association with seduction is also found in Bhojpuri folk traditions. These folk traditions developed around the 19th century and often focused on male migration to the East Indies. Nitin Sinha’s Study of Bhojpuri Folk Songs shows how Bengali women were imagined as “beautiful women” who could make migrant men “desensitized” through their sexual gestures. They were also depicted as Sawatiya or wives and mistresses who lured men from their homes.
Sinha argues that these songs shifted the blame for male infidelity onto the Bengali woman’s body and sexuality, portraying her as the reason why an otherwise “innocent” migrant husband went astray. However, Dhananjay Singh discusses another aspect of this picture. On the one hand, Bhojpuri folk traditions often portrayed Bengali women as seductresses who lured men from Bihar’s countryside. On the other hand, there were Bengali women who migrated to rural Bihar treated and stigmatized as outsiders.
Role of media and popular culture
Popular media, particularly Bollywood, has also played an important role in perpetuating this stereotype. Films like Bulbbul and Pari portray the familiar image of the Bengali woman as mysterious or supernatural. However, the violence depicted in these films is not simply presented as an expression of female evil; Rather, it arises from patriarchal violence. Nevertheless, the transformation of the female protagonist into a supernatural being is reminiscent of older associations of female power with characters like Daayan or Chudail.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa features the famous character Manjulika, whose name is often used to mock Bengali women. The character draws on the well-known portrayal of the Bengali woman in Hindi cinema as possessed and mentally unstable. Similarly, the popular Hindi television series Kasautii Zindagi introduced Kay Komolika, another well-known and stereotypical Bengali character who continues to be the subject of discussion on social media almost two decades after the series ended. She was portrayed as a “vamp,” characterized by her black saris and snake-shaped bindis. However, Satyajit Ray attempted to challenge several of these stereotypes with his 1960 Bengali film Devi, which explored the horrors arising from religious superstition and patriarchal oppression.
The media coverage of Rhea Chakraborty following Sushant Singh Rajput’s death is a particularly striking example of how these gender stereotypes work. Both the public and the media portrayed her as a manipulative woman practiced black magicmainly because of their Bengali identity. This incident further reinforced the stereotype, particularly in parts of northern India.
Instagram Reels and memes have added another layer to this phenomenon. Some content creators exploit this stereotype for comedy or online reach, while Bengali women themselves are trying to reclaim it. However, in reclaiming the stereotype, sometimes they end up reinforcing it instead. An acquaintance who lives in Delhi was once asked by her male classmate if she knew any ‘Nimbu Mirchi tricks’ that could help him win over his crush. Apparently, he had come across several videos claiming that Bengali women had knowledge of such practices.
The effects of these displays are not limited to our screens or pages; They also shape the perception of Bengali women in everyday life. When Bengali women are repeatedly associated with sexuality, manipulation and being “too independent,” these ideas can fuel mistrust and prejudice towards them. Women who challenge social norms are often perceived as immoral, making them an easy target for judgment and discrimination.
Bengali women have also shared their experiences of mistrust on social media. Some have spoken of facing difficulties in finding accommodation, while others have spoken of being judged by their partners’ families if they belong to other communities, particularly North Indian communities.
Humor is therefore not always harmless, especially when an entire community of women is repeatedly associated with danger and the supernatural. Challenging this stereotype requires examining how history, gender and popular culture work together to shape the way Bengali women are perceived in everyday life.