Do Vampires Really Exist?

From Bram Stoker's Count Dracula to Stephenie Meyer's Edward Cullen, vampires have always instigated our interest for some or the other reason. We fear them, we love them and we always want to know more about them.

Most of us have often wondered about one thing for sure. Do vampires really exist? It has been a topic of discussion since many years. No one knows for sure what vampires really are and whether they actually exist or not. They have always appeared to us in the form of stories, myths, popular feature films and cartoons. But the fascination for these creatures never really leaves us.

Let us start with analysing what a vampire is according to popular beliefs. A vampire is a mythical creature who depends on human blood for its sustenance. With the advent of famous Count Dracula, people started portraying vampires as a fearful and soulless monster who feeds on human blood. Later with the advent of Twilight and Vampire Diaries, the whole concept of vampires took a 360 degree turn. Vampires are now looked upon as the most beautiful, charming and mesmerising creatures that you will ever come across.

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Vampire legends have existed in almost all cultures of the world. But it gained popularity mostly in the Eastern European countries such as Transylvania and in the Balkans. The notion of vampirism has existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demons and spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires.

Vampires were believed to be the revenants (visible ghost or animated corpse) of evil beings, suicide victims, witches or an evil spirit possessing a corpse and the popular among the lot being bitten by a vampire.

With sufficient information about vampires, let us now take a look at whether the vampires really exist.

Attributes Of A Vampire

Different folklore define different attributes of a vampire. Drinking blood from animals and humans however has been a common trait of vampires across the world. Some define them as having a ruddy or purplish appearance, while others have defined them as the most beautiful creature who invites you in and then hunt. Vampires are supposed to be immortals and they survive only on blood. Some folklores suggest that vampires hate sunlight.

Folklores

There is some research that suggests ancient India was the original source of the vampire legends. Stories of undead, bloodsucking creatures may have travelled from India to places such as Romania, Russia, and other lands, to form what our ideas of the vampire are today. Earliest myths of vampire-like creatures seem to come from India, and other places in the East such as Tibet and China.

Folklores

References to vampires can be found among the ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean such as Egypt, Greece and Rome. The ancient Greeks believed in the strigoe or lamiae, who were monsters who ate children and drank their blood. According to the mythology, Lamia was the lover of Zeus; but Zeus's wife, Hera fought against her. Lamia was driven insane, and she killed her own offspring. At night, it was said, she hunted other human children as well.

Folklores

Vampire tales have also been found in ancient China, where the monsters were called kiang shi. In ancient India and Nepal, vampires may have existed as well. Ancient paintings on the walls of caves depict blood drinking creatures. The Nepalese 'Lord of Death' is depicted holding a blood-filled goblet in the form of a human skull standing in a pool of blood.

Vampires In India

Among all of India's legendary beings, the ones that get closest to today's vampires are the Rakshasas. Though described slightly differently from different regions and times, Rakshasas were generally considered demons in humanoid flesh who had long fangs and drank the blood of the vulnerable, especially pregnant women and infants. Rakshasas lived in cemeteries and would disrupt prayers, rituals, and rites. In addition to their bloodlust, these beings were also said to be vulnerable to death through sunlight and fire, which puts them very close to the modern day vampire.

Vampires In India

In India, the ideas of 'Bhut' and 'Pret' are attributed to beings like vampires. It is said that people who die untimely and are not given proper funeral or not buried properly turn into vampires. The vampires were generally viewed as demonic beings that could reanimate the corpse of a human. It would use the body of the human to destroy others and drink their blood.

A Demonic Creature Or Just A Deformed Animal?

Research suggests that a vampire may not be an animated corpse or human at all. It might be a kind of predator or a kind of parasitic animal which depends on human blood for its survival. In North India, there is a concept of Brahma Rakshasa which is a vampire like creature with its head encircled by intestines and a skull from which it drank blood. The legend of 'Vetala' is also sometimes attributed to a vampire.

A Demonic Creature Or Just A Deformed Animal?

Some European cultures also believe in an animal called chupacabra. It is a blood sucking animal which usually feeds on the blood of goats and other livestock. So, going by these assumptions, we might say that a vampire might be a kind of deformed animal whose sustenance depends on blood. Legends and hysteria have made people put in their imaginations to make vampires what they are today. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility of vampires existing in real.