Howrah Bridge ghats — the suicides' spirits beneath Kolkata's iconic bridge

The ghats on the Ganges (Hooghly River) beneath Kolkata's iconic Howrah Bridge have been the site of numerous deaths — from suicides, drownings, and accidents — over the bridge's eight decades of existence. The area beneath the bridge, where stone steps descend into the murky river water, is considered one of Kolkata's most haunted locations. Fishermen who work the river at night report seeing figures standing on the ghats who jump into the water and vanish — replaying the final moments of those who took their lives from the bridge above. The sound of splashing and screaming has been heard when no one is visible on the steps. In Bengali Hindu folk belief, those who die by drowning or suicide become particularly restless spirits (jal-pret or water ghosts) who are trapped at the site of their death, unable to move on to the cycle of reincarnation. The Howrah Bridge itself, one of the busiest bridges in the world, carries hundreds of thousands of people daily, and the contrast between the teeming life above and the spectral activity below creates a uniquely Kolkata juxtaposition. The river's dark waters, the ancient ghats, and the massive steel bridge overhead form a haunted landscape that is quintessentially Indian.