Exploring the spectral undercurrents of India’s urban imagination
An ongoing interdisciplinary study of paranormal belief, informal economies, and ghost stories in a rapidly urbanising India. Rooted in anthropology and development studies.
The India Ghost Project maps the invisible structures — cultural, emotional, and economic — that shape India’s haunted landscape. We examine how hauntings, rituals, and supernatural practices persist and evolve within a society undergoing rapid transformation.
Our work speaks to researchers in urban studies, religion, folklore, and South Asian society. We treat ghost stories not as curiosities but as primary sources: windows into how communities process grief, displacement, class, and historical violence.
We use a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative depth with quantitative reach. Methods are selected to capture both the structural and the experiential dimensions of paranormal belief in India.
Surveys
Online and in-person questionnaires mapping belief systems, spending behaviour, and demographic patterns across urban and rural populations.
In-depth Interviews
Extended conversations with ghost-tour operators, spiritual workers, temple priests, exorcists, business owners, and communities living adjacent to designated haunted sites.
Ethnographic Fieldwork
On-site research at haunted locations, ghost-tour stops, exorcism clinics, and pilgrimage sites. Direct observation of ritual practice and community response.
Economic & Policy Analysis
Examination of informal markets linked to belief — paranormal tourism, faith healing, and ritual service economies — and their relationship to formal policy frameworks.
Media & Discourse Analysis
Systematic review of how the paranormal is represented across Indian cinema, news media, digital content, advertising, and social platforms over time.
Crowdsourced Geotagging
Collection and verification of public submissions to build an open-access geospatial dataset of haunted sites, cross-referenced against archival and press records.
Research outputs span public-facing and academic audiences. The archive itself is a primary output — a structured, citable dataset available for scholarly use.
Paranormal Locations Archive
622-entry structured dataset covering all 36 states and union territories. Includes classification, historical context, source citations, and geocoordinates.
Interactive Geographic Atlas
Publicly accessible map of all documented locations, filterable by ghost typology, haunting type, state, and site classification.
Working Papers & Peer-reviewed Publications
Findings from fieldwork and survey data, submitted to journals in anthropology, urban studies, and South Asian studies.
Public Data Release
Open-access export of the full dataset in structured formats (JSON, CSV) for use by researchers, journalists, and developers.
Documentary Series
Filmed field investigations exploring the economic and cultural dimensions of hauntings across selected states.