Bhoot Chaturdashi 2026: Haunted places and curated walks to explore in Kolkata

On misty Saturday mornings, when the Kolkata Race Course is still wrapped in a gauzy veil, some claim to have spotted a white horse galloping across its tracks. It is said to be Pride, a champion racehorse whose story ended in tragedy almost a century ago. But if local lore is to be believed, Pride never quite stopped racing.

Known as William Saheb-er Sada Ghora (Sir William’s white horse), its ghost is among the more enduring apparitions in Kolkata’s repertoire of supernatural tales. Ananth Padmanabhan’s ‘No Refusal’ captures the fading legacy of Calcutta’s yellow taxis storyline 1 It isBhoot Chaturdashi is observed in Bengal today, observed on the eve of Kali Puja. Traditionally, 14fourteen earthen lamps, or choddo prodip, are lit in homes to guide ancestral spirits and ward off malevolent ones.

Families also prepare choddo shaak, a dish made with 14fourteen varieties of leafy greens. It is a night when, according to Bengali folklore, the veil between the world of the living and the dead grows thin, and restless spirits are believed to wander.