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The Mystery of abominable snowman….. Yeti!!!! (Fact or Fiction)


Unknown mysterious creature. Image courtesy Trent

Unknown mysterious creature. Image courtesy Trent

"The Yeti has long been a revered figure in Himalayan mythology that predates Buddhism. The various peoples inhabiting Tibet and Nepal in the heart of the lofty range, which includes Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, do not see the Yeti as a proto-human type of creature but instead a man-like animal that seems to exist with supernatural powers. The Yeti comes and goes like a hairy ghost, just showing up rather than being found by tracking. Some stories tell of it flying in the air; killing goats and other livestock; kidnapping young women who are taken back to a cave to rear children, and throwing stones at humans".(https://www.thoughtco.com/yeti-legend-755946)


Story telling by grandma

Every one of us has elatedly heard the bedtime stories of our ancient folklores which our grandmother or mother used to recite during the night. The folklore would always consist of a hero, a monster/ Villan and a damsel in distress….. Whatever we assumed ourselves to be in that story, the presence of a monster would definitely bring chills down our spine. We loved to know more and more about it but at the same time we were anxious enough to confront it. There are many such folklores which are conceded down the lane from generations together.

One such folklore which originates from the Himalayan regions is that of Yeti… the mighty Himalayan creature or the abominable snowman.

Yeti is a Tibetan word meaning a hairy creature in a rocky place. Yeti has excited many of the explorers to dig out the truth of its existence. There are huge lot of stories doings rounds regarding the appearance of Yeti. Some say that the mythical creature is just a creation of the parents living in the mountainous regions so that their young ones don’t wander off far away. There are many who believe such a creature exists because they themselves have witnessed it during their explorations or have found evidences to cite the presence of such an enormous creature. The description given by the people is more or less similar in characteristics, which evidently makes the enthusiasts to just go for it and resolve the truth.

The sightings of Yeti go back to thousands of years, the first account of which is given by Gaius Plinius Secundus, more popularly known as Pliny the Elder, in 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder was a Roman author and a Naval Commander who like to explore different geographical areas and keep an account of it. In his Encyclopaedia named Naturalis Historia (Natural History) Pliny the Elder has described Yeti as a hairy creature with sea-green eyes, sometimes walking on four feet and at times two, very swift and difficult to catch until and unless old or sickly. The creature had human features with hairs all over the body and a screech/whistle that could draw life out of humans just witnessing it.

American folklores have also described about similar forms of Yetis, which they call Bigfoot or Sasquatch, and are described as large, hairy, bipedal, humanoid, Omnivorous and Nocturnal. The different sightings and evidences were reported in the following years;

  1. 1832 by British explorer B.H. Hodgeson, who said his guides had previously spotted a hairy bipedal ape in the high mountains. Hodgeson believed the red-haired creature was an orang-utan.

  2. 1899 by Laurence Waddell, reported his guides saw an ape like creature with claws and found unusually large footprints.

  3. 1925 a Greek photographer named Tombazi accidently saw a hairy bipedal human like creature with no clothes uprooting some bushes, while on an expedition to Himalayas at an altitude of 15000 feet. The creature disappeared before he could capture it in his camera. But he could see 15 footprints while descending the cliffs which were seven inches long and four inches wide

  4. The early 50s to late 90s the controversy of Yeti sightings and discovery of their footprints continued on a larger account.

  5. The onset of the 21st century brought with it the advancement in technology as well as capability to solve the never ending theories of Yeti sightings.

People and Scientists from all over the world are still involved in sampling the DNA of the so called yetis found by the explorers and the sightings are still evident as recent as reported in 2016.

A former professor of genetics at University of Oxford, Bryan Sykes decided to test some samples that supposedly belonged to Yetis. They then compared the "Yeti" DNA with the genomes of other animals. The team found that two Himalayan samples, one from Ladakh, India and the other from Bhutan, were most genetically similar to a polar bear that lived 40,000 years ago. This suggested that the Himalayas is home to an as-yet-unknown bear, a hybrid of an ancient polar bear and a brown bear. However, this claim quickly ran into trouble when Ross Barnett and Ceiridwen Edwards cross checked the claims and found that the DNAs had very little similarity to modern day polar bear and concluded that the Hair samples were damaged and claim was inappropriate.

There is, till date, the controversy going on as to whether the Yetis exist or are a myth...

Whatever it is, but people living in the Himalayas have been benefited in a long run where tourists flock together to cite the so called Yetis and have their share of stories.

Image Courtesy: Arun Sangam

Image Courtesy: Arun Sangam


Just imagine you are on a holiday enjoying the beautiful Himalayan Ranges and you suddenly track an unknown Mystical Creature…….


What is it you think then???? An Abominable Snowman? A Bear? Or a Yeti………



So next time when you visit the snow clad mountains remember about the mysteries surrounding the beauty……


Image courtesy: Arun Sangam

Image Courtesy: Arun Sangam


If you are really interested in knowing about Yeti or Bigfoot you can refer to some of the articles referred below


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