Nang Tani ( th, นางตานี; "Lady of Tani") is a female spirit of the

Thai folklore Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large ...

. According to folk tradition, this

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

appears as a young woman that haunts wild

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

trees (''

Musa balbisiana ''Musa balbisiana'', also known simply as plantain, is a wild-type species of banana. It is one of the ancestors of modern cultivated bananas, along with ''Musa acuminata''. Description It grows lush leaves in clumps with a more upright habit th ...

''), known as in Thai language as ''Kluai Tani'' (กล้วยตานี). ''Nang Tani'' belongs to a type of female

s or

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

related to trees known generically as ''Nang Mai'' (นางไม้; "Lady of the Wood") in the Thai lore. There is a similar spirit in the

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

n folklore, as well as in the Lao popular tradition. ''Nang Tani'' may also be called ''Phi Tani'' (ผีตานี; "Ghost of Tani") or ''Phrai Tani'' (พรายตานี; "Nymph of Tani").

Legends

This ghost inhabits the clumps of wild banana trees and is popularly represented as a beautiful young woman wearing a green traditional Thai costume. Most of the time ''Phi Tani'' remains hidden, but she comes out of the tree and becomes visible especially on

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...

nights. She has a greenish complexion, blending with the tree, but her lips have the red color of the ripe

ivy gourd ''Coccinia grandis'', the ivy gourd, also known as scarlet gourd, tindora and kowai fruit, is a tropical vine. It grows primarily in tropical climates and is commonly found in the Indian states, where it forms a part of the local cuisine. ''Coc ...

. Her hair is black, abundant and untied. She generally appears in a standing position and her feet don't touch the ground, but hover slightly above it. In some modern representations the lower part of her body is represented with an immaterial quality, her waist cloth ending in a kind of wisp emanating from the tree trunk. It is considered a bad omen to cut trees from the clump ''Tani'' inhabits. Offerings are made to her in the form of sweets,

incense stick Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...

s and flowers. People also often tie a length of colored satin cloth around the trunk of the banana tree believed to be haunted by her. The ''Kluai Tani'' type of banana tree does not belong to the cultivated varieties. Owing to their connection with ghosts, people prefer not to have them growing near their homes and they are not found within village compounds. However, clumps of this tree are found not far from inhabited areas, often at the outskirts of villages or at the edge of cultivated fields by the roadside. They look very much like average banana trees, but their fruits are not edible. Their leaves are commonly used in Thailand to wrap locally produced sweets and the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

for the treatment of

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...

s in

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

. Legends of the Thai

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

say that this spirit may harm men, especially those who have wronged women, but she is mostly considered benevolent. ''Nang Tani'' generally has a gentle disposition and may give food to passing Buddhist monks.

Amulets An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

featuring Nang Tani are popular and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some people tie lengths of colored silk around the trunks of the banana trees reputed to be haunted by ''Nang Tani''.

Modern adaptations

''Nang Tani'' is a popular folk spirit that has been featured in some Thai films such as ''

Nang Phrai Tani Nang or nangs may refer to: * Nang County, Nyingchi, Tibet, China * Nang yai, a form of shadow play * ''Nang!'', a general interest magazine * Nang, a slang term for nitrous oxide (N2O, laughing gas) when used as a recreational drug; or for whippe ...

'' (นางพรายตานี), a film made in 1967 that has become a

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

. ''

Nang Tani Nang Tani ( th, นางตานี; "Lady of Tani") is a female spirit of the Thai folklore. According to folk tradition, this ghost appears as a young woman that haunts wild banana trees ('' Musa balbisiana''), known as in Thai language as ...

'' (นางตานี),

Tani Thi Rak Tani may refer to: *Tani (letter), a letter in the Georgian scripts *Tani people, a group of tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, India *Tani languages, a group of languages spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, India * Maiani language, also known as Tani, a langu ...

(ตานีที่รัก),

Mon Rak Nang Phrai Patha Nang Tani Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

(มนต์รักนางพรายปะทะนางตานี) and 2000 film Phrai Tani (พรายตานี), are less important movies in which the banana tree ghost plays the main role. She also plays a role in other films such as

horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

Nang Phrai Khanong Rak (นางพรายคะนองรัก), among others. ''Tani'' appeared as well in a Sylvania light bulb commercial for Thai audiences. This female ghost is much loved in Thai

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, representations and stories about her, sometimes humorous, are common in Thai comic

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

and story books. Tani has a role as well in the ''

Nak In data networking, telecommunications, and computer buses, an acknowledgment (ACK) is a signal that is passed between communicating processes, computers, or devices to signify acknowledgment, or receipt of message, as part of a communicatio ...

'' animated movie. In the PC

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

Ragnarok Online ''Ragnarok Online'' ( ko, 라그나로크 온라인, marketed as ''Ragnarök'', and alternatively subtitled ''The Final Destiny of the Gods'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Gravity based on the manhwa '' ...

'', ''Nang Tani'' is inspiration of the MVP boss character Lady Tanee of the Ayothaya Dungeon.

Legends

Modern adaptations

See also

References

External links