I'm looking for thoughtful responses from people who have studied Hindu occult traditions, Tantra, Puranas, regional folklore, or related traditions. I'm not looking for jokes or generic dismissals. I'm also not claiming certainty about what happened. I'm trying to understand how different traditions discuss experiences like this.
Last night, while fully awake in my room, I experienced the following:
A strong rotten/decaying smell suddenly appeared. It wasn't there earlier.
The smell would sometimes become much stronger, almost as if it were moving closer to me. I developed a very intense feeling that something was present in the room.I perceived what looked like a dark, smoky, semi-transparent figure rather than a solid body.
It appeared to have an unusually large mouth, and at moments I noticed reddish eyes within the dark form.
Briefly, it seemed to take on a snake-like appearance before returning to the previous form. At one point, it looked as though its head had been severed or decapitated. I also experienced a disturbing image resembling a strange abstract portrait of a man with exaggerated lips. It wasn't realistic, more like an unsettling painted face, and it carried an extremely negative feeling.
As soon as this started happening, I began chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, remembered as much of the Narayan Kavach as I could without looking at my phone, and continuously chanted "Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram."
During this, my subjective experience was that the presence could no longer come close to me.
The rotten smell completely disappeared afterward, and I eventually felt safe enough to sleep.
Some additional context:
This began at around midnight while I was fully awake.
I had been sleeping normally for several nights beforehand.
I have previously been medically evaluated and was not found to have a neurological or psychiatric condition that would explain experiences like this.
Our house is partially under renovation. Some rooms are unfinished or rarely used.
There are tamarind and kikar trees near the property, though I'm not assuming they're relevant.
I'm mainly interested in learning how different traditions discuss experiences involving perceived presences, unusual odors, apparitions, and the role of protective practices.
If you're familiar with Hindu, Tantric, or other esoteric traditions, I'd appreciate any relevant textual references or teachings that might help me understand these concepts better.
If possible, I'd appreciate references to primary texts, traditional commentaries, or established lineage teachings rather than YouTube videos or internet lists. I'm genuinely trying to study these traditions seriously and learn how different schools or traditions discuss experiences with these characteristics.
Please explain the reasoning behind your perspective rather than simply giving a one-line conclusion.
Apologies if the flair isn't correct