The Rakshasa

In Hindu mythology, a rakshasa is a malignant demon, especially one of a band of demons at war with Rama and Hanuman. The word rakshasa comes from the Sanskrit rākṣasa, meaning ‘demon’. The rakshasa was later incorporated into Buddhism. Rakshasas are also called 'Maneaters'. A female rakshasa is known as a Rakshasi. They were insatiable cannibals that could smell the scent of human flesh. Some drank blood with their palms or from a human skull.Generally they could fly, vanish, and had Maya (magical powers of illusion), which enabled them to change size at will and assume the form of any creature.