Tradition / Region: Bhutan Mythology
Alternate Names: None Recorded
Category: Demon
The Myth
The Krinpo are man-eating demons from Bhutanese folklore. In the folktale Saved by Acho Lala, they are portrayed as dangerous beings who hunt humans and devour them as food. The story describes them living together as a family and preparing human victims in boiling cauldrons.
In the tale, a young girl is abandoned by her mother, who flees from a land filled with krinpo demons. The girl is later captured and brought to the home of the demons, where the krinpo family intends to eat her. She manages to delay her death by convincing them she is too small to cook.
While the other demons are away, the girl tricks one of the demon children into taking her place above a boiling cauldron. The demon falls into the pot and dies. That evening, the krinpo family unknowingly eats their own child while believing they are eating the captured girl.
The girl escapes while the demons are distracted and flees into a cypress tree as the krinpo pursue her. She calls upon Acho Lala, the moon, for help. Acho Lala lowers an iron chain from the sky, allowing her to climb safely to the moon while the demons fail to follow her.
Sources
Penjore, D. (2011). Dangphu Dingphu: A Collection of Bhutanese Folktales.