The Kalanoro of Madagascar

The case of the creature named Kalanoro from Madagascar is quite unusual. Its name is well known among fans of animal mysteries, as a bipedal primate, and a tad aggressive. But in this area, the case is rather thin. Few testimonies, no footprints, no blurry photos. Few relevant articles, except this one .

  The Kalanoro simply spreads elsewhere. He is, in fact, a worthy representative of the ordinary people of this island, a “Malagasy elf” whose role in traditional medicine and religion is absolutely central, even today. The Kalanoro is very much alive; in his cultural context, he represents the local equivalent of the elf in our fairy tales of yesteryear. The Kalanoro’s case in this area is very extensive.

The island of Madagascar is located in the Indian Ocean, near the east coast of Africa and is the fourth largest island in the world.

Most Malagasy people live in the highlands and around Antananarivo, the capital. Despite the growing population, much of the island’s interior is devoid of human activity and contact. It is a vast rainforest that has remained untouched for many centuries.

Madagascar’s population is composed of 18 ethnic groups and can be classified as the culmination of extensive interbreeding between the original Austronesian and African occupants, and to some extent with Arabs. Genetically speaking, interbreeding is very vigorous, except among the populations of the Highlands, where endogamy has preserved the Indonesian phenotype. Although statistically 50% of Malagasy people are Christian, some still live according to ancient traditions and religious belief in “spirits.”

In Madagascar, people who follow ancestral worship recognize the existence of a superior deity, creator of the world, called Zañahary. This god is considered too distant, so requests are addressed to the closer spirits that are the ancestors, but be careful, not just any. These were first the royal and princely spirits (because there were kings and queens in Madagascar from the 16th ^century until colonization in 1897) as well as those of certain notables who played a more or less important role in their time and are then given the title of saints. According to this belief, when indigenous peoples die, their spirits reside in many places, whether on the ground, on stone, or in the trunk. Thus, the natives of the past still protect the homeland and bless their descendants.

Vazimba refers to a category of intermediary spirits who have become deities, benefactors or malevolent according to popular representations. Vazimba means “those of the forest” in Southeast Proto-Barito, an ancient Austronesian language that includes Malagasy and languages ​​spoken by the Dayak peoples along the Barito River in Borneo.

 Popular beliefs define the vazimba as secretive figures who lived in the Highlands in a very distant era. They aroused both fear and respect among the Malagasy. The vazimba is described as small, with copper-colored skin, an elongated face, wide, drooping lips hiding very long teeth, and a compressed forehead. All of this combined gives it a very ugly and repulsive appearance, to the point of inspiring visceral fear.

The Merina, inhabitants of the region around Tananarive, in the Central Highlands, fear them: places likely to shelter them are respected by the observance of certain rites such as invocation, or the giving of offerings. Thus, currently, the so-called places “where there is a vazimba” are sacred: rivers, lakes, woods, mounds, caves, entire regions, etc. These places are reputed to be forbidden pork, dead or alive, onions, alcohol, and bad words and it is forbidden to have a complete sexual act These little vazimba men apparently avoided any object that had contact with salt. It is said that their level of culture was quite limited. They were, it seems, far from mastering metallurgy and would have made weapons with clay and reeds.

Their disappearance, the absence of documents and sufficiently reliable oral tradition about them, as well as human imagination, have turned these people into true anonymous divinities.

Yet it is established that the Vazimbas really existed; they were the first inhabitants of Imerina, the interior of the island of Madagascar. The Vazimbas gave their name to a period of Malagasy history that ended at the beginning of the 16th ^century  . They are in reality probably the descendants of the first Austronesian pioneers who landed in Madagascar at the beginning of our era, around the year 1. The current state of scientific research confirms to date a human presence in Madagascar at least five centuries BC. Territorial conflicts between the Vazimbas and the Hova, who arrived later on the island, resulted in the relative domination of the territories by the Hova, characterized by their ingenuity and organization. The Vazimbas probably melted into the population and it has become impossible to determine their original traits outside of legendary stories. Traditionally, the Vazimbas, hunter-gatherers living in the forests, were considered wild men by the inhabitants of the coastal plains, herders and cultivators.

Vazimba women, due to their long hair, are often confused with magical dwarves-Kalanoro and mermaids-Zazavavindrano. Vazimbas and Kalanoro are often associated but despite their similarities, they are in theory quite distinct: Vazimbas are civilized, human spirits, and therefore considered “positive”, Kalanoro are wild spirits, which must be tamed, seen a priori as “negative”.

In the Angano, Malagasy tales and legends, we find many fantastic creatures forming the spirits of nature / Manankasina . For example, the bibiolona which are equivalent to centaurs, the spirits of the waters or  lolon-drano , (lake, river, stream, waterfall…), including the  zazavavindrano , “daughters of the waters” (undines), and the  andriambavirano , or even the lolo vokatra / living dead or zombies. But the most important is the Kalanoro.

The word  Kalanoro  is based on the Sanskrit  kala , “black, blue-black,” and the Arabic  nūr , “light.” Literally,  Kalanoro  would be the black-luminous one. But it is not as simple as it seems.

It seems that the word  kala  has undergone a significant semantic shift in Imerina. Indeed, currently, no one associates it with a color;  kala , an everyday word in Imerina, now means girl, as opposed to  koto , a nickname for a boy . Etymologically, Kalanoro is “the girl who is called Noro” and Noro, which is read as Nour, is perhaps linked to this Arabic masculine name which means “light.”

The Kalanoro is a creature of the forest. It’s never seen, but everyone talks about it.

Stories about the Kalanoro generally report that they are discreet, even invisible, beings who live in forests, under rocks, near water or in isolated places. The Kalanoro is a humanoid, very small, particularly small, not even one meter tall. Despite its small size, it is exceptionally strong, its body covered by hair and hairy, their hairiness gives them great magical abilities, the males have a large beard. Their hands are curved, all have hooked nails on their feet and hands with which they defend themselves, seriously scratching those who try to take them. There are only three toes on their feet, pointed backwards. According to the story, the feet of a Kalanoro are upside down, to allow them to lose their pursuers. Indeed, these small creatures are often hunted, because they bring wealth to their owner.

Generally, and although descriptions vary by region, they are described as having sinister red eyes, sometimes with a hump on their back. Considered both a benevolent and a malicious spirit, the Kalanoro is said to have the voice of an old woman with a pinched nose.  

The Kalanoro marry each other and have children. According to some, they feed on milk, for others, on honey, raw crabs, or animals and insects. Their relationships with humans depend on their will and their friendship; they can thus make themselves visible when they want to offer their affection to a human. The writings report above all that they are “learned doctors,” that they “know the virtue of all kinds of herbs, trees, stones, and all things suitable for curing illnesses, know future events, and warn the men and women they love, know where there are mines of gold, iron, steel, and other minerals.” They are also defined as “powerful invisible beings” but can appear in dreams as small men with bushy hair.

 They teach their friends where there is honey, and even collect some to give to them. The Kalanoro are able to give life to those who ask for a child. “Sometimes visible in the form of small black beings”; they are considered the masters of salt, water, honey and plants as well as certain animals (crocodiles, snakes, eels).

The term Angalampona , of Betsimisaraka origin, refers to the Kalanoro from other regions of the island far from the central highlands. They are forest gnomes, human-like, black, hairy, with a weak voice, all similar in appearance. They live in pairs, feed on crabs and crayfish, and rest on silk cocoons. Their cry: kou kou, houlou, recalls that of the torotoroka , the Malagasy owl (Otus madagascariensis). When its cry is imitated, Angalampona takes revenge by throwing stones on the roof, shaking the hut, and especially by extinguishing the fireplace, scattering the embers. It sneaks into isolated huts at night to warm itself by the flame of the fireplace and to plunder scraps of food, but never pork or wild boar. The strength of the Angalanipona is said to be considerable, and although they are not evil, meeting them is said to be a bad omen.

As these mythical creatures are known to only come out at night, some say that these Kalanoro take advantage of the darkness to enter the villagers’ huts. They help themselves to food and then return to the forest. They must always be allowed to leave or face torture. Malagasy belief attributes to them the disappearance of children, whom they take to their den and force to eat. If the child eats what they offer them, the Kalanoro keep it with them and consider the child as one of their own. To get the children back, the parents must do certain things or offer them to the spirits of the forest, for example rice or rum. ( article )

This offering is then brought to the Kalanoro through a medium, called Mpitaiza in Madagascar . The medium can be a man or a woman, into whom the Kalanoro spirit enters to take control. In a high-pitched, childlike voice, the medium then speaks like the Kalanoro and conveys their demands. If the parents have complied with the Kalanoro’s wishes, they retrieve their children, usually from a cave. Several of these incidents are said to have occurred in the Andoboara Cave in Ankarana National Park. Professor Joe Hobbs of the Department of Geography at the University of Missouri-Columbia studied them while he was with the local tribes in the Ankarana Special Reserve in Madagascar. On May 15, 2000, Hobbs described how the inhabitants of Ambalakedi village consider Andoboara Cave “sacred because on three occasions, the last time only two years ago, grief-stricken parents whose children had wandered off into the forest recovered them alive here” after food had been left for the Kalanoro in exchange for the return of their children.

 Some members of the Betsileo ethnic group believe that the Kalanoro steal babies and replace them with their own kind, or place curses on children to stunt their growth. As a result, short people are often referred to as “children of the Kalanoro.”

If you manage to catch one, the Kalanoro is a malicious genie, a cross between the genie of the lamp and a gremlin. It grants all the wishes of its owner or brings them gold, precious stones or mercury. On the other hand, it must never be seen by anyone other than its owner. It will also dictate the other fady (prohibitions) to its owner as well as its wishes which, it is said, would range from honey to human sacrifice. Today, as soon as a Malagasy succeeds, very quickly, rumor will say that he raises a Kalanoro at home. On this thread , a young woman suspects her father of a relationship with a Kalanoro creature because he has taken the habit of often going into the forest with provisions.

According to the beliefs of the  Betsimisaraka  ,  Sakalava  and  Bara ethnic groups , the Kalanoro are primitive beings similar to the legendary vazimba. The  Tanala  call them  Fahasivy  and assume that they live hidden deep in the forest, away from the prying eyes of man. But according to the  Antankarana  and the  Tsimihety , they live in caves scattered throughout the island. Example of a recent testimony by a coffee producer in the Tanala forest:
Living in an isolated place, he was awakened one night by the barking of his dogs and as he arrived in front of his veranda, he saw shadows of small men running away from his house… he concluded that they were Malagasy people living in caves in the Tanala forest who had no contact with the local population living in self-sufficiency but who had come to his house that evening, hungry, in search of easy food. He assures that such communities still lived in these isolated caves of this forest….

According to the oral traditions of Madagascar, the Kalanoro are therefore linked to Malagasy diviners, commonly called Mpitaiza in the local dialect. When the Kalanoro work with the Mpitaiza, the latter derive healing powers from it. The tromba healers , those who practice spirit possession, associate with Kalanoro, whom only they can see and who know the healing plants and can make diagnoses. This association with a Kalanoro is, for the client of the Mpitaiza healer, a guarantee of effectiveness. More of a union, and the sentimental or even carnal dimension of this couple relationship between the healer and the creature plays a role in the background, as can be seen through the tale The Young Healer and the Holy Kalanoro .

Kalanoro healers are the rarest and most expensive of Malagasy mediums and are only called upon as a last resort, when all else has failed, or when the problem arises from an offense to a nature spirit or a traditional taboo (fady) has been broken. The association with the kalanoro is therefore not only claimed, but the healer can also arrange a physical meeting between the client and the kalanoro who will heal him. (more here )

But the client is not allowed to see a Kalanoro while they have a medium. Instead, during the consultation, the medium sits behind a white curtain in a dark room or cave. According to some accounts, when the Kalanoro arrives, they can be heard walking and knocking on the ceiling and walls of the house. Their speech is rapid, staccato, and high-pitched, making them difficult to understand. It is taboo to have a dog present during a session with a Kalanoro, as dogs can see them.

In this testimony , a man consults a tromba healer to cure a smallpox. To facilitate the spirit’s appearance, a partition was made in the hut with a cloth and people waited in “servani” (songs, invocations). Finally, a noise was heard on the roof, the spirit came down. They gave him food and drink, and their strange voice was heard; he indicated, in a gruff manner, remedies to look for in the forest (plants and roots), he complained that he had been disturbed for so little and disappeared.

It is easy to dismiss these consultations with a kalanoro as fabrications. In a setting that can be compared to that of the Oracle of Delphi, how many times have swindlers deceived poor people by hiding behind a lambahoany (cloth) and dictating nonsense and demands for payment of money while pinching their noses? (like in this video ?)

In conclusion, one can only be astonished by the enormous place given to the kalanoro in Malagasy popular culture even today. For some, the kalanoro designates a hidden tribe, descended from the mythical vazimbas of the origins. A hominid, a human species close to the man of Flores, who would have populated the Betsileo region before the arrival of the sapiens sapiens who would live in the shadow of the cave forests. For others, it is a magical dwarf, a traditional local elf with telepathic healing powers.

For others, the kalanoro would simply be a local animal species. Because Madagascar, it is a fact that we are not going to avoid, is also home to a unique species of primate: the lemur . These arboreal and nocturnal animals are small and are often heard rather than seen. Lemurs were first discovered in the 17th century. However, it was not until the 1950s and 1960s that primates were studied. Moreover, since then, nearly 100 species have been discovered, including some in the 1990s.

Although they look more like raccoons than primates, they have nails instead of claws, can walk on two legs at once, and can use tools. However, unlike most primates, some species have large eyes and wet noses. And some species, which lived as late as 2,000 years ago, were sometimes as large as gorillas . Finally, some believe that Kalanoro is a nocturnal lemur related to the Aye Aye (pictured) or the Aye Aye itself, whose morphology is so terrifying that it must be very scary at night.

Christophe Kilian

A France Journalist who has interested in Cryptozoology