A vetala (Sanskrit: वेताल vetāla) is a revenant in Hindu mythology, usually defined as a knowledgeable (fortune telling) paranormal entity said to be dwelling at charnel grounds. The vetala is comparable to the vampires of Western mythology. Reanimated corpses are used as vehicles by the spirits for movement, the corpse no longer decays while it is inhabited by a vetala. A vetala may possess and also leave a dead body at will. In Shaivism the vetala is the mount or the vahana of the Hindu god Shiva, which he earns the epithet Víthala-Mahadev.