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The second photo shows a temple located in Russia.
One of the most revered sites for Buddhists is the Temple of the Golden Buddha in Bangkok. An equally spectacular and majestic counterpart is the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni. This temple was built after the Dalai Lama's visit to the capital of Kalmykia, Elista.

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1️⃣ Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Terror

If Russian fairy tales have an evil queen, it is Baba Yaga. She is not just a witch; she is the witch. Imagine a figure as ancient as the forest itself: iron teeth, a nose that scrapes the ceiling of her hut, and legs of bone. She rides through the sky not on a broom, but in a giant mortar, steering with a pestle and wiping away her trail with a magical broom.

Iron teeth that grind and groan,
Fingers long, of skin and bone.
She is the forest, dark and deep,
Who rocks the crying child to sleep

She sets the tasks, both cruel and hard:
To sweep the yard, to sort the chaff.
She offers neither praise nor card,
But watches with a knowing laugh.
For those who work with patient hand,
May leave her hut with magic's brand.

Her home is a hut that spins on giant chicken legs, surrounded by a fence topped with human skulls. She is known for her chilling question, “Little man, are you here of your own free will or by compulsion?” and her appetite for misbehaving children.

A hut that dances on chicken bones,
And chills the air with rasping moans.
The fence outside is lined with skulls,
A warning when the darkness lulls.

But here’s the secret American audiences often miss: Baba Yaga is not purely evil. She is a test. She is the wild, untamable power of nature. If the hero is polite, clever, and hardworking, she might offer magical help—a glowing skull, a fast horse, a piece of advice that saves the day. If the hero is foolish or arrogant, he becomes her dinner. She is the ultimate judge of character, a chaotic neutral force who respects courage and cunning above all else. She is the fear of the unknown wilderness, and the respect it demands.📛

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2️⃣ The Evil Stepmother: The Domestic Monster

While Baba Yaga represents the external threat of the wild, the evil Stepmother is the horror that lives in your own home. She is the most human of the villains, and perhaps the most chilling because of it. She is not a supernatural creature; she is driven by very human sins: jealousy, vanity, and greed.

Her target is almost always her stepdaughter, a girl whose youth and kindness threaten the stepmother’s own power. In the famous tale Vasilisa the Beautiful, the stepmother doesn’t just lock Vasilisa in a tower. She sends her on a suicide mission—into the deepest, darkest part of the forest to fetch a light from none other than Baba Yaga herself.

The hearth still burns, the house is grand,
But winter rules at her command.
A smile that doesn't touch her eyes,
A heart specialized in goodbyes.
She is the shadow in the hall,
Waiting for the good to fall.

The stepmother’s evil is calculated and domestic. She uses her authority to manipulate and destroy, hiding her cruelty behind a veneer of civility. She represents the betrayal of the family, the fear that the person who is supposed to care for you is secretly your greatest enemy. She is a villain every reader can recognize, making her instantly terrifying.🔥

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3️⃣. The Sorceress and the Sea Princess: The Supernatural Siren🎸

Beyond the forest and the home lies a third realm of feminine power: the mystical world of water and pure magic. Here, we find characters like the daughter of the Sea Tsar or powerful sorceresses. These women are elemental and amoral. They are not motivated by jealousy like the stepmother; they are driven by desire, boredom, or a code of ethics entirely alien to humans.

In the tale of Sadko, a merchant is taken to an underwater kingdom where the Sea Princess decides she wants to keep him. She doesn’t love him; she just adds him to her collection. Her power is immense and her will is law. In other tales, a sorceress might turn a prince into a beast or trap him in her palace simply because he trespassed on her land.

Her voice is not a siren's call,
But cold abyssal waterfall.
A crown of pearls, a gown of foam,
She rules the waves, she calls you home.
Beware the kiss she seems to give,
It's not for you, but that you'll live
As her possession, pale and still,
A prisoner to her cold will.

These characters are the unrestrained primal selves—passionate, possessive, and dangerous. They represent the seductive and destructive power of nature, the whirlpool that drags you under with a beautiful, smiling face. They are a warning that some forces are too wild to be tamed or reasoned with.

The Unifying Thread: Power on Their Own Terms⚡
So, what makes these “evil women” so enduring? It’s their agency. Unlike many Western villains who are evil as a simple plot device, these women operate from a position of immense power.
⚡️Baba Yaga has her own domain, her own rules, and answers to no one.
⚡️The Evil Stepmother wields her power within the household, manipulating the social order to her advantage.
⚡️The Sorceress commands the very elements, living by her own mystical laws.
They are not merely obstacles for a hero to overcome. They are complex figures who test the hero’s worth, represent deep-seated cultural fears, and command every scene they are in. They remind us that in the old tales, the most memorable characters weren’t always the princesses waiting for a kiss—they were the formidable women who made the forest tremble and the hearth feel unsafe.
They are the dark, powerful heart of the Russian fairy tale, and their stories are far more interesting than any simple “happily ever after.”🩷

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