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| A night bird and lurking fear |
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| The haunted fort |
We left a bit late from Jaipur for
Sarsika tiger Reserve, one of the finest tiger reserve in the world. With me were Tommy Singh, my old time friend and his beautiful daughter Amrita. Tommy had to meet his friend who was at
Dausa, a great cultural though small town in Rajasthan near Jaipur, hence we took NH11 towards east rather than the normal route to north on NH8 for Sarska.
MAP
We reached Dausa in an hour. Dausa is popular for its rich culture and traditions. The unique local flavor of the region is very well preserved even today.
Hela-Khayal, which is a form of folk art, is a unique style of singing prevalent in this region. Hela singers through their songs demonstrate the enduring spirit and enthusiasm of people living in this region.
By the time Tommy Singh finished his social obligations it was 4 PM and hurriedly we left for Sariska Tiger Reserve on the state highway 29A. The road later became narrow and unpaved. A landscape of spring time fields full of fresh green shoots, village women in their bright
chunris, wrinkly old men herding goats, buffaloes and children bathing at the same water hole, blue sky above, and georgette like veil of clouds. Dotting this landscape were ruins of old forts and
chattaris, cenotaphs and occasionally, ads for mobile phones.
We were near a temple
"Sara Mata" when we stopped at a tea shop as Amrita badly wanted to have a cup of tea. We were enjoying a sweet hot tea. There was a cool breeze. I looked at Amrita-her head up on her smooth neck, face radiant and attractive. Suddenly she looked at me. I turned my eyes, a bit embarrassed.
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| The haunted Bhangarh fort |
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| Who was that? |
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| She disappeared! |
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| I saw this in my dream! |
"Are you visiting BHANGARH?" asked The owner of the tea shop, an old man with a rugged face.
"Beacause if you are then better hurry up", he added with fading smile and a concern on his face. he continued
"The historical ruins of BHANGARH city and nearby AJABGARH fort are haunted. Nobody came back alive after visiting those ruins in the night". Then he narrated the a mysterious story, perhaps, in part, a historical fact. Suddenly, all of us were excited. Amrita jumped up almost dropping her tea glass.
"Lets go", she almost screamed!
We agreed and after finding out details, left for
Bhangarh. Though we didn't believe on the ghost part, the historical facts of the ruins of
Bhangarh city and nearby
Ajabgarh fort, were enough to excite us to visit.
We had about 3 hours before it would be night.
My goodness! It was awesome! We didn't see any guard outside, and got an easy entry. There was an eerie silence all around. My gaze fell on a distant odd looking ruins where I saw somebody sitting.
"Who is sitting there?" I asked. Tommy Singh and Amrita looked beyond my pointing finger.
"Where? "There is no one there", said Tommy Singh. I narrowed my eyes and looked again. There was nobody. Then we saw a notice board by the
Archaeological Society of India, warning the visitors not to enter after sunset. That was incredible! We all looked at each other and knew for sure that we were puzzled. We walked quickly away from the notice board. While standing next to the pond near the main fort, we heard someone sneeze. It was scary as hell, because there was no one inside the fort apart from us.
We walked around the garden, temple, labyrinth of ruins, looked up at a small tower(
Chhatri) on the top of the hill which added further scare to the mystery around. It was getting dark and we wanted to hurry up. Surrounded by the beautiful Aravallis Hills, the fort stood tall and tranquil during the day, but had taken on a ghostly appearance after dusk. Then I saw a crow against setting sun. What that meant?
I asked to myself. We also saw from a distance the magnificent and imposing albeit monstrous looking
Ajabgarh fort.
Ajab means
"strange". We further ventured into ruins, addicted and terrified! Few bats were flying around. Then suddenly I heard a shirk from Amrita. Tommy and I looked towards the source. There was a flashlight. That was terrifying because there was nobody else except us. We moved fast toward the light. And suddenly it disappeared; there was no beam of light!
That was enough! We left, back to
Dausa back rather than going ahead to
Sariska Tiger Reserve. Silent, engrossed in our thoughts of haunting memories of ruined city of
Bhangarh and
Ajabgarh Fort.
On my return, I did my research and surprisingly found out that most of what we heard and experienced was true and a historical fact. I'm giving below the details in brief:
The Bhangarh History(Rajasthan)
Bhangarh was built in the 17th century, by Raja Madho Singh, younger brother of Man Singh, a general of Emperor Akbar’s army. At that time, Bhangarh had a population of over 10,000. Now, not a soul lives in the ruined but still beautiful city. Bhangarh was the precursor of the exquisite old city of Jaipur, with its havelis, colorful bazaars, and temples. Havelis are elaborate residences, almost miniature palaces, built around large courtyards. The walls are painted in bright colors with detailed frescoes. If the old city of Jaipur is anything to go by, Bhangarh must have been an extremely prosperous city. Today nothing remains but the temples. The decline of Bhangarh Fort started in 1630 after Chhatr Singh, son of Madho Singh got killed in a violent attack. The decline continued until 1783 when the fortress and the city were completely abandoned following that year’s famine. The haunting myths of Bhangarh: Story A – Standard of story of lustful wizard and beautiful maiden
One of the stories say that the Bhangarh was cursed by a tantrik (a wizard who practices dark arts), Singhia, who was in love with the beautiful princess Ratnawati of Bhangarh. Singhia added a love potion to a bowl of oil that belonged to the princess, but Singhia’s hopes were dashed (literally) when Ratnawati hurled the bowl on a wall that collapsed and buried Singhia. A dying Scindia cursed the kingdom of Bhangarh saying that the city would be wiped out overnight, and would never be inhabited again, except for the temples. Shortly after the death of Singhia, the whole city was sacked and destroyed in the Bhangarh-Ajabgarh wars. Bhangarh was never inhabited again, but the area around it is dotted with temples. Believers consider this a living proof of the wizard’s curse. Story B – The real-estate obsessed wizard
The other story goes that Singhia the Wizard, practised his dark arts in the outskirts of the city. When the early Kings of Bhangarh built the city, Singhia warned them that he would not interfere with the city as long as the they did not infringe on his settlement. The kings were respectful of Singhia’s privacy, but one arrogant king refused to heed Singhia and paid for it. When the buildings overshadowed the wizard’s work area, the whole city collapsed and all its citizens were forced to flee. Since then, no one has dared to settle in the city again Press Report(MIDDAY-Mumbai)
http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2010/sep/020910-Bhangarh-Fort-Rajasthan-scary-place.htmRelated post:
Most Haunted And Exotic Dow Hill, KarseongSome of the details and photos based on(Thanks): in India:
http://aayushvani.blogspot.com/
http://hauntedrajasthan.blogspot.com/
http://thinkingparticle.com/articles/haunted-bhangarh-fort-ghost-town-rajasthan
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