Bhangarh Fort – An unsolved mystery or really spooky?

So infamous for its paranormal activities since centuries, that locals have started calling it Bhoot Bangla or Bhoot Bhangarh instead of Bhangarh. Infact many sites/blogs rate it as the top most haunted place in India or some say that for Asia. You search in Google – “the most haunted place in India”, and every other link on first page itself, will start boasting about Bhangarh and its tales.

Today only ruins exist in Bhangarh but it is said to be a sprawling area once. Built in later half of 16^th Century by Man Singh I for his younger brother Madho Singh I, it got demolished in quite surprising way for which no written evidence is available till today (The day I’m writing ;) ) but there are two stories which are quite famous among locals.

Legend I: As per this famous legend, Bhangarh got cursed by an ascetic named Baba Balak Nath. The city was said to be established with the permission of him with one condition which said that any building inside the fort should not be taller than his place. But fate always plays its role, one descendant, who was unaware of this condition, raised height of the palace, and it shadowed the place of the ascetic. The alleged prophecy stood fulfilled and fort got devastated in no time. By then it is said that all those spirits have haunted the area and no one dares to build a house with roof nearby.  Even if they try, it gets collapse the following night.     

Legend II: This second legend is more famous than first one, which says that Princess Ratnavati of Bhangarh was so beautiful that a black magician fell in love with her. He used his black magic and replaced a ittar (scent) bottle which Ratnavati was supposed to use, to make her fall in love with him. She was being not only beautiful but intelligent too, sensed it and threw the bewitched scent over a big boulder. The boulder started rolling towards the magician and crushed him. Before the last breath, he cursed that Bhangarh would be destroyed soon such that no one would ever be able to live here and see morning sun. 

Within a year, Bhangarh fort was invaded by Mughals and city got sacked. All the people in the fort were killed in that war. The place is said to be haunted since.

Following above legend,some of the locals also believe that Bhangarh will come alive once Ratnavati, the cursed princess, will enter into its boundaries again. She has said to be taken birth in one of the households. Good luck Bhangarhis!!!

Chattri of Baba Balak Nath at the Top

I am so fond of haunted places, that the moment I got to know about Bhangarh, I was sure that I was going to visit it very soon. Somehow plan got delayed a little, but I got more curious to reach Bhangarh with every passing day.

Then came the D-Day when I with 3 other friends of mine planned for Jaipur trip. Thanks to Asit who used to work in night shifts those days so we could only start by early in the morning which actually triggered the opportunity to see some of the places en-route Jaipur including mysterious Bhangarh Fort.

It is located on the border of Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar District of Rajasthan, India. From Delhi, it’s just 300 kms drive away while from Jaipur, it’s around 100 kms which makes it a perfect location for one-day trip anytime when weather is not too hot. Since it is located in Aravali valley, so going after monsoon can be a good idea to encounter its beauty with the greenery.

We crossed Sariska around 2 in the afternoon. Not sure about the reason, but I started to feel little eerie once we were in the nearby village, Azamgarh. In the village, most of the houses are having temporary roofs and because of no proper roofs, balconies are not at all there. I was constantly thinking that walls of the houses are straight in a strange way but then noticed the roofs and understood that they can’t have balconies at all with the temporary roofs. It was ultimately making houses to look little different & creating background for one of the legends of haunted Bhangarh.

House with temporary roof in nearby village Azamgarh

After the village Azamgarh, roads were almost lonely and that creepy feel inside me continued. Since I already knew the haunted stories of Bhangarh; so I guess my mind was playing with me. Anyways we reached to the entrance of the Fort by 3:15PM, in excitement, I forgot all those strange feelings & started to look for the famous ASI board which has timings written on it. As expected it was clearly written on the board that no human is allowed inside the fort after the sunset. But to me, it looked like any other board outside ASI protected sites.

ASI has placed a map of whole fort inside the main gate according to which fort has 5 Gates in total – Lahori Gate, Ajmeri Gate, Hanuman Gate, Phulbari Gate and Delhi Gate. Hanuman Gate was the one through which we entered inside the fort walls. But as far as I could understand, it is the only gate through which entry is allowed inside the fort now.

The very first thing to notice from the gate is Lord Hanuman Temple. It is quite surprising to believe if Bhangarh is really haunted if Lord Hanuman is sitting at its entrance.

We were quite excited to ‘what happens next’ and were walking in enthusiasm. Next was a long dilapidated pavilion which is called as “Jowhri Bazar”. It is said that in old times this place used to have market where diamond and gold jewelers used to sell their ornaments. We encountered some of the peacocks there :) as a symbol of beauty in current era.

Ruins of Jowhri Bazaar

After Jowhri Bazaar is “Dancer’s Haveli”, which is believed to be the residence of then Dancers in the palace. Pavilion is long and full of ruins, but ruins have only the walls not the roofs. All these things were compelling us to believe the famous legends.

Then was the 2^nd level gate which is covered with a weird shaped Banyan Tree. Main Palace is still little far from this gate and there is a big open area in between. On the one side of which is Gopinath Temple, standing on a high platform but surprisingly without any deity. Contrast to its surroundings, this temple is quite intact, well preserved. Architecturally it’s a beautiful temple. On the other side is Shiva Temple, which is having Nandi idol opposite to Shivalinga like all other Shiva temples but unlike other temples inside the fort which are not having any idols. There is a pool beside it which is getting water from the perennial stream of water, which according to locals, is originating in the snake infested sandal woods around the area (you can consider it as another mystery).

Gopinath Temple

Another noticeable thing inside Bhangarh is - there are so many temple premises but majority of them are without idols. I tried to find out the reason behind this but failed. Some of them are Mangla Devi Temple, Keshav Rai Temple, Someshwara Temple, Ganesha Temple etc, but all are in ruins. We could not visit all of them as we were running out of time, please visit them and let me know how they are.

Banyan Tree outside 2nd Gate

We walked to the main fort area which was once called the Royal Palace. Here is the 3^rd and final level Gate for the Fort. Since it is located at the base of Aravali Hills, so pavement to reach inside is little sloppy. Every step and every turn was tempting us to click pictures with it.

Royal Palace

We all were exploring it and clicking pictures like we would have done in any other ruin, infact architecturally beautiful ruin, without getting affected of any presence of ghosts there. Some rooms/corridors of it are so dark that sun light is not able to reach there even in the day time. In one of the small rooms, I could find a square opening in the floor with the help of the light of my phone. I tried to go down but it was pitch dark so could not dare to do so. Later in Jaipur, during a conversation, manager of the Hotel told me that that opening is actually the Gateway to Ghostly world inside Bhangarh. According to him, the same palace which exists above the ground, lies below the ground. But once you get down through that hole, you will never be able to come back. This was his part of story, I’m still not sure whether I should trust it or not.

We were so lost in its beauty or to find something haunted, that we did not realize when we reached to the top of the fort until we saw a big terrace full of stones and mesmerizing view of the surroundings along with complete view of the Fort. The Royal Palace is said to have seven storeys, out of which only four are remaining now. Whole Township was protected by three successive fortifications which was quite visible from the terrace. We were enjoying the views but then suddenly Asit said that he was having an unusual uneasy feel in his head (something ghostly), and asking us to move out as soon as possible. Without thinking twice, we started to descend. By the time sun had already set. After coming down, I asked him to stay little more but he was still not interested, so we started towards the main gate.

View from the Top of the Royal Palace

P.S. : On the way to the outer gate, near to the Banyan tree, I noticed a person beside the wall on little distance with his back towards us, his hair was too weird. His overall look was strange & I just kept on staring at him but could not see him moving. I’m still in doubt while writing this post was he just another commoner or someone else?

We then came outside the main gate and started the car which stopped after a little distance.

No, it did not stop automatically but we could see a road side vendor selling the hot spicy pakodas. We were very hungry so it was time to make our stomach full, before embarking our journey to Jaipur.

Some General Details :

• From Delhi, its just 300 kms drive away while from Jaipur, its just 100 kms. But there are very few petrol pumps in nearby areas, so plan accordingly.
• Timings : Sunrise to Sunset
• Entry Fee : No Entry Fee
• Visit Duration : Minimum 2-3hrs, if you are interested in photography and architecture.
• Kind of Place : During day time, it's considered as beautiful ruins but in night, enter at your own risk.
• Take sufficient snacks/water with you as there is no shop/stall outside the fort.
• ASI does not allow to enter this place after sunset, so plan your trip such that you enter the fort by 2 PM.
• Stay Options : There is no place to stay nearby as it is infamous for being haunted especially during night time, so plan to leave this place such that you can reach to nearby town in time.
• For one-day trip, plan to combine it with a visit to Sariska Tiger Reserve, Siliserh Lake and Tijara Jain Temple.