Bhangarh Fort, they say, is one of the most haunted places in India. Well, ‘they’ can’t be trusted to be right all the time. But they can’t be questioned just like that too either.
After a rather disappointing visit to Sariksa Tiger Reserve, courtesy Supreme Court’s order and a 15 min delay on our part which could have been avoided, we got over excited to realize there is a haunted fort just 45km away waiting to be exorcised by us.
Highways and Forts
The journey towards the fort was quite interesting especially the Rajasthan State Highway that we took. The road was so bad and narrow that I suddenly found the really bad road to my village in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, nothing less than an autobahn.
What were exciting on the road though were the three more forts (see the gallery below) we encountered; two on the way to Bhangarh Fort, one was the Ajabgarh Fort – this also looked haunted and another fort – don’t know what its name was but i think it was Kalighati Fort, and third one calledPratapgarh Fort on way to Jaipur from Bhangarh.
Anyhow, the most amazing part was the Bhangarh Fort, a little 3km off the National Highway (this road was better, but unlike any other NH I have seen). For me, this fort was the hallmark of my trip.
Fortified Fort
This entire fort has been well planned and constructed, the main bazaar, dancer’s place, temples, everything was quite amazing, nothing less thanreliving the past, if you have a strong liking for historical places and a stronger imagination.
And when I entered the palace, the hauntedness of the place started taking precedence. There were many things we found interesting especially while taking the pictures. For example, we took 2-3 pics in an otherwise dimly lighted room. There was an unnatural glow or kind of halo around us while we clicked pics, something which stayed in the pictures we have now. Spooky!
Tourists were making small houses of stones to keep the spirits away. And there was a temple dedicated to the Rani Ratnavati of the palace, right in the middle of the palace, never heard and seen anything like this before.
Pictures don’t lie, or do they?
As if this was not enough, when we saw all the pictures from the trip, we noticed a peculiarity in all the Bhangarh Fort pictures (see the gallery below), the left side of each picture is hazy whereas rest of the picture is crystal clear. Now, if that’s not a hint of hauntedness then what is?
There were a few dampeners too though. I did some research over internet before going to the fort and many people had written that Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) clearly prohibits entry (legal word was used too) after sunset to the fort as it is haunted, the dampener is that there is no such thing written except general directions (see the picture in gallery below).
And we checked with local residents, kids who force you to buy water from them and call you Bhaisa, and they said that it is not haunted. They did tell us that there is a threat of animals hence they avoid going out at night. Also, there was a pond inside the fort which has been closed now as 4-5 people have died after jumping into it. And that was all about it.
All in all, Bhangarh Fort is a place you can visit and take away your own set of memories.
[gallery columns="4" type="rectangular" ids="239,240,241,242,243,244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,252,253,254,255,256,257,258,259,260"]
After a rather disappointing visit to Sariksa Tiger Reserve, courtesy Supreme Court’s order and a 15 min delay on our part which could have been avoided, we got over excited to realize there is a haunted fort just 45km away waiting to be exorcised by us.
Highways and Forts
The journey towards the fort was quite interesting especially the Rajasthan State Highway that we took. The road was so bad and narrow that I suddenly found the really bad road to my village in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, nothing less than an autobahn.
What were exciting on the road though were the three more forts (see the gallery below) we encountered; two on the way to Bhangarh Fort, one was the Ajabgarh Fort – this also looked haunted and another fort – don’t know what its name was but i think it was Kalighati Fort, and third one calledPratapgarh Fort on way to Jaipur from Bhangarh.
Anyhow, the most amazing part was the Bhangarh Fort, a little 3km off the National Highway (this road was better, but unlike any other NH I have seen). For me, this fort was the hallmark of my trip.
Fortified Fort
This entire fort has been well planned and constructed, the main bazaar, dancer’s place, temples, everything was quite amazing, nothing less thanreliving the past, if you have a strong liking for historical places and a stronger imagination.
And when I entered the palace, the hauntedness of the place started taking precedence. There were many things we found interesting especially while taking the pictures. For example, we took 2-3 pics in an otherwise dimly lighted room. There was an unnatural glow or kind of halo around us while we clicked pics, something which stayed in the pictures we have now. Spooky!
Tourists were making small houses of stones to keep the spirits away. And there was a temple dedicated to the Rani Ratnavati of the palace, right in the middle of the palace, never heard and seen anything like this before.
Pictures don’t lie, or do they?
As if this was not enough, when we saw all the pictures from the trip, we noticed a peculiarity in all the Bhangarh Fort pictures (see the gallery below), the left side of each picture is hazy whereas rest of the picture is crystal clear. Now, if that’s not a hint of hauntedness then what is?
There were a few dampeners too though. I did some research over internet before going to the fort and many people had written that Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) clearly prohibits entry (legal word was used too) after sunset to the fort as it is haunted, the dampener is that there is no such thing written except general directions (see the picture in gallery below).
And we checked with local residents, kids who force you to buy water from them and call you Bhaisa, and they said that it is not haunted. They did tell us that there is a threat of animals hence they avoid going out at night. Also, there was a pond inside the fort which has been closed now as 4-5 people have died after jumping into it. And that was all about it.
All in all, Bhangarh Fort is a place you can visit and take away your own set of memories.
[gallery columns="4" type="rectangular" ids="239,240,241,242,243,244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,252,253,254,255,256,257,258,259,260"]
really informative. will help plan my trip der
ReplyDeleteBhangarh Fort is an amazing place.. definitely go there..
ReplyDelete[…] when it was actually inhabited – a feeling that was so strong when I visited the Bhangarh Fort (click here to read about it) and walked through its streets. But I guess this is the price more popular […]
ReplyDelete