Located around 220 kms from Delhi, Bhangarh Fort is situated on the border of Sariska Tiger reserve in the Aravali range in the deserted town of Bhangarh, Rajasthan. Bhangarh is a ruined town between Jaipur and Alwar. Bhangarh fort is a major tourist attraction and is said to be one of the most haunted historical places in the world. Many myths are related with this haunted fort. A place that has so many spooky stories around it that it arouses one's interest immediately.
The advisory “Stay Away” notice by The Archeological Survey of India
This is the city of Bhangarh, once glorious now feared. A fort standing in ruins, in desperate need of restoration, stones that were once put together to form walls now crumbling down, remains of what were once shops and houses, surrounded by mountains on 3 sides, huge trees in the campus, a temple at the main gate, a notice outside the main gate by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that reads,
"Entering the borders of Bhangarh before sunrise and after sunset is strictly prohibited. Legal action would be taken against anybody who does not follow these instructions"
A place whose only inhabitants now are only an army of Monkeys and Langoors.
In ancient times, Unlike other forts in India, it was not merely a king's residence in there. It was, as a matter of fact, an entire town behind those grand walls which now stand shattered. A main market area, lined with ruins of shops from old times, houses and residences of other common and important people and at the far corner the king's palace built at some height and overlooking the entire town.
HISTORY
The town of Bhangarh was established in 1573 by King Bhagwant Das who had 2 sons. Elder one was Man Singh, the famous General of Mughal Emperor Akbar and the second one was Madho Singh. Bhagwant Das laid foundation of Bhangarh as the residence of his second son, Madho Singh who lived and ruled here his entire life. Madho Singh named the city after his grandfather Man Singh who was also known as Bhan Singh and that’s where ‘Bhangarh’ comes from. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Chhatr Singh who died in 1630. Who ruled Bhangarh after Chhatr Singh is not known however the prosperity, wealth and power of the town was lost with death of Chhatr Singh and Bhangarh slowly declined. However though the fort remained as it still had support from the mighty Mughals. After death of Aurangzeb, mughal empire too weakened and it was around this time that Jai Singh II of Jaipur attacked and attached Bhangarh to his state by Force in 1720. The population of Bhangarh started to diminish under Jai Singh's rule. Then came the great famine of 1783, also known as the Chalisa, which left the entire town uninhabited and it has remained so ever since.
It is also believed by some historians that Bhangarh was inhabited for centuries before it was built into a royal city in 1573. It is said that it was a wealthy town where over 10,000 residents lived in prosperity. Even today it can not be denied that this small town once had grand palaces, well maintained gardens, and beautiful temples.
Whatever happened here in the hills, why this town was deserted is both fascinating and frustrating because of the lack of any robust information. Whatever information is available are mere speculations and beliefs.But if one is to believe the local myths and legends, the story is both interesting and spooky.
The legend of Princess Ratnavati and Singhia
Ratnavati was the princess of Bhangarh and was famed for her elegant beauty all across her own kingdom and the neighboring states. By the time the princess had turned 18, various matrimonial offers from different kingdoms came in a rush. Tempted by the beauty of Princess, Singhia, a black magician (Satanist) decided to lure the princess with his magical powers. So the magician thought to spellbind the princess; he cursed the oil made available by princess’s maid. However, princess recognized the trick and poured the oil on to the ground. The oil on ground turned into a rock and rolled towards the magician and crushed him. In his dying words, the magician cursed the town to death and no moRe rebirths. The curse showed its results in a war between Bhangarh and Ajabgarh, where the princess was assassinated. However, some folk stories tell that the princess has taken a re-birth and the fort is waiting for her return and end the bloodthirsty curse.
There is another version of this story as well. Per the second version, Singhia gave the scented oil to one of the maids tO pass on to the princess. That maid bought the oil to the palace and handed it over to Ratnavati. But what Singhia didn't know that the princess herself was very well verse with the cult and she knew the tantra and spells herself. As soon as she touched the bottle, she knew what Singhia did. She had him captured and brought to the palace as a prisoner where she threw the oil on Singhia. As soon as the cursed oil touched Singhia, the person who himself cursed it, he died a very painful death and it was in his last few moments that he cursed Bhangarh.
The very next year, Bhangarh was attacked by the neighboring kingdom of Ajabgarh. There was a fierce battle which Bhangarh lost and Rani Ratnavati herself died in the battle. The town has been uninhabited ever since.
Another version is that when Ratnavati threw the oil away and as the oil struck the ground it turned into a boulder, which crushed Singhia. Dying, the magician cursed the palace with the death of all who dwelt in it.
There remains to be however another version of this story wherever Ratnavati herself is blamed for the doom of this town. In the first version of this lore, Ratnavati before marriage was in love with a poor man in her father's kingdom. They both knew that their marriage was out of question as Ratnavati was a princess and her lover was just a poor farmer but still could not help but falling madly in love with each other. As it is often shown in the movie, Ratnavati would sneak out of the palace when no one was looking to spend time with the poor boy. On one such instance, they were both caught red-handed by Ratnavati's father, the king. Sensing that her lover would probably be hanged for the crime that he committed by falling in love with a princess, Ratnavati made a pact with her father that she would marry as per his wishes only as long as he forgives the boy and grants him his life. Her father agreed and she was married off to the King of Bhangarh but she always remained in loved with the same boy and could never give her heart to her husband. The boy too did not back out and followed Ratnavati to Bhangarh dressed as a poor beggar and Tantrik. Ratnavati too found out about his presence in Bhangarh and they started meeting each other again. As it happened before, they were again caught by the king, this time Ratnavati's husband who doomed them both to death. Watching her beloved getting beheaded right in front of her eyes, Ratnavati cursed the king and town of Bhangarh to perish right after her death.
Second version of this story is that Ratnavati was in love with Jai Singh of Jaipur and because of this love affair, he kept attacking the town of Bhangarh until it was in ruins. His sole intention was to kill the king, win over Bhangarh as a part of his kingdom and Ratnavati as his wife in which he finally succeeded but at the cost of Bhangarh.
Third version of this story is that Ratnavati was herself a sorceress and was accused of witch-craft. Ever since her marriage, young girls of poor farmers started to mysteriously vanish in middle of the night. Soon it was learnt that it was queen Ratnavati herself who was stealing and sacrificing the girls for eternal beauty. She was dragged out of her quarter and burnt alive. In her painful screams as flames started to consume her, she cursed the town of Bhangarh to doom and remain so forever.
The curse of Guru Balu Nath and the Complex Houses of Fort with no Roofs
It is said that before the fort at Bhangarh was built, a monk or Guru by the name of Balu Nath used to live here alone. He was a sanyasi who had given up all worldly belongings and went to forest to be away from people, common man's desires and dedicate his life to god. He was against the idea of building a town because that would mean a lot of people around , a great amount of disturbance in his daily prayers and will beat the very purpose of him living there to be away from people. However though, after much persuasion by King Bhagwant Das he agreed on one condition that the shadow of the king's palace should never touch Balu Nath or his residence or the city will perish. Bhagwant Das agreed to the condition and so began the construction of Bhangarh Fort. Interesting fact around this is that King's palace only consisted of 3 or 4 floors initially, in order to honor Balu Nath's Condition that the shadow should never reach his residence.
Years passed and the city prospered. Slowly over the time, Balu Nath's warning was forgotten and one of the later kings, Ajab Singh, re-built the palace to a new height by adding 3 more floors to the existing 4. This proved fatal as it caused the palace's shadow to reach the place where Balu Nath lived. Hence what was once a warning turned into a curse and the city doomed. How it happened is something no one can tell. Whether everyone left, or died because of the curse remains a mystery.
Another version of this story is that Balu Nath did not literally mean what he said that the shadow of the palace should never touch him. He merely used it as a metaphor to warn king that he should be left alone and not bothered by people of the town. As time passed, population of Bhangarh grow and Balu Nath's warning was forgotten. When his sanyasi life started to get disturbed by people around, Balu Nath cursed the city to perish.
Interesting thing about this tale is that Balu Nath seems to be an immortal. He laid his condition before the city was built, post which it was ruled by several kings which means that it must have been a long time but Balu Nath somehow managed to survive all those years. He lived and lived until he saw the city doom but what happened to him after the town was deserted is another mystery. Some people believe that his samadhi is still located within the fort from where he rises every night to haunt the palace.
DIFFERENT STORIES PROVIDING EVIDENCES OF PARANORMAL ACTIVITIES IN BHANGARH FORT
These are stories from the past but this isn't where it all ends. There have been recent claims of people getting hurt and even dying because of the ghosts at Bhangarh. A student by the name of Tarun Aakash wrote about how he along with two friends met with an accident after a night spent in Bhangarh. The odd thing, he says, was that they were the only people to have been hurt in a bus of more than 50 people, even though they were sitting 5-6 rows apart.
Few years ago, a man fell into the step-well located within the premises of Bhangarh and hurt his head. While he was being rushed to the hospital, the car crashed and the two others died. An unfortunate accident blamed entirely on ghosts. Locals of course completely support the fact that Bhangarh is indeed haunted. They would tell you laughingly that several people die in Bhangarh each year so their spirits and ghosts are bound to stay here. Several people including the children and old ladies of nearby villages will tell you tall tales about how they encountered "Bhoots, chudail, jinn" within the walls of Bhangarh. Official records however are an entirely different story, "there have been no deaths within this ancient fort. People of course get hurt sometimes because of lose boulders or when they try to act macho or mischievous but no one has ever died here.'
As it happens with every superstitious story, some, specially the locals around believe it is true, while others consider it merely as a made up tale. If we look at all the facts rationally, these legends can easily be waived off. While some try to prove the ghost story right, others want to debunk it by visiting the fort after the dusk.
Every story related to Bhangarh is from two prospectives. One is of the locals who live around here and the second point of view of the tourists who come here because of the interesting tales floating around on the web. One visit and you can easily tell that this place is no more than ruins and fallen walls now. Even though the fact cant not be denied that once in its prime, it was a beautiful fort, a majestic example of medieval architecture. But all that is now gone. Though restoration work is now in full swing, due to lack of care in past years, the beauty of this place has long faded. If a person is interested in old forts and palaces than there are other places in Rajasthan itself that are 100 times better than this. There is nothing to learn about ancient architecture at Bhangarh. Whatever was there has long collapsed and what now stands is work of ASI restoration department, not from several hundred years ago. There is absolutely nothing to see here except for a couple of temples but if you want to visit ancient temples, there are options way better than this.DRIVING TO BHANGARH - the spookiest place
Driving to Bhangarh is a pain in all the wrong places. This place is located between Delhi and Jaipur or Agra and Jaipur, close to Alwar. If you are coming from Delhi, every single kilometer after you have crossed Alwar will make your journey a joy ride. The roads are so bad that it feels they were custom made to test your stomach, your butt and your vehicle's suspensions. Story remains the same if you are traveling from Agra or Jaipur' side. There are no signboards around and you will have to stop and ask the locals for directions every few kilometers. If a comfortable vacation is on your mind, Bhangarh is the last place you would want to visit.
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