I have heard about lot of ghost stories and all of them are based on some place like building, mansion etc. However, I had never got a chance to visit such a place. While in Narhat village (Alwar district, Rajasthan), I heard about a place called Bhangarh which is supposedly one of the most haunted places in India. Apparently it is quite a popular place.
One day, I got an opportunity to visit the place. It was a typical Rajasthan afternoon..a hot and sunny one when me along with Ayush and one local headed off to Bhangarh. Bhangarh is right next to Ajabgarh village(in Thanagazi block). The road to Ajabgarh-Bhangarh reminds you of the horror serials with bare trees lining up on both sides of road.
The actual area of Bhangarh is quite well preserved by ASI. A temple is situated at the entrance of the walled area after which ruins of the marketplace are located. The ruins clearly show that the kingdom had lot of shops. All these shops had similar architecture..and surprisingly, all these shops have been destroyed from same level..like someone has chopped them off from the top. The whole area has 3 temples and all of them are still intact. There is also a 4 storey palace, it used to be 7 stores high but now only 4 storeys remain. The palace lies in lap of hills and lots of bats (and probably some ghosts too) live in its rooms. From the top of palace, a beautiful view of the whole kingdom and the plains ahead can be seen. The area also has a garden with lot of plants. One can hear the wind gushing among the greenery. Overall, the site is quite well maintained.
The folklore has it that Bhangarh was once a prosperous town. The king and queen lived in the palace. There was a sadhu living on the nearby hilltop in his cottage. He liked the queen and wanted to get her. Once he gave some hair oil to a maid servant so as to apply it on the queen. The sadhu had done some magic on oil so that whosoever would use the oil would come in his cottage. The queen got suspicious of the oil and threw it on an arch of palace. The result was that the arch flew and landed over sadhu’s cottage. The sadhu was crushed and while dying, he cursed that Bhangarh will be destroyed in one night. All the people fled the place. All the buildings –except temples- in the town were destroyed overnight and ghosts started living there. The locals believe that if anyone goes to Bhangarh after the sunset, he/she won’t return. We heard this story from a number of locals. Apparently, earlier there was a Govt. of India signboard at this place saying that government is not responsible for anybody who enters the place after sunset but we did not find any such signboard.
We left the place well before evening but the memories of such a beautiful place will linger for long.
A trip to Rajasthan is incomplete without seeing the sand dunes in Thar Desert. Even before reaching Rajasthan, I had made a point to go and see the actual desert, the one which I had seen in so many Bollywood movies.
There were five people of my batch in Rajasthan (myself, Ayush, George, Arthy and Pratibha) and all of us planned to visit Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is the westernmost district of India having Pakistan on its western frontier. We reached Jaisalmer on a Saturday afternoon after 14 hrs train journey. The journey is long and once you cross Jodhpur, you can see only vast barren plains. I am from Punjab and have seen lot of plains in northern India but nothing like the ones in Rajasthan. These plains continued for couple of hours of train journey and were devoid of any life. Only some shrubs were seen here and there while the remaining area was totally uninhabitated.
We reached Jaisalmer railway station and headed off to Hotel Desert Haveli. We had already booked this hotel prior to our arrival here. The hotel guy called ‘Aladin’ (now thats a name one can’t forget) had come to receive us at the station and he took us to the hotel.
One of the main attractions of Jaiselmer is its fort. The fort is a marvelous piece of art and the best part is that it is still inhabited by people..infact, it is teeming with people and shops. The buzz of market kicks alive the whole fort and it is a different feeling altogether. Our hotel was located inside the fort and from its window, one could see a beautiful view of the city and the desert beyond. After freshening up, we had lunch at ‘The Trio’ restaurant. It had a good ambience with food being served under a tent at the rooftop. After this, we started the sight seeing leg of our trip.
One striking feature of Jaisalmer is its golden yellow color. All the buildings inclusing the fort, havelis, houses, petrol pumps and even police and railway stations are built from golden yellow limestone. This gives the city a totally different aura and hence, it is also known as the Golden City.
The hotel people had arranged a jeep for us and first, we went to a Jain temple (don’t remember its name) on the outskirts of Jaisalmer..the temple had a wonderful architecture and was preserved well. After this, we went to see the ruins of Kuldhara village…this site is also now managed by ASI. It was already 4 PM and all of us wanted to see the sand dunes fast so we asked the driver to head over to ‘Sam Sand Dunes’. These sand dunes are about 45 kms from Jaisalmer and are a major tourist attraction. The driver dropped us two kms before the sand dunes and we got onto the backs of camels to go right into the desert. Camel ride is fun..but you really gotta balance yourself else you might fall. Once we reached the dunes, we just walked on the sand, tried to run from one dune to other.. and with Rajasthani folk music in the background, ‘twas lotta fun.The dunes really look mesmerizing at the sunset..like someone has splashed colors on canvas.
At night, we stayed at a resort in the desert. There was a folk song and dance program happening at the resort but none of us liked it. We had arranged for tents for our night stay but we preferred to sleep outside in the open. If the desert is burning hot in the day, it turns into freezing cold at night. We had to use blankets at night to protect us from chilly winds.
I woke up early in morning and at sunrise, I again walked upto the dunes.. It felt like I was under a spell, some sort of magic by a beautiful witch…which kept on pulling me toward the lovely golden sand. The fierce winds at night had created beautiful scales on the sand.. I was alone in the middle of nowhere but then reality dawned and I bade goodbye to the sand and returned to tent to take a shower. I took shower and stepped outside the tent and bah, I was engulfed in sand again. Fast dusty winds (at 8 AM) had ensured that I can’t feel the luxury of a shower for more than 5 minutes. Anways, we had breakfast and returned back to our hotel in the fort.
We had coffee at the hotel and then we went out for some more sight seeing. We visited the Jain temple inside the fort. After that, we didn’t see the palace and went to see a haveli instead. Though there are lot of havelis in Jaisalmer, Patwa haveli is said to be worth visiting. One can take an autorickshaw or just walk down the narrow lanes of the city. The haveli is a beautiful and grand piece of architecture and is worth visiting to see the grandeur of erstwhile times. (Photographs of haveli at its official website: http://patwahaveli.com ). The haveli has lot of exhibits used by its owners and together, they take you into different era altogether.
We also bought diaries made of handmade paper as a souvenir. While creating the paper, the manufacturer often adds leaves, flowers or grass inside the paper thus giving it a totally different look. I also bought another souvenir of a window representing the many windows which forts and havelis have. The shop owner gave me a fossil stone with this purchase..apparently, this stone is extremely old and has medicinal properties. As per shop owner(s), it can convert milk to curd though I didn’t test this claim.
This culminated our Jaisalmer dream. We had sumptuous food in the city and started back for the long journey.
Sometimes I think a lot and when I reach no solution, then I think why am I thinking and then the cycle repeats.
Did you get this? Nopes??? No probs, neither do I. So as I say, don't think...just do it.Waiting won't make life easier.
which is supposedly one of the most haunted places in India. Apparently it is quite a popular place.
ins of the marketplace are located. The ruins clearly show that the kingdom had lot of shops. All these shops had similar architecture..and surprisingly, all these shops have been destroyed from same level..like someone has chopped them off from the top. The whole area has 3 temples and all of them are still intact. There is also a 4 storey palace, it used to be 7 stores high but now only 4 storeys remain. The palace lies in lap of hills and lots of bats (and probably some ghosts too) live in its rooms. From the top of palace, a beautiful view of the whole kingdom and the plains ahead can be seen. The area also has a garden with lot of plants. One can hear the wind gushing among the greenery. Overall, the site is quite well maintained.
king and queen lived in the palace. There was a sadhu living on the nearby hilltop in his cottage. He liked the queen and wanted to get her. Once he gave some hair oil to a maid servant so as to apply it on the queen. The sadhu had done some magic on oil so that whosoever would use the oil would come in his cottage. The queen got suspicious of the oil and threw it on an arch of palace. The result was that the arch flew and landed over sadhu’s cottage. The sadhu was crushed and while dying, he cursed that Bhangarh will be destroyed in one night. All the people fled the place. All the buildings –except temples- in the town were destroyed overnight and ghosts started living there. The locals believe that if anyone goes to Bhangarh after the sunset, he/she won’t return. We heard this story from a number of locals. Apparently, earlier there was a Govt. of India signboard at this place saying that government is not responsible for anybody who enters the place after sunset but we did not find any such signboard.
