Bhangarh: Beyond the curse

It has been a little more than five years since I visited Bhangarh. On most days, I still remember every detail of the experience. What I remember most is that I was heart-broken by the loss of a great city and all the stories it held in its fold, the ruins that remains have been painted many times over with vivid imagination and rumours of curses and hauntings. While we don't know for sure as to what happened at Bhangarh, the reality of the residents who still live around the fort, is painful.

I was already terrified when I arrived at the gate of the ruins. Much had already ben said in the five-hour long journey from New Delhi to Bhangarh. There were no markers to the ruins along the way and we had to stop, frequently, to ask for directions and we were almost always met with locales suggesting us not to go there. Some had even misdirected us, leading us away from the Fort. It had all gotten on my nerves by the time I arrived. There was no entrance fee but rumours told us there was no guarantee of getting out alive as well. We passed the ominous signboard by the Archeological Survey of India warning visitors not to stay back after sunset. The mood had been successfully created. First, we crossed a long cobbled lane with structures on both sides. The structues, as was evident, seemed to have been cut at the exact height from the ground, creating an evenly creepy image. We paused several times, to take pictures and to speak to the other visitors walking about. Most of the visitors ere locals who had come to pen the day on the Fort's rolling green.

At the far end of this meadow was the Fort. Below the fort, at one corner of the meadow stood the only living temple in the compound. A Shiva Temple. We found the priest and spoke to him at length about the possibility of spirits and the story of the haunting of Bhangarh. He rubbished the stories. He had been the head priest for several years now and his father had been head priest of the temple before him. There had been no instances that he could recollect of any "supernatural" kind. Encouraged, I now made my way to the Fort. As I entered the arched dome of the gate to the main fort building, I froze.

It is easy to see why the stories of Bhangarh's haunting are so believable. The Fort, perhaps is designed, to trigger the imagination. It seems obvious that someone will peek out of the balcony (which was impossible to get to at the time, although renovation was in progress). The cobbled road narrowed into a wide lane leading up, steeply, to the Fort.

The scene within the Fort was like any other ruins you can find, except the nauseating smell of bat droppings. The wind is surprising cool at the top of the Fort and provides a great view. Yet, there is something positively eerie and it is not uncommon to see visitors suddenly looking back as if to check something. In the garden/meadow below, families can be seen enjoying a picnic with the family. Everything seems normal and the image truly allays any fears one may have. Until, someone says, "This is where the guard was slapped by the ghost that evening."

I sent a fairly good amount of time at the Fort, hoping to see some "activity". Thankfully, nothing happened and I decided to walk back to the garden. The sun was beginning to set. I realised that the Fort was positioned at the conjunction of two hill slopes (for better protection against a possible invasion) and instead of the sun setting on a horizon, it would merely drop behind the hill ushering in darkness before the dusk actually fell. In the pockets that had already been hidden from the sun's direct light, I saw a strange sight.

The roughly cut stone structures seemed very different in the reflected light. The wind was now cooler, almost chilly. There was a sudden stillness in the Fort and every one of the visitors who had been clicking pictures and exploring the ramparts, now lined up after me to leave. Once in the garden, I struggled to stay back for a little longer. I took a seat on a bench in the still sunlit areas. The people who had been frollicking around me, now started to head for the gate. No one spoke about it being time to go or showing any signs of being told to leave. Neither did I. We all just knew that it was now time to leave. I watched as some monkeys that had been scavenging in the garden now sped up to take shelter in the trees, on the other side the birds started to disappear, seeking refuge in the ruins or in the many trees. The wind started to pick up speed even as I basked in the last rays of the sunlight. The urge to get up and leave was mounting within me and my imagination was adding a lot of colour to the scenario before me.

I was still seated when I spotted a shepherd with hsi cattle heading for the gate. He stopped on seeing me and walked towards me. "My child," he said in a coarse Rajasthani voice, "it is not the darkness of the fort that you should fear. It is the darkness within all of us that will do the damage. Come, let us go out and have some tea." I was not able to fathom what he had said but I decided to move. A gush of wind seemed to push me on as I made my way with the shepherd to the gate. "Dilliwale?" asked the shepherd once we had left the Fort. He didn't explain his comment or ask about much. He had the tea that I bought him and left.

In my mind, Bhangarh still remains cursed by the rumours that precede it. It has a reputation. You either return scared or you feel nothing at all. To me, Bhangarh is best viewed as a chance to explore the darkness within me. If I hav something to be afraid of, I will be scared by the unseen spirits of Bhangarh. If I do not, then I will not need to visit the place at all and I have not, not in the past five years.

Down the creepy alleys in Ajabgarh

One of the key facets of travel through Rajasthan is knowing that you can always expect the unexpected around the corner. The same occurred when some friends and I got together to unravel the huge mystery around Bhangarh, which as you already know, is supposed to be one of the world's most haunted places. We raced back, with cold sweat pouring down our backs, from the experience at the ruined fort, in the evening to get back tot he normalcy of the budget hotel we had checked into at Alwar. That night, we slept very little and spoke even less. The following morning, we were back to being our chirpy selves, avoiding any references to what we had seen or felt the previous day. Our way back to Delhi beckoned but we had a full day to plan the return. We decided to head out early, stop along the way to fill the car's fuel. It was at the station that we were informed of a place, scarier than Bhangarh. Without a word, we agreed to head to Ajabgarh in daylight and leave for Delhi before dusk.

The first view of the Ajabgarh Fort was all we needed to renew the shivers in our spines. The village, in shambles and seemingly empty, offered quite the setting for our light-hearted attempt at reviving the mood. Only the house right at the start of the hamlet, straddled across the state highway in two neat rows facing each other, seemed inhabited. There was a family event taking place here and upon asking we were informed that the family was trying to sell off the house and relocated to the nearest city. Apart from the warm and friendly family at the first gate, the rest of the houses seemed desolate and we spent most of time peaking in through cracks in the old wooden doors.

Our worries ceased as we witnessed the activity at the first house from a distance and sat and watched the bullock carts, tractors and buses come and go along the state highway. As the sun stood strong over our heads, I walked a little distance out of the village. I felt a sudden silent threat from behind me and swung around. There was no one there but in the distance, I saw something like a shadow swiftly move away from a window in one of the buildings. The sense of dread from the previous day returned with a vengeance. I turned my back to the window and pretended to look down at the ground and there, out of my sense of rising fear, my imagination starting seeing shapes in the stones scattered on the ground.

I was still staring at the stones and feeling the creepy distant eyes roaming on my back when I heard my fiends call out my name. I walked back to what the new fuss was about and saw them pointing to something. There was forgotten path between the houses an my friends and I decided that we would see where it led. And I am glad we did. It led us straight to what remains of a 14th century monument, the Raghunath Temple now stands abandoned. A long flight of steps took us to the main temple structure and though the gates had been locked for years and keys forgotten, it offered a great view all around. The sun was losing its strength by the time we reached the top and we realised it was best if we started the long journey back. We were met at the lane with a elder woman with a wristful of ominous looking red thread bands. She asked where we from and when e intended to return. She was not threatenign in any way but as she spoke to us, we could sense the abandoned village around us sudddenly stirring to life. Sounds of clanging pots and pans and heavy objects being moved was alarming. We had been so sure that the village as abandoned! We informed the lady that we were apologetic for having caused any discomfort to her or the other residents and that we were leaving right way. I don't think any of us stopped to look back at the village or the woman who had appeared from nowhere with a smile on her face. As we drove way, it was hard not to feel that the growing shadows of the houses clinging on to the car a little longer than they should have. I promised myself never to return.

P.S. - My friends and I have since parted ways. The road trip was in 2010 and I have been told that not much has changed since then. I still have not returned to Ajabgarh and wish you well if you choose to head that way.

The remains of Lal Kot

My travels have taken a back seat since I suffered a heatstroke two weeks ago. I am awfully short of breath all the time but thankfully, well on the way to recovery. Unable to leave town just yet, I sneaked away with bunch of friends to explore Mehrauli Archaeological Park in the city. The area was refereed to as Lal Kot in that time and had started out as one of the primary settlements if Delhi as we know today.

The image here is of Quli Khan's tomb, next to the boathouse on the premises.

I have never been a great photographer which explains my great joy at finding a good frame, even if someone already has before. This frame is one of my favourites for the Qutb Minar.

A beautiful corridor along the Rajjo ki baoli also caught my attention, it reminded me of the time I had visited the original Meena Bazaar in Fatehpur Sikri.

The impressive stairwell, Rajjo ki baoli, makes for an incredible picture as well.