The hauntings of Bhangarh

India is a country that has a lot of things considered haunted. There are forts, bridges, toys, even cities where people aren’t allowed to visit or live or come out of their houses because they are considered haunted. One such place which is also a fort and is known as one of the most haunted places in India is the Bhangarh Fort.

Bhangarh Fort. Source: The Hindu

Bhangarh fort stands in the remains of Bhangarh city in the town of Alwar. Bhangarh city is not a place to live anymore. It has been abandoned by its people a long time back. No one knows as to why did that happen, though it did.

Moving back in time, there are many stories people have all around the world as to why the fort of Bhangarh is haunted. With no confirmation, there are some stories that have been prevailing more than the others.

Bhangarh was a city ruled by Chatr Singh. The king had two children, a daughter and a son. The daughter was one of the most beautiful ladies the kingdom had ever seen. Her name was princess Ratnavati. The princess was loved by everyone, the prince, not so much.

Knowing how beautiful princess Ratnavati was, a tantrik in the kingdom saw her and fell in love with her. However, he knew that the chances of her falling back in love with him were very sleek, next to impossible as well.

Princesses in those times, weren’t allowed to marry anyone outside of the royal kingdom legacy. Hence, in order to make the princess fall in love with her, the tantrik resorted to black magic, something he was known for doing and was an expert in.

Looking for an opportunity to do the same, the tantrik got one when he saw one of the princess’ mistresses out in the market buying some sort of oil or perfume for the lady. With his powers of black magic, he enchanted the liquid so that the princess, when she would use it on herself, would immediately fall in love with the tantrik.

However, the plan to woo the princess failed miserably as the princess got to know about the enchanted potion and without using it on her, she threw it. Throwing it, the potion turned into a boulder, that rolled on to falling on the tantrik himself. The tantrik died as soon as he was hit by what was formerly a liquid potion.

Seeing his plan fail horribly, the tantrik cursed the fort of Bhangarh before dying. He cursed the princess, everyone living in the fort as well as the people of the village of death. In the subsequent war between Ajabgarh and Bhangarh, the former won, killing the princess and everyone in the village. Hence, the village never saw any new births.

This being one of the most popular tales of why the fort is haunted, it followed closely with another one.

It is said that the then king, Madho Singh built the city where it is today with the permission of an ascetic who used to meditate at the place where the fort was built. The only condition of the Sadhu was that the shadow of the city or the fort should never touch the Sadhu or disturb his meditation.

Not taking care of the condition, the king had the city and the fort built, with the shadow falling on the Sadhu as well. That hampered his meditation and made him furious. Being full of wrath, the Saint cursed the city of Bhangarh, giving it a curse of never being able to stand no matter what. This is also considered to be one of the reasons why the city of Bhangarh is standing as remains and not a proper city with proper structural buildings.

Despite of having no concrete proof, there have been reporting of sounds of women crying or sightings of shadows from the fort. Hence, Bhangarh is considered one of the most haunted places in India and no one is allowed to enter the vicinity of the city past 6 in the evening.

Princess Ratnavati of Bhangarh. Source: Ecsatic India Tours