In the Rajasthan, state of India, the Bhangarh Fort is a fort built in the 16th century. It was built by Bhagwant Das for his younger son, Madho Singh. With well-protected fort and its precincts, Bhangarh Fort is situated on the edge of the Sariska Reserve in the Alwar district of Rajasthan’s Aravali range of hills. Gola ka Baas is the nearest village. The fort is located at the foot of the hills. On the lower slope of the hills, the ruins of the king’s palace are located; trees surround the area of the pond and a natural stream flows into the pond inside the palace premises.
The fort is situated 235 kilometres (146 mi) from Delhi and the approach to the fort’s entrance gate is unpaved in the last 2 kilometres stretch of the road. Thana Ghazi is 32 km from the fort. Jaipur International Airport is the closest airport, which is 88.2 km from the fort.
According to legend, within the fort area lived a sadhu called Baba Balu Nath, and it was his injunction that any house constructed in the fort’s precinct should not be taller than its own, and if the shadow of any such house fell on it, the fort’s town would be ruined.
Here’s another story from Bhangarh, about a new and more disturbing tale behind Bhangarh’s doom. There was a princess of Bhangarh, called Ratnavati, as per legend, who was ostensibly an incredibly lovely woman. Hypnotized by her elegant beauty, a wizard fell in love with her. He put a spell of black magic on the oil that the princess was going to use for a massage in order to get it. But Princess Ratnavati got a whiff of his trickery before his dirty tactic could succeed, and threw the magic-laden oil onto a massive boulder nearby. This was when a countdown was set for the doomsday clock of Bhangarh Fort and the entire area. Black magic worked its way, allowing the boulder to crush the Tantric to his death. Before breathing his last, though, he cursed the whole town of Bhangarh, struck down by sorrow and despondency, to succumb, like him, painfully to its absolute desolation.
Proving his terrible last words right, the king of Bhangarh himself suffered a calamitous defeat at the hands of an adversary the following year. His whole army was annihilated and all the people of Bhangarh were brutally slaughtered. Though the princess’s fate is still a mystery, she is said to have been banished to wander the Bhangarh precincts, caught in limbo. All the people of Bhangarh can still be heard at night in Bhangarh Fort, said to be doomed to dwell in this realm, never to leave the bleak vicinity.
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You will find temples, palaces, and Havelis, entering via the main gate of the destroyed fort city. Furthermore, the Lahori Gate, the Ajmeri Gate, the Phulbari Gate, and the Delhi Gate are four additional points of entry to the fort. Many Hindu temples, such as Hanuman Temple, Gopinath Temple, Someshwar Temple, Keshav Rai Temple, Mangla Devi Temple, Ganesh Temple, and Navin Temple, are at the entrance to the main gate. Over a 14 ft elevated plinth, the Gopinath Temple is constructed and yellow stones are used for the temple’s exquisite carvings. In the precincts of the temple complex, the priest’s house, called Purohitji Ki Haveli, is located.
The Nachan Ki Haveli (dancer’s palace) and Jauhari Bazar (market place) are next in order, followed by the Temple of Gopinath. The Royal Palace is situated at the end of the boundary of the fort.
Rather than temples, the temples dedicated to Hanuman and Shiv Mahadev are constructed in the style of cenotaphs. In their construction, Jhiri marble was used. A Muslim tomb found outside the fort’s gate is claimed to be that of one of King Hari Singh’s sons.
Now, on the information boards at the site, there may not be ‘Haunted’ written, but certainly the persistent desire by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to vacate the premises before sunset undoubtedly implies something. Yet again, the boards say explicitly that it is forbidden to linger in the surroundings of Bhangarh before sunrise and after sunset. In the town, there were quite a lot of cases of getting lost and even deaths, hence the precaution.
It seems the mysteries of Bhangarh will never end. You will get to know this once you visit this enigmatic location in Rajasthan. Roofless houses situated in the entire city. Yes, no building of any sort has a full roof over its head. It is prevalent that it is the fault of the sage who cursed the town to its final destruction. It is difficult to build a roof on these buildings, according to the locals, because as soon as one is constructed, it collapses, which has killed many people in the past.
