Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Bhangarh-Asia's Most Haunted Place


At the edge of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, between Jaipur and Alwar in Rajasthan, is Bhangarh, popularly known as the “ghost city of India. It is considered to be the Most Haunted Place in whole Asia.
Bhangarh is a place between Jaipur and Delhi in Rajasthan state of India known for its ruins. Bhangarh is also a pre-historic site. The most remarkable of its buildings are the temples of Gopinath, Shiva (Someshwar), Mangla Devi, Lavina Devi and Keshava Rai. Other buildings include shops along the main road, several havelis, a mosque, and a palace. The palace was protected by two inner fortifications across the valley. The town is separated from the plain by ramparts with five gates.
The town was established in 1573 (VS 1631) during the rule of Bhagwant Das as the residence of his second son Madho Singh, the younger brother of Emperor Akbar’s general, Man Singh I. Madho Singh participated in many campaigns with his father and brother. The next ruler of Bhangarh was his son Chhatr Singh, after whose death in 1630, Bhangarh slowly declined. When the Mughal Empire became weaker after the death of Aurangzeb, Jai Singh II attached Bhangarh to his state by force in 1720. After this Bhangarh diminished in population, and since the famine of 1783 (VS 1840) the town has remained uninhabite
The city, according to legend, was cursed by a tantrik in the sixteenth century. Singhia, a lecherous tantrik, was attracted to the beautiful queen of Bhangarh, Ratnavati. One day, he saw her maid buying some hair oil for the queen and put a love spell on it. The queen was a tantrik herself. One look at the swirling oil and she threw the flagon away. As soon as it touched the ground, the stone magnified into a boulder and moved towards Singhia. Dying, the magician cursed the palace with the death of all who dwelt in it. The next year there was a battle between Bhangarh and Ajabgarh in which Princess Ratnavati perished. Legends says that there are ghosts in Bhangarh and that is why entry is prohibited for tourists in the fort after sunset and before sunrise.The locals believe that the princess Ratnavati has taken birth somewhere else and that the fort and the empire of Bhangarh is waiting for her return to put an end to the curse.
The Internet is flooded with horror tales. People claim to have heard the tinkling of payals, seen the ruined market come to life, many tourists who take photographs inside the ruins find weird colour spots in the pictures. 

Entry to Bhangarh is legally prohibited between sunset and sunrise. Such is the town's reputation that even the Archeological Survey of India doesn't have an office here though government rules state that every historical site must have an office of the ASI. The nearest one is a kilometre away — enough distance between officials and the spooks.


                                                                                         I don’t claim the information to be my own. The information is compiled from different sources

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