Just after the Durga Puja, we were having our G2G (short for Get-together) of school buddies. This was a special one for few of our overseas and outstation buddies have graciously joined the Bijoya Sammelani. The Group Captain SC benignly obliged us by arranging the party hall at AFGC, Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi. The party scene was typical with groups of 4-5 people gathered in huddle and talking animatedly. The prime topic of discussion was haunted stories and it seemed each one of us have sometime in our life experienced some incidents which defies logic and can’t be defined by intellect. The next thing we know, it was being planned to visit a haunted house or palace and try to figure out the mystery. Indro & I were sitting at a corner enjoying our Single Malts with succulent Chicken Malai Tikkas, hearing the planning we laughed because many such plans had been made in the past which never worked. I told Indro about Bhangarh Fort on Delhi-Jaipur Highway about 4 hours from Delhi. He said, “Let’s two us go there on my way back from Ranchi, I will come a bit early and we can go straight from the airport and you can drop me back at the airport for my flight to Baghdad”. I agreed because I had been planning to visit the place for a long time but wasn’t finding a brave partner to go along.

A bit about the legends of Bhangarh Fort…  

The ancient and eerie Bhangarh Fort lies deep within the arid landscape of Rajasthan at distance of 282 km from Delhi. The fort renowned for its paranormal activity and has developed a reputation as the most haunted place in India. The fort’s shadowy walls hold secrets that have terrified generations of people residing outside the fort.

Legend has it that in the 16^th century, Raja Bhagwant Das built this fort as a gift for his beloved son, Madho Singh. It stood tall against the backdrop of the rugged Aravalli Range, its imposing presence commanding respect from all who beheld it. But the whispering winds told of a curse, a story of a dark shadow that clung on to every stone, every wall of the fort…

One fateful day, a sorcerer named Singhia entered the fort with evil intentions. He was drawn to a beautiful princess named Ratnavati, whose beauty was said to rival the mythological angel, Urvashi. Singhia was captivated by her elegance and longed to marry her at any cost. However, Ratnavati, spurned all his advances which infuriated the Sorcerer and he resorted to black magic to achieve his wicked desires.

Singhia after carefully observing the movement of Ratnavati, realized that she frequently visited the market place to buy beauty herbs and jewelry. He concocted a plan to ensnare her and accordingly placed a cursed love potion in a cosmetic item meant for the princess. However, an admirer of the princess alerted her about the nefarious scheme of the sorcerer. Fearful of Singhia’s dark intentions, Ratnavati threw the potion onto a nearby boulder unknowingly causing it to transform into a gigantic stone and caused a powerful explosion engulfing the entire area and killing Singhia instantly. In his dying moments, he cursed the fort…declaring that no one would ever find happiness within its walls. The curse took hold, spreading its malevolence throughout the Bhangarh Fort. Locals claimed to hear anguished cries echoing through the corridors and strange lights flickered in the night sky. Those who dared to enter the fort after sunset were never seen again.

Centuries passed, and the fort became a crumbling edifice of its former glory…whispers of the curse spread throughout the region like wildfire deterring anyone from venturing into its forbidden confines. The once thriving marketplace outside the fort turned into a ghost town, haunted by the tales of the princess and sorcerer.

On the appointed day, I picked up Indro from IGIA T-2 around 10 am and had a quick breakfast at the Sagar Ratna situated at World One complex in Aerocity. We proceeded to towards Bhangarh following the Google Map which indicated 4 hours 38 minutes to the destination. We had picked up enough water, beverages, munchies and sandwiches from another shop in the same complex knowing that we won’t find anything on our route. We took the NH8 (Delhi-Jaipur) and decided to turn left at Manoharpur for the NH11 that will take us to our destination.

The drive was smooth despite a bit of congestion at the Rajiv Chowk/Sohna Road because of construction activities. We were soon cruising towards Sahjanpur-Neemrana when we realized that the vehicles ahead of us are slowing down. We came to a halt at a point from where we could see the Neemrana Fort at a distance. We came to know that further, about 2/2.5 km ahead a trailer truck carrying a 40ft container has overturned blocking the entire road towards Jaipur… efforts are on to clear the road at the earliest. We had no choice but to wait as the traffic had built up very quickly all around us. We opened the coke cans and started chitchatting but soon Indro dozed off… he had an early morning flight from Ranchi and was tired from the exhaustion. I concentrated on playing my favourite game of Solitaire on my phone.

Indro & I reached the entrance of the fort around 4:30 pm and saw a group of locals deep in conversation. When we told them about our desire to enter the fort, they, in unison protested saying it is not safe to go in at that time… one of them said there have been strange noises coming out of the fort since last night with weird shape of lights emanating on the night sky. We assured them that we will take a quick look around and come out before the dusk settles in.

Unfazed by the warnings of the villagers, we entered the fort accompanied by intrigue and curiosity and a resolve to capture the paranormal activities in my Canon D60 camera. Inside the fort was unusually dark even when outside the sun shone brightly. A chilling wind swept through the crumbling walls of the fort as we moved forward…we shivered, feeling a heavy weight on our chest…as if unseen eyes watched our every move. I held my camera tightly and Indro was holding a 6-cell Maglight Torch that I had borrowed from our dear friend Ashish, it was heavy and very powerful…also can be used as weapon for self defense, if need arose.

Suddenly, Indro grabbed my arm restraining me and asked, “Did you hear what I heard?” In fact both of us heard a whispering distant voice beckoning us deeper into the labyrinthine corridors. We felt it was impossible to ignore the voice and almost hypnotized we followed the distant ethereal voice… hearts pounding in our chest. The narrow passageway seemed to shift and warp, at times disorienting us as we ventured further into the heart of darkness and the whispering voice. We reached a chamber where a dim light was emanating from the skylight. Indro used his powerful torch to look around the chamber and his torchlight rested upon an ancient mirror with ornate carvings. We looked into the reflective surface and were startled by the apparition of a beautiful woman dressed in royal regalia… Indro whispered in my ears, “Princess Ratnavati”… her eyes were filled with sorrow and longing for love. “Her lips moved a bit and we could her say, “Leave this place immediately before the curse of Singhia consumes you guys”. Her voice had a otherworldly resonance and we were captivated by her beauty.

We could feel the air getting heavy making our breathing labored but we were hesitant to move, then we heard a chilling ungodly laughter in the distant which made the apparition on the mirror dissolve as if some unseen hand wiped the surface. With great effort Indro & I turned our gaze towards the corridor from which we had entered the chamber and rushed towards it, the fort’s malevolent energy grew stronger threatening to ensnare us into its cavity. We started running towards the exit… the fort seemed to come alive, its walls pulsating with menacing energy…the air turned frigid while shadows danced and swirled, whispering secrets of the fort in a language unheard before. Despite our resolve and courage, we were scared and ran for our life and stumbled out of the fort gasping for breath…

The villagers were waiting outside with baited breath and immediately came forward with water and splashed some on our face. We drank the water and looked back at the fort with mixed feelings of relief and sadness. The Bhangarh Fort stands a testament to the enduring power of the supernatural, a place where the veil between the living and the dead is thin; the echoes of a tragic love story continue to resonate through the time.

There was a persistent knock on my window which woke me up… a police officer was saying something, I pulled down my window… “Sir, the traffic jam has been cleared but now you are holding up the traffic”. Indro also stirred up and we looked at the watch, it was 4:30pm, we have been stuck in a traffic jam for over 3 hours and had dozed off in the coolness of the air condition. It was too late for us to go to Bhangarh now as the Google Map showed more than 2 hours to the destination which meant it would be dark when we reach…the authorities have deployed a picket to stop anyone from going inside the fort after 6pm/ darkness. We decided to turn back for Delhi… about a kilometer ahead we found a u-turn for our return journey and a kiosk selling tea and other beverages. We stopped for a cup of tea and took out our sandwiches. While there, I narrated to Indro what I saw apparently in my dream… to which Indro’s jaws dropped and he simply said, “You too saw the same?” He told me his side of the events which matched mine completely. How’s that even possible, I don’t know… we debated if we should tell others and after much deliberations, Indro suggested that we should tell the story through Aranyascope and let the readers reach their own conclusion.

Traversing through the thick traffic on NH8, we reached Delhi around 9:30 pm and went over to Anand Niketan Club for a drink (cheaper than the restaurants/ pubs) and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of food, a vast improvement since my last visit. Later, I dropped Indro at IGIA T-3 around midnight, well in time for his flight to the Middle East.