http://www.financialexpress.com/news/mystery-of-the-ruins/417561/0

Mystery of the ruins

Yes, Bhangarh is a little different from your regular weekend getaways. Google ‘Bhangarh’ and you’d know why. The first search that pops up is “Bhangarh — The Most Haunted Place in India.”

Bhangarh is said to have been cursed by a tantrik just before he died. Or so the folklore goes. Deeply in love with Rani Rupmati of Bhangarh, the tantrik cast a spell on the scented oil that the Rani’s maid was carrying. Had the Rani applied it on herself she would have vanished from the fort and reached the tantrik. The Rani was clever enough to reckon evil intentions and instead of applying the oil on herself, she put it on a large boulder. The boulder crushed the tantrik into pieces but not before he cursed the flourishing kingdom of Bhangarh to doom. The town is believed to have disappeared overnight and till date ghosts are said to throng the fort complex after sunset. “The djinn can overpower you if you go there after dark. It might even kill you,” said one of the first villagers I encountered on entering the fort. Many villagers, who are from a nearby hamlet come to the fort during the day to cut grass and collect wood and they all have different stories to share.

Well, there are no tourist guides to show you around and the only way you can discover the place is by asking the locals. And at the end of the day the decision to believe or not to believe lies solely with you. The only official communication interestingly, comes in the form of an Archaeological Survey of India notification at the entrance of the fort. It makes you think — “Entry to the fort before and after sunset is strictly prohibited,” it reads. I instantly abandoned all plans of staying back after dark ‘then and there’. But even without that the experience was worth the five hour drive from Delhi. The fort complex has five temples, and just one temple has a idol — of Hanuman. Kailash, the priest of the temple maintains that the ghost story is “a hype created by the media. A television crew came here and created ghosts wearing black robes.” He challenged me to stay back and discover it for myself and even offered to accompany me.

While he sounded convincing, another logic completely floored me. “It is such a well-maintained picturesque fort but commercially it is absolutely abandoned. You don’t even find a tea stall here. Why no one has ever considered converting it into a heritage hotel,” questioned another tourist from Dausa who had come to Bhangarh for a picnic with his family.

Indeed, why not? Go discover. And who knows, you might get lucky enough to encounter the Rani herself!