Bhangarh: Legend of a Ghost Town

The Legend:

The city of Bhangarh was made of spectacular structures and wonderful architecture. The Prince of Amber, Madho Singh, was gifted this city by his Uncle Bhagwan Das, who was the ruler of Amber. The fort was originally built by Bhagwan Das in 1573A.D. during the rule of Akbar. Madho Singh was a cousin of Empress Mariam Ur Zamani (Harka Bai) and a courtier of his Brother-in-law, Akbar. Madho Singh moved into this spectacular city with his family. The fort of Bhangarh was just ahead of Pratap Garh and Ajab Garh, and its large gate was guarded by the Lord Hanuman Dev Temple. The year was 1613AD; Jahangir was the Emperor of the subcontinent.

Madho Singh's family and lineage stayed back in the city of 200 households. The Princess of Bhangarh, Ratnavati, was a mesmerising beauty. Such was her beauty that upon entering her late teens, marriage proposals flooded from all over Rajputana. Young, competent, and brave Princes and Kings of several kingdoms wanted her hand in marriage. The knowledge of her beauty spread like wildfire through Rajputana.

Ratnavati appeared in court as an active member from time to time. She was well-learned and could fight well like any Rajput. The sight of the Princess mesmerised many commoners. They wished they could marry her. One such person was Singhiya. He was a Tantric, skilful in the practice of Black Magic. He knew his position was not so great in society, and marriage with the Princess was not possible by a simple proposal. Obsessed with her beauty and claiming to be a mad lover, he decided to help Tantra.

One day, he followed Ratnavati as she visited the market with her Sakhis. Laughing and giggling together, the girls moved from shop to shop, taking what they pleased. The teenagers had no worries in the world. Ratnavati wanted perfume for herself. She entered a shop, starting to look for the shopkeeper. Seeing an opportunity, Singhiya disguised himself as the shopkeeper and offered her a very special perfume. It was actually a bowl of potion-smelling liquid, which would make the princess fall in love with him. That, he thought, was going to make his path to having her easier.

The Princess was smarter than he thought. She felt something amiss in the shopkeeper who was persuading her toward this one particular perfume. She took the bottle and threw it away before going back to the palace. But at this, a strange incident occurred. The boulder on which she threw the potion rolled down the slopes and crushed a man. As the horrified Princess and her Sakhis rushed down to the man's rescue, they found it was Singhiya, the shopkeeper who sold them the perfumed Potion. The dying Singhiya angrily cursed Bhangarh. He cursed the Royal family of Bhangarh to be doomed and the city to be haunted by their souls. He chanted some tantric Mantras and breathed his last.

The Sakhis were scared, but Ratnavati insisted that an evil man's curse would never take effect. But she was wrong. Within a year, war broke out between Ajabgarh and Bhangarh, and Ratnavati died fighting in the war (Some versions say she was poisoned). As Bhangarh weakened, its subjects, fearing the curse, deserted the city in groups over the years. The city was totally abandoned around the famine of 1783AD.

Since then, nearby villagers have witnessed paranormal activities: sounds of music and dance coming from the deserted palace at night, voices and footsteps. A few who dared to go inside the cursed city at night never made it back. The priests of the remaining five temples live nearest to the fort and can not build roofs on their houses, fearing they will collapse. It has even been witnessed that whenever they built a roof, it collapsed. There is no electricity in the present-day Bhangarh village situated near the old city for fear of the curse.

The Archaeological Survey of India even refused to set up its office inside the fort, which is situated 1KM away from the ruins. A notice board from the Government of India welcomes you into the deserted city, stating, " Entering the borders of Bhangar before sunrise and after sunset is strictly prohibited." Even domestic animals are not allowed to graze in the fields of Bhangar after sunset.

People may believe in ghosts, and they may not. But it is tales like these that make us wonder if some answers will never be found, and this world is a strange place indeed.

The people of Bhangar still believe that Princess Ratnavati, who died outside the city, was free from the curse and will be reborn somewhere else to come back to Bhangar and liberate her Family's soul and free Bhangar of this Curse. Seems like a fairy tale, doesn't it? But this was just a few centuries ago in history, and this legend was born from the ruins of a fort that stands tall and proud even today, intact with its mysteries.

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