Rajasthan News Desk!!! Bhangarh Fort! Let me tell you a story about it – a fairy-tale with a twist. This is the story of a beautiful princess. She lived in a grand fort on a hill in Rajasthan. A poor magician nearby fell in love with her. And then comes the fairy tale twist – the princess doesn't love him… Read on to see what possibly happened and how you can still visit this fort… under certain conditions… India The government prohibits visitors from entering the fort after sunset and before sunrise. Reason? Ghosts roam in the fort at night. And no one who has visited the fort at night has come out alive!

Yes, this place still exists! It is Bhangarh, a village in the Alwar district of Rajasthan in north-western India. It is right next to the famous Sariska Tiger Reserve. The local name of this place is Bhutiagarh or the land of ghosts. In Bhangarh, less than 2000 people live under the shadow of ghosts in the villages surrounding the fort.

Bhangarh is a prehistoric settlement with some very old temples and havelis (traditional houses). The most famous sight here is Bhangarh Fort. In the 16th century, the city was founded by Raja Bhagwant Das, the Kachwaha Rajput king of Amer Jaipur. His intention was to make it the home of his second son Madho Singh. His elder brother, Man Singh I, was a general in the army of the Mughal emperor Akbar and one of Akbar's famous Navaratnas. After the death of Madho Singh, his son Chhatra Singh ruled the city. Chhatra Singh died in 1630 and after that, Bhangarh began to decline. Chhatra Singh's son Ajab Singh built a fort called Ajabgarh nearby – he attacked Bhangarh after Chhatra Singh's death and killed his half-sister Ratnavati and her army.

After this, Aurangzeb died in the Mughal Empire and the Mughals became weak. In 1720, Raja Jai ​​Singh II, the neighboring king and son of Raja Man Singh, annexed Bhangarh to his territory. And then came the final nail in the coffin – the famine of 1783. Since then the city has remained deserted until recent times. Guru Balu Nath was a monk who lived in a cave nearby and spent his time in isolation and meditation. Even now, there is a small stone hut called Tantrik Ki Chhatri nearby. When King Madho Singh wanted to expand his fort, the sage promised the king that he would not have any problem with it. We Indians are still very prone to exaggeration and drama. Imagine how we would have been then

Young Madho promised old Balu that even the shadow of this new fort would not fall on his cave. Of course, the sun had other ideas – in winter, the shadows grew longer and almost touched the cave. The angry sage Balu Nath cursed the city and its people that they would never be able to put a roof on their houses. It is said that even now whenever a house is built here, the roof falls in… I like the second story which talks about a tragic, unrequited love story.

The beautiful princess Ratnavati of Bhangarh was the daughter of Raja Chhatra Singh. A Tantrik (expert in black magic) named Singhiya lived nearby. He loved the princess. Unfortunately, it was one-sided. Once while buying perfume in the market he met Ratnavati's maid. He did black magic on the perfume. As soon as the princess used that perfume, she got attracted towards it. Ratnavati came to know about this and threw the bottle out of the window. The bottle broke on a rock, which attracted the Tantrik and rolled over it and crushed it. Before his death, he cursed Chhatra Singh, his family and the local people.

The following year, the fort was attacked by the Mughals (or was it his half-brother Ajab Singh?) and Ratnavati was killed along with others in the fort. Legend has it that the spirit of a Tantrik roams the fort at night in search of Ratnavati… The fort is protected by the Aravali Mountains on three sides. It has 5 gates of which one is the main gate. After the main gate, there are some temples (Hanuman, Ganesh, etc.) with beautiful carvings still visible, the priest's residence, a market place and the dancers' house (Nachan Ki Haveli). After this is the main fort area containing the queen's residence. Of course, they are all in ruins, but one can imagine what it must have been like once upon a time… Now, huge banyan trees grow all around and across the ruins, making it scary Is. The only structure in somewhat better condition is the Someshwara Temple. See the beautiful stepwell here. The fort is in complete ruins – all three of its floors.

A strange danger appears as soon as you enter this place. But perhaps this is because of the stories that are prevalent about the place. I haven't seen it at night, but from what I've heard, it's pretty scary. Especially some parts of the fort like the queen's residence area. Bhangarh Fort is considered to be a haunted fort. Ghost stories, real and imagined, abound. There have been stories of extraordinary intelligence activity

In the fort at night – sounds of laughter, music, dancing, murder etc. come from the ruins. These stories are what make it such a fascinating place to visit… There are also many stories involving people who went there at night and never returned, or died under mysterious circumstances, etc. In fact, if we talk about rules, even the government seems to agree with the ghost stories.

This fort is under the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), an organization of the Government of India. An ASI signboard at the gate of the fort specifies by law that entry into the fort will not be allowed before sunrise and after sunset. Even villagers are not allowed to graze their animals after sunset! Therefore you can visit the fort only between 6 am to 6 pm.