Is Bhangarh Fort haunted?

No, Bhangarh Fort isn’t haunted. Although it is strictly forbidden to enter after dark, it is not because of all the ghosts roaming the site. Bhangarh Fort in Rajasthan is a wonderful place to visit and spend a relaxing day. It has an intriguing and fascinating history, and it’s right at the border of the Sariska Tiger Reserve. And that is more likely the reason why it’s a bad idea to walk around there at night.

Where is Bhangarh?

Just about 300 miles southwest of the slopes of the highest mountains in the world, the Himalayas, there’s an abandoned, eery, ghost town called Bhangarh. We are of course in India, in the Rajasthan State, on the Aravalli Range, less than 200 miles southwest of Delhi.

Bhangarh was until the 1700s a flourishing and lively town. But then something happened and from late 1700, nobody lives there anymore. Though we don’t know exactly what it was that caused everybody to leave, there are quite a few theories. The most well-known are two and they involve spirits, witches, and black magic.

The legend of Guru Bahu Nath.

The great ruler Bhagwant Das decided to build a fortress on the Hill in the 16th century. Bhagwant Das was both a religious and a superstitious man. As the land formally belonged to an ascetic, named Guru Balu Nath, the Raja figured it would be safer to ask him for permission before building. Old hermits, that possessed knowledge of witchcraft had to be taken seriously and be respected in those days. Guru Bahu Nath gave his permission but under one condition. The shadow of the Fort must never fall on the simple cabin of the magician. Years went by and when both Raja Bhagwant and Guru Bahu Nath were long forgotten, the shadow finally reached the old shack. Bhangarh Fort had been fortified with higher walls, and the century-old curse engulfed the whole of Bhangarh, causing everybody to leave.

The Legend of Ratnavati.

There was a beautiful princess of Bhangarh, named Ratnavati. A magician nearby called Sinhai fell in love with her. But as magicians seldom play fair, he put a magic love potion in a bottle that he then gave to the princess to use for massage. But Ratnavati, who was a clever young woman, poured the whole bottle of potion onto a boulder. What then happened is unclear, but it seems that the boulder rushed down the mountain to find its love… Sinhai. It reached him, jumped on top of him, and crushed him. But before expiring, the magician cursed Bhangarh. To be struck down by grief and despondency, and to slowly succumb to its utter desolation just like him.

So, Bhangarh Fort became world-famous for its paranormal activity…

Today it is strictly forbidden to enter the Fort area at night. ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has put up signs at several spots in Bhangarh warning against staying on the premises after sunset and before the sun rises. The reason for this could be multiple.

Though the site is very big and it is possible to enter through holes in the collapsed wall or by jumping it. The police guard the premises with dogs, so you would have to have very light feet and know your way around, so as not to be caught and fined. One who successfully stayed a whole night inside the fort is “Anonymous”. Here’s something from his story at Quora.

Courtesy of Deejayrocks2 under the CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED license.

Me and my friends bribed the gatekeeper with money and drinks, and he let us stay in the Bhangarh Fort area but only inside the Hanuman Temple, with locked doors, as that’s the only safe place. “He said that there were some supernatural activities happening outside the temple at night and he was often called out by somebody in his wife’s voice asking him to open the gate of the fort… It was around 12:45 (when there was a power cut). We heard something tapping on the car parked outside… Suddenly we heard the guard shouting, asking for help as somebody was taking him away…I can still recall the voice. I went down the stairs chanting Hanuman Chalisa to see what happened. But the guard was asleep… One of my friends lost his mother in those days. He heard his mother calling him by his nickname telling him she was outside and asking him to join her… This continued all night, we recited Hanuman Chalisa, held each other’s hand, cried, and shouted for help, the sounds never stopped. Sometimes it would be the tapping on the car and sometimes we would listen to the voices of people we knew well.”

And people do get lost there…

Yes, there have been disappearances, and people have died. But does that mean Bhangarh Fort is haunted? Well, to confirm that, we probably need a bit more documentation than a story from Quora, be it a good story… Written by the very famous Mr. “Anonymous”.

Bhangarh Fort is situated just south of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, in a hillside and forest landscape. The wildlife is impressive with Tigers, Hyenas, Leopards, Wild Dogs, and every other kind of big animal.

Tiger attacks are an increasing problem in India. But while reports of Tigers killing people are big news, other animal attacks are not. In India, around 50 people die every year from Tiger-attacks. But the casualties from f.ex. raging elephants are almost 10 times as high. The conclusion is that the hazards of dangerous animals are very real and substantial in India. Most of the missing persons in the area can be attributed to animal attacks.

All this put together, makes the closing of the Fort area at night, very comprehensible. So are the sounds, voices, and rumors that can be heard from inside the closed site. If you’ve ever been in a jungle at night, you would know what I mean. The ASI confirms that the signs and closure of the Fort at night are exclusively to avoid encounters with dangerous animals. Not because there are any paranormal activity.

About the abandoned village surrounding Bhangarh Fort…

There have been many explanations for why the Bhangarh Fort area is deserted. Excessive taxation could be a motif. So, could the lack of water, political reasons, or the big famine of 1783.

A very interesting new study by Professor Harsh Bhu, and Professor A B Roy published in the multidisciplinary science journal, Current Science, suggests that Kudhara, an equally abandoned village some 400 miles west of Bhangarh, was hit by an earthquake. This could be the reason why it was abandoned “overnight”. The researchers found damages to the buildings that couldn’t have come from normal erosion such as fallen joists and pillars.

In Bhangarh, there’s yet another story about the curse that prevents any building from being completed, as in building the roof. It is supposed to fall in every time. At Jauhari Bazar, today called the Ghost Market, houses are all roofless.

Kudhara has legends similar to those of Bhangarh, about the evil Salim Singh and a girl from the village. The Kudharans too left the village abruptly, and they too cursed it when they left.

And there are many villages like that, in the bigger area. Villages that declined during 1700 and 1800, and that now are ghost towns. Some of these are also claimed to be haunted, just like Bhangarh.

What do the locals say?

It wasn’t until the early 1980s that a steady water supply allowed people to move back. Now, tourism makes up a big part of the local market, and the rumor Bhangarh Fort has as one of the most haunted places in India obviously makes a huge difference. I could easily imagine that without that reputation, the Fort would be much less attractive from a tourist point of view. Especially in a country that has old temples, historical buildings, and archeological sites on every street corner.

Most of those you come in contact with if you visit Bhangarh Fort would confirm the sightings of transparent boys, dancing girls, and experiences of screaming and crying voices. Those would be taxi drivers, shop owners, guards, and other employees in the tourist business. Just like on many other haunted places, they need to enforce the myths for commercial purposes. There’s no doubt that paranormal tourism is a big market, and it’s growing. To be able to attract tourists you need stories, and the stories have to be credible.

But the purpose of this article is to understand if there actually is any proof of paranormal activity in Bhangarh Fort or the village nearby.

If you, instead of taxi drivers and souvenir sellers, talk to ordinary people in the neighborhood, you get a very different picture. Most of them would say, there is nothing supernatural in the old ruins… None whatsoever.

And lastly, what does the research say?

The possibly most famous Paranormal Investigator in all of India, Gaurav Tiwari, who tragically died under unclear circumstances in 2016 was convinced that Bhangarh Fort was not haunted. He visited the Fort in 2012 and concluded that it had no negative or paranormal energy whatsoever. Gaurav Tiwari visited more than 6000 sites with claimed paranormal activity during his short life.

B.R. Singh, Deputy Superintending Archaeologist of the Jaipur Circle declares that the site is not haunted. As the main responsible for archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage around Jaipur, he is the one who is responsible for the site. Although not an expert on ghosts and haunted places, his words should still carry weight.

Another paranormal investigator named Jay Alani also denies any ghosts roaming around Bhangarh Fort at night.

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