The haunted Bhangarh fort

When it comes about haunted places, The haunted Bhangarh fort tops the list in India for being the most haunted place. It gets more intriguing once we have a closer look at the Bhangarh fort warning board just outside the fort.

The fort is situated in Alwar district and not too far from Sariska tiger reserve either.

August-2017, We cousins planned for Sariska tiger reserve and Bhangarh fort. As Sariska reserve is 6hrs from our home so we planned to leave early morning on the next day so as to reach Sariska at noon time.

Table of contents

• Sariska tiger reserve
• Pandupole Hanuman temple
• The beautiful location of temple
  • How to reach sariska or Bhangarh
• Hotels near sariska and Bhangarh
• Bhangarh fort history
• Bhangarh fort warning board

Sariska tiger reserve

So at 06:00 AM on the next day, we left for Sariska tiger reserve and Bhangarh fort. At 12:15 or something like that we reached Sariska.

So we thought to have a tea, before we could go and look for tiger safari. Sipping our tea, we asked the waiter about the arrangements for Safari and how to book.

And at that point, we came to know that Safari is closed every year from Jul-sept. It was a little disheartening for us, but was our mistake only as we should have searched for this.

Then suddenly he told us that it’s Tuesday, so the reserve is open for private vehicles to go to the Pandupole Hanuman temple.

As the temple is situated in the middle of Sariska Tiger reserve, it was a great opportunity for us to enter and explore the Jungle. So we bought the entry tickets, which was around 250 INR for the car’s entry.

Pandupole Hanuman temple

The temple is situated approximately in the middle of the Forest, around 18kms from the main gate. There is no road built in the forest, so the drive to the temple is bumpy but it’s totally worth.

There is lush greenery on both sides of the road. Watching Flora and fauna near the roadside gives you the beautiful view of the forest. Then we came across a few herds of cheetal, a lot of wild boars, langurs, peafowls and a lot of other wildlife birds.

We came across almost all the wildlife which we were expecting to see in the safari except the tiger. So after 45 mins drive, we reached the temple area.

Where we parked the car outside and then there was a gentle slope of around 1km where we had to walk to reach the temple.

The view on both sides of the slope gives you the feel of densely populated forest. Because it had already rained in the morning, So the weather was perfect for exploring the beauty of the forest.

The Beautiful location of temple

A stream of water was flowing on one side of the walkway. While the palm trees on both sides make the view awesomely picturesque.

The water from the stream looked so crystal clear that the bottom of the puddle was clearly visibly, standing near to it. We moved ahead to the temple now.

Also read: Road to the most beautiful temple, city and the most scenic fort(1)

The history of this temple is connected to Mahabharata times. Legend is that when Pandavas were on their incognito exile and roaming in the Vindhyagiri and Aravali hills.

They reached and rested here. when they could not find the way to move ahead, Bheema hit the hill with his mace to create the gate.

One other legend is that, Lord hanuman reincarnated in form of an old man in order to control the pride of Bheema.

Another great tourist attraction here is the waterfall next to the Hanuman temple. Which makes the view really captivating.

So we reached Pandupole temple. Offered our prayers in the temple. After offering prayers, we rested for some time on the small wall built in front of the temple. And then came back to our car, as we had to look for some hotel to stay at night.

How to reach here

By air: nearest airport is Jaipur Sanganer airport. From jaipur it is 110kms by road. 

By Train: Nearest railway station is Alwar railway station, which is 40kms from Sariska. 

By road: Sariska national park is well connected to other parts of the state by road.

Hotels near Sariska and Bhangarh

That time, only 2 hotels were available nearby Sariska. One of them was a govt guest house and other one was Hotel Jungle Camp.

As the construction was still under progress in the hotel, so we got the best deal. While the swimming- pool and our room was ready.

The hotel

So during night time, while enjoying in the pool. We were sitting near the pool and having chitchat with hotel staff, asking information about the haunted Bhangarh fort. If they have something else which we haven’t heard.

To which they told us, that there is a water pool inside the fort, it is said that outsiders should not step inside it at any cost. Taking bath inside that pool is considered ominous for outsiders.

Bhangarh Fort history

Bhangarh fort, which is often termed as the haunted Bhangarh fort, is situated in the outskirts of Sariska Tiger reserve and in foothills of Aravali hills. The fort is 20-30kms from Sariska’s either gate.

The legend for it being haunted goes like this. Princess Ratnavati of Bhangarh was the real beauty of the time.

A tantrik priest, who was a black magician too, fell in love with her. But knowing that he didn’t stand a chance with the beautiful princess, he tried to cast a spell on her.

Seeing the princess’ maid buying perfume for her in the village, he cast a spell on it so that Ratnavati would fall in love with him.

Ratnavati came to know of this and threw the bottle. It turned into a boulder and hit the tantrik.

The tantrik got crushed under its weight, but before he died, he cursed the entire village.

The next year, a battle was fought between the forces of Bhangarh and Ajabgarh, which led to the death of Ratnavati and most of the army.

After that time only, nobody was able to live in the fort, and it is inhabited by the ghosts.

The Bhangarh fort warning board

So we reached Bhangarh fort at around 11:00Hrs. Due to some public holiday, the fort was very crowded.

As we parked our car inside the parking and left to explore the fort, and came across following notice boards and Bhangarh fort earning board outside the main gate.

According the warning and notice boards, nobody is allowed to enter the fort during dark hours.

There are a few banyan trees inside and near the boundary of the fort. The size and appearance of these trees was a little scary for a fainthearted like me.

Once we enter the main gate, there is that pavement of a few hundred meters. Which has roofless ruins on both sides of it.

A little ahead we move, and there is the largest temple of the fort “Gopinath temple”. This is a temple without any statues.

The atmosphere inside is too peaceful. So we went to the temple to feel calmness and take the blessings of Gopinathji.

So now we reached to the haunted Bhangarh fort. There is the water pool near the entrance of the fort. And as you climb above the fort, the view from the fort gets more and more broader.

The view from the top of the fort is just mesmerising which is surrounded by the hills from three sides.

Don’t miss out this view at any cost as entire Bhangarh city is visible from the top of the fort.

We did not feel anything scary in the fort. Probably because it was day time and the fort was overly crowded on that day.

So there is something scary or not i can’t say for sure, because we did not come across anything suspicious.

Thanks for reading.