Bhangarh

 In Anticipation

Accidentally heard name of the place somewhere on net and apart from this the only information that we had was that this place is somewhere near Sariska reserve forest. So, after a rocky and enriching drive through the desert forest of Sariska on a lovely winter morning, as we set for the unknown and mysterious Bhangarh , we literally had no idea where we were heading to. Although, we had number of explorations in the past where we were not equipped with enough knowledge of the place, accommodations etc. but I bet this one was complete blank. Surprisingly none of the locals we asked around Sariska could give us any proper information about the place or distance……a desperate attempt to bind together the various broken information finally helped us heading for a supposedly right direction.

So real yet so strange

Four of us on the old and trusted friend my Alto LX started with the maximum speed possible. But very soon the ‘highway’ nature of the road turned into a slow bumpy ride. A sunny winter day, the more we went more we found population decreasing, only some occasional view of village women with their colorful attire carrying stones, sand and digging while some fat men sitting on chair smoking.  With the sun right on the top of our head we were felling hungry already. Still no sign of the Bhangarh at any of the direction board or milestone (hardly there were any) we stopped by a dhaba like structure after around two hours drive. As feared, here also the people have never heard about Bhangarh and we left just after a rather forgettable lunch with mixed anticipation.

As the Sun slowly leaning towards the horizon we found ourselves on a narrow country road, occasional camel cart and small village huts…….like a invisible magical wall we found ourselves driving through a completely different world…….right through the hearts of the day to day life a remote Rajasthan village …far away from the modern life and cities…..women busy in their day to day work….men and aged people chatting on the veranda …..under a monster tree a villagesarpanch with huge white mustaches talking circled by the excited villagers……and you can easily make out you are not in a Bollywood film-set and everything around is much so real and yet so strange and different from what we see in our regular life.One look at the meter and we knew out initial estimation of Bhangarh being around 30/40 km from Sariska went for a toss and we have already crossed over 30 km……..and I was sincerely doubtful how far the remaining petrol can carry us…..as finding a petrol pump amongst these tiny village paths was as good as finding kangaroo at Saiska forest….. (And moreover, we have not found even a tractor for the last 45 minutes.) A strange passion and anticipation kept us going and how I back my decision today, as we will always cherish that experience and feelings in life. One good thing came out by that time, we were ensured finally by a 10/12 years kid out to ride his goats’ that we were indeed going towards the right direction and all we needed to do was to find Ajabgarh first. Slowly , even the tiny villages and occasional villagers disappeared and all we had picturesque landscapes all around rocky uneven grounds , small grasses and age-old tress. 

Doomed Village on the way

As we drove towards Ajabgarg and beyond it, we spotted some house like structure from a distance, anticipating another small village on the way after a long time we were eager to find some people. And hardly had we known a unique experience awaiting us. Indeed, it was a village but with the entire village was doomed and devoid of any living thing. The houses made of clay and stones were all looking mystic and haunted and where ever there is a door left undestroyed was locked from outside.

Tired and excited a chilling wind passed through our spine as we drove passed a complete village without a single heart beating. Around 3 km from the village Alto 2807 was made a sudden stopped. There lied a ghostly tree, around 100 years old as it seemed, on a side of the road and this was not what made us stopped; but a very small kid was sitting below the tree out of nowhere. Finding someone and more so a kid so small at the given situation was so unexpected that we were thrilled. We were amazed to see the kid did not utter a word in spite of our repeated asking and probing. He stayed unmoved. Confused, after some clicks of him and the place we continued our amazing journey.

 The next stop was due to a over flowing local river, water flowing right across the road took us some time to decide weather our can take it…and as always it did not disappoint us a bit and crossed the location comfortably. 

And thus we reached Spooky Bhangarh

A good 72 km though that unforgettable journey finally enabled us to reach Bhangarh…..we were more than pleased to find a couple of more travelers and a few locals there. A place worth all those stress and hard work had every reason to be called the most hunted place in this south Asian country. Monkeys and Indian langoors had been living with a perfect symphony with the spirit (and spirits?) of Bhangarh for ages. 

An entire township planned somewhere in the pages of History, hidden at the most interiors of Rajasthan were truly magical. As the sun touches the horizon, a mystic light all around, you would definitely love to believe all those story and magic standing at the foothills of Great Bhagrh fort.

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A JUNGLE EXPEDITION

 We started our walk at around 9.30AM on a sunny Sunday morning accompanied by experienced Mr Gupta. Was not sure what to expect. I was told that the forest is full of wide variety of flora and fauna.

Till now there was clear path we were following with woodland around and some people here and there out for morning walk. 

Back to history - Bhooli Bhatyari ka Mahal
Our first destination was Bhooli Bhatyari ka mahal. There are lots of stories attached to this place.

It was the biggest hunting lodge built by Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-88), third Sultan of the Tughluq dynasty. Built in AD 1354, it lies on the ridge opposite to Karol Bagh's Link Road. The mahal is a rectangular enclosure entered by two gateways on its north-eastern corner. The southern and eastern walls are provided with bastions. 

A sad story in the lap of nature
Mr Gupta was leading us to some place that he didn't disclose. We reached a place that looked like an unused old building from outside. After going in we discovered its a large open air theatre "Rabindra Rangshala".
Conceived and created by Mr Nehru in early 1960s it has a seating capacity of 8000-10000 spectators. It has the 100 x 68 ft. stage that could be modified in three different dimensions proportionate to the needs of the performance. The make-up rooms, green- rooms, costume rooms, rehearsal rooms and workshop for performances flank the stage on both.

But all this is past. Its deserted now. All we could see now was a care taker Chaturvedi ji, some wild Jackals and lots of pigeons. It is in a deplorable condition. Such a huge construction now in ruins. It has hardly witnessed 1 or 2 events since its inception.

The Ridge invaded

We proceeded further to the main attraction of the day. Here a peacock scans the clouds from its vantage point on a tree while an owl hunts for game amongst the thick, thorny shrubs; The ground is golden and the earth wet. "Delhi Ridge" plays host to many such magical moments.
It's a northern extension of ancient Aravalli Range some 1500 million years old (compared to just 50 million for the Himalaya). The Delhi ridge is said to be the green lungs for the city. Its divided into four parts... The part we visited is the central ridge that stretches from south of Sadar Bazaar to Dhaula Kuan. It extends over 864 hectares. Others include Old Delhi (Northern Ridge), Mehrauli (South central Ridge) and Tughlaqabad (Southern Ridge). The area inhibits an astonishing variety of wildlife, including 120 species of plants, 100 species of birds, 25 species of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and an innumerable species of arthropods.

We were lucky enough to get glimpse of good variety of birds and butterflies; The reptiles were hibernating; And rest of the species... some mammals, amphibians and arthropods were keenly watching us from somewhere but not giving us the chance to spot them.

At first we could hear faint sounds of the city life but after going further deep, the silence of the place made us forget that we are in the heart of a city. All we could hear was chirping of birds and peacocks screaming at times and that's it. The sight of golden ground covered with shrubs was amazing. Sounds, scent and sight of that place made it magical. Its was that magic only that made us walk more than 15 kilomters at a stretch. Another motivation was Mr Gupta. He is 60+ walking ahead of us, lost in nature. Twice I called him out to stop for a while to rest but he seemed to be so lost that he missed it both the times. So I too decided to get lost in the divine nature.

And back to the city

The sounds of city life made us realize that we are hitting the boundry. We made our exit at a place where some young boys were cutting grass for their cattle. Their curious eyes were asking us what were we doing deep inside there... a place that was perhaps the end of the world for them.
And there we saw crowds, buildings... honking, noises... polybags, stinking garbage... cars, traffic... oops we were back to the city.

 P.S. - Would love to get lovely comments from lovely people reading this :)

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