Banghar Fort

The Banghar Fort (HIndi:भानगढ़) is a 17th-century abandoned city, which was built in the 17th century by King Madho Singh in Rajasthan, India. A new village of Bangarh with a population of 1,306 in 200 households has developed outside the limits of the fort as there is fear of ghosts haunting the old city. The fort and its precincts though ruined are well preserved.

Geography
The Banghar Fort is located on the border of the Sariska Reserve in the Aravalli range of hills in Alwar district of Rajasthan. The nearest village is Golakha. The fort is situated at the foot of the hills on sloping terrain. The ruins of the King’s palace is located on the lower slopes of the hills and trees surround the pond area and a natural stream falls into the pond within the premises of the palace.

The fort is located 300 km from Delhi and the approach to the entrance gate of the fort in the last 2 km stretch of the road is a kutcha (unpaved) road. The fort 20 mi from Thana Ghazi.

History
The Banghar territory, now known as the Thana Ghazi tehsil, was under the rulership of the Rajawats who were descendants of Raja Bhagwant Singh of Amer. The temples and palaces now seen in the Banghar Fort area were built by them. The present status of the descendents of this family is that of cultivators in the nearby villages who carry themselves with a royal demeanour. The fort was built by Madho Singh son of Man Singh of Amber who was a general in the Mughal Army.. The fort was their capital city.

Legends
There are two legends narrated to the history of the fort city which is reported to be haunted and no one is allowed to remain the precincts of the fort at night as per a notice board put up by the Archaeological Survey of India (who are in charge of its upkeep) at the entrance.

One version of the legend is that wizard named Scindia lived within the fort area. It was his injunction that any houses built in the precincts of the fort should not be taller than his house and in case the shadow of any such house falling on his house would result in destruction of the fort town.

In another version, Scindia, the wizard who was adept in black magic fell in love with the Ratnavati, the princess of Banghar who was very beautiful and had suitors to marry her from many royal families of the country. One day while the princess, 18 years of age, went shopping with her friends and was buying attar (scent). The wizard saw this and replaced the scent with some potion which was also scent called "हसीनायेंराजकुमारी" (the beautiful princess) in order to ensnare the princess. He offered the potion to her so that she took a liking for him and marry him. However, the princess saw through the wizard's trickery and when he offered her the bowl of potion, she threw it on a big boulder nearby and as a result the boulder started rolling down towards the wizard and crushed him. Before he died he cursed that Banghar would be destroyed soon and no one will be able to live within its precincts. Subsequent to the curse Banghar Fort was invaded by the Ajabgarh its neighbouring kingdom and the city was sacked; 10,000 people lived in the fort city at that time. All the people in the fort including the princess were killed. The present state of the fort is attributed to the curse of the wizard and people believe ghosts of all the people killed in the fort now haunt the fort premises.

Features
The fort as it is entered through the main gate gives an eerie feeling as it is a totally a ruined fort city which is called the bhoot bangla (fort of the ghosts). Within the fort, at the main entry, there are temples, palaces and havelis. In addition, there are four more gates of entry to the fort – the Lahori Gate, the Ajmeri Gate, the Phulbari Gate and the Delhi Gate. Right at the entrance of the main gate there are many temples such as Hanuman Temple, Gopinath Temple, Someswar Temple, Keshav Rai Temple, Mangla Devi Temple, Ganesh Temple and Naveen Temple. The Gopinath Temple is built above a 14 ft raised plinth and yellow stones are used for the exquisite carvings of the temple. The residence of the priest called the Purohitji ki Haveli is located in the precincts of the temple complex. Next in order is the Dancers' Haveli and Jauhari Bazar (market place) followed by the Gopinath Temple. The Royal Palace is located at the extreme end of the fort’s limits.

The temples dedicated to Hanuman and Mahadev are very elegant but need to be preserved. However, they are built in the style of cenotaphs rather than temples. Jhirri marble has been used in their construction but presently covered by white wash. The Muslim tomb found outside the gate of the fort is reported to be that of one of the sons of Hari Singh who converted to Islam.