A prince's town in the hills
Akbar's allies: in the later sixteenth century the Kachwaha rulers of Amer were the most powerful Rajput allies of the Mughal emperor.
A father and his sons: Raja Bhagwant Das ruled Amber in those years. His eldest son, Man Singh, became one of Akbar's greatest generals and built much of Amber Fort.
A town for Madho Singh: for a younger son, also in the Mughal armies, Bhagwant Das founded a town of his own in a fold of the Aravalli hills, about 1573.
- Founded
- About 1573, by Raja Bhagwant Das
- Built for
- His younger son, Madho Singh
- Taken by Jaipur
- 1720, under Sawai Jai Singh II
- Left empty
- After the famine of 1783
- Dynasty
- Kachwahas of Amer
- A well-chosen site: a ring of hills protected it, springs and streams ran down from the ridges, and the forest supplied timber and game.
- What grew here: a walled town with gates on its main roads, a long market street, merchants' houses, temples to Vishnu and Shiva, and a palace climbing the slope at the far end.
- A smaller Amer: at its height it must have been a busy, prosperous place.
- A quiet decline: the town seems to have lost importance after the seventeenth century as power in the region shifted.
- Into Jaipur's hands: in 1720 Sawai Jai Singh II of Amber, the founder of Jaipur, took Bhangarh into his own state.
- The end: records say the town was left uninhabited after the great famine of 1783.
- Unanswered: whether its people left all at once or drifted away over years, nobody can say. They did not come back, and the forest took over.
- Why the legends grew: there are few documents and no great chronicle of Bhangarh's rulers. When a town empties and nobody writes down why, people fill the silence with stories.
The legends, told honestly
- The ascetic
- Legend, often named Guru Balu Nath
- The princess
- Legend, often called Ratnavati
- Historical record
- None for either story
- ASI rule
- No entry before sunrise or after sunset
The ascetic and the shadow
The legend: an ascetic, usually named as Guru Balu Nath, meditated on the hillside before the town was built.
His condition, as the story goes: no building could rise high enough to cast its shadow on his retreat.
- The doom: generations later, the legend says, a ruler added storeys to the palace, its shadow fell across the ascetic's dwelling, and the town was doomed.
- On the slope: villagers still point out a small stone structure as his.
- What it really is: whatever you believe, a very Rajasthani tale about the limits of royal pride.
The princess and the sorcerer
The story on every website: a princess, usually called Ratnavati, was so beautiful that a tantric sorcerer fell in love with her.
The enchanted vial: in the tale, he bewitched oil or perfume her maid was buying in the bazaar, so whoever used it would love him.
- The curse: the princess saw through the trick and threw the vial onto a rock, which rolled down and crushed him. Dying, he cursed the town.
- The history: there is no record of a princess Ratnavati at Bhangarh, and the story exists in several versions.
- Our verdict: lovely folklore, but folklore all the same.
The sign at the gate
What it says: an Archaeological Survey of India board near the entrance bars entry before sunrise and after sunset.
What ghost hunters think: they treat it as proof.
- What it really means: the ASI keeps similar hours at protected monuments across India, especially remote ones without lighting.
- The real reason: safety and protection. The forest edge is where leopards and other animals move at night.
- Our own view: we would not want to be wandering those ruins after dark either, for entirely practical reasons.
What we actually believe
A modern reputation: built by magazine stories, television and the internet over the last few decades.
- The villagers: far more relaxed about it than visitors are. Several farm right up to the walls.
- The real eeriness: the silence of a market street where shops still stand in rows, waiting for customers who left more than two hundred years ago.
- No ghost needed: you feel that without one.
Walking through the ruins
- Gates
- Lahori, Ajmeri, Phulbari, Delhi
- Market street
- Jauhari Bazaar
- Allow
- At least two hours
- Best palace hour
- Late afternoon
The gates and the Hanuman temple
Named for their roads: the town had several gates, among them the Lahori, Ajmeri, Phulbari and Delhi gates.
- Still in worship: just inside the main entrance, a small Hanuman temple with saffron flags and a priest.
- A living faith: haunted or not, Bhangarh is still part of somebody's daily prayers.
Jauhari Bazaar, the market street
The layout: the main street runs uphill between two long rows of roofless stone shops, with front platforms and back rooms clearly marked.
- The name: jauhari means jeweller, but it is used for the whole market.
- Look for: the raised plinths where traders sat, the drains, the narrow side lanes.
- Why it survives: one of the best-preserved market streets of its age in Rajasthan, simply because nobody built over it.
The houses of dancers and priests
Nachan ki Haveli: the dancers' house, off the bazaar.
- Purohitji ki Haveli: the house of the family priest.
- Traditional names: not documented, but they tell you how the town remembered itself, a place of musicians, ritual, money and leisure.
The palace on the hill
At the top of the town: the palace rises in tiers against the slope, its upper floors broken and open to the sky.
- The climb: steep in places but short.
- The view: from the upper terraces you look down the length of the bazaar to the gates, with hills folding away on every side.
- When: late afternoon, when the stone turns gold and the langurs settle on the walls.
The temples that never emptied
Gopinath: dedicated to Krishna, raised on a high plinth with carved walls in pale yellow stone.
Still readable: its tower and much of its decoration survive, and the carving around the doorway and outer walls is crisp.
- Finest
- Gopinath, to Krishna
- Also
- Someshwar, Keshav Rai, Mangla Devi
- Stone
- Pale yellow
- Shoes
- Off where others remove them
- The others: temples of Someshwar, a form of Shiva, and of Keshav Rai, another name for Krishna, and a shrine to the goddess Mangla Devi.
- Their setting: each on its own platform, shaded by old banyan and peepal trees.
- Why temples outlasted houses: solid stone, while houses used more brick, timber and mud.
- And faith: a family in a nearby village might never live in Bhangarh again, but would still walk in to light a lamp on a festival day.
- Treat them as temples: remove shoes where others do, speak quietly, and do not climb on the carvings for photographs.
- The basics: our short guide to temple etiquette covers the whole of Rajasthan.
Ajabgarh, the fort on the next ridge
Its name: from Ajab Singh, a later member of the same Kachwaha line, who built a fort here in the seventeenth century.
Villain or not: some local versions of the Bhangarh story make him a man who fought his own kin. Others say he simply moved his seat.
Thin records: as with Bhangarh, the documents say little.
- Built by
- Ajab Singh, a Kachwaha
- When
- 17th century
- Today
- A lived-in village
- Best way
- On foot or by bicycle, early
- What you see: a fort with walls running along the skyline, and below it an old village with temples, stepped tanks and decaying havelis of officials and merchants.
- The difference: Ajabgarh is lived in.
- Daily life: children walk to school past seventeenth-century gateways, women dry cow-dung cakes on old walls, and temple bells ring morning and evening.
- How to wander: with our guide, stopping at a carved doorway and climbing towards the fort for a view across the valley.
- Its beauty: slow, unspectacular and completely real.
- Early morning: farmers move their cattle and the light is low over the fields.
- Or late afternoon: after Bhangarh, when the coach traffic has gone and the valley is quiet.
Where to stay near Bhangarh
Amanbagh, at Ajabgarh
The setting: Aman's retreat sits in a walled garden near Ajabgarh, on land once used by the maharajas of Alwar for hunting camps.
- The building: pink sandstone and marble around courtyards and pools, with suites opening onto private gardens.
- From the door: walk or cycle to Ajabgarh, reach Bhangarh early before the crowds, and go on safari in Sariska.
- For stillness: this is the place.
A day from Jaipur
The usual plan: many guests stay in Jaipur and make Bhangarh a full day out.
- How it works: leave early, reach Bhangarh by mid-morning, lunch at a good hotel on the way, and return for dinner at Rambagh Palace or The Oberoi Rajvilas.
- Compare hotels: our luxury hotels in Jaipur guide.
North of Jaipur, at Bishangarh
- A fort of your own: Alila Fort Bishangarh is a restored hilltop warrior fort north of Jaipur.
- Why there: a sensible base for days out into the Aravallis.
Neemrana and the Delhi road
- Break the drive: guests from Delhi sometimes stop at the Neemrana Fort-Palace, a fifteenth-century fort climbing a hillside.
- Next morning: continue through Alwar to Bhangarh.
Places to combine with Bhangarh
Sariska Tiger Reserve
Next door: Bhangarh lies on the edge of Sariska, a dry deciduous forest of dhok trees and rocky hills.
- Tigers returned: Sariska lost its tigers in the early 2000s and became the first reserve in India to have them reintroduced, with tigers moved from Ranthambore from 2008.
- Other wildlife: leopards, sambar, nilgai and a wealth of birds.
- A fine pair: a morning safari and an afternoon at Bhangarh.
Alwar
- The old state capital: to the north, with its City Palace, the Moosi Maharani cenotaph and Bala Quila on the ridge.
- Hunting hills: Alwar's rulers once hunted in these same hills.
Abhaneri and Chand Baori
- To the south-east: the ninth-century stepwell at Abhaneri.
- Together: a long day out of Jaipur in the cool months, and a strong case for leaving the main highways.
Other abandoned places
- The desert's equivalent: Kuldhara near Jaisalmer, with its own legend of a village that left in a single night.
- More ruins: our journal on offbeat forts lists others worth the detour.
The valley, the forest and its creatures
Ancient hills: the town sits in a bowl of the Aravalli range, among the oldest mountains on earth, worn down to rugged, rocky ridges.
After the rains: streams run down from the hills, the dhok forest turns bright green and the fields fill with millet.
Winter: colours fade to olive and gold.
- Range
- The Aravallis
- Forest
- Dry dhok forest
- Common
- Langurs, peafowl, parakeets
- Rare
- Leopards
- Summer: the hills turn brown and bare, and heat comes off the rocks in waves.
- Langurs: the grey long-tailed monkeys live among the ruins and are generally calm if left alone.
- Birds: peafowl call from the banyans, and parakeets nest in holes in the old walls.
- Leopards: known in these hills, though you would be very lucky to see one, one more reason the gates close at dusk.
- Animal rules: do not feed any of them, and keep food out of sight in your bag.
- Reading the land: our guides can show you the channels that carried spring water, the tanks and wells, and walls run along ridges for natural defence.
When to come to Bhangarh
October to March: warm, dry days and cool mornings, and the walk to the palace is a pleasure.
Just after the monsoon: the greenest and most beautiful weeks, with clear streams and fresh forest.
- Best months
- October to March
- Greenest
- September and October
- Hot season
- April to June, often above 40°C
- Monsoon
- July and August
- Quietest
- Weekday mornings
- April to June: very hot, and we only visit in the first hours after opening.
- July and August: heavy showers, and the approach road can be muddy.
- Weekends and holidays: crowds of day-trippers from Delhi and Jaipur, many of them young groups who came for the ghost stories.
- Weekday mornings: far calmer.
Getting to Bhangarh
From Jaipur: by car through farmland and the Aravalli hills.
From Alwar: passing close to Sariska.
- From Jaipur
- 85-90 km, about 2.5 hours
- From Alwar
- About 2 hours
- From Delhi
- Around 235 km
- Nearest airport
- Jaipur
- Allow
- At least 2 hours on site
- From Delhi: a long day there and back, so we prefer guests to stay a night near Alwar or Ajabgarh.
- The last stretch: the road to the gate is narrow, and the final part has been rough in the past.
- Time inside: enough to climb to the palace and see the temples properly.
- Pacing the drive: our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains how we do it through the Aravallis.
Eating in the Aravalli country
Village food: the plain, generous food of rural Dhundhar and Mewat: bajra rotis with white butter in winter, kadhi, seasonal greens, and buttermilk at every meal.
At the gate: tea stalls and small dhabas serve pakoras, kachori and sweet milky chai, fine for a quick cup but not for lunch.
- From Amanbagh: the kitchen will pack a picnic, and we like to set it under a tree by a stream in the valley.
- On a day trip: lunch at a good hotel on the route, or a hamper of parathas, pickles, fruit and sweets from home.
- Alwar milk cake: a grainy, caramel-coloured sweet of slowly reduced milk. A box rarely survives the drive.
A day at Bhangarh, the way we plan it
Early morning, the drive in
First light: leave Jaipur with tea and breakfast boxes in the car.
- Into the hills: past mustard or millet fields, depending on the season.
- Arrival: as the gates open.
Morning, the town and the palace
The walk: the main street with our guide, the Hanuman temple, the havelis and the Gopinath temple.
- The climb: to the palace while the air is still cool.
- Sit a while: on the upper terrace. The view down the bazaar is the one you will remember.
Midday, lunch and rest
- Lunch in the shade: at Ajabgarh or your hotel.
- At Amanbagh: the pool and a long rest.
Late afternoon, Ajabgarh
- Golden light: walk through Ajabgarh village with the fort above you on the ridge.
- Then: return to Jaipur after dark, or stay in the valley for a morning safari in Sariska.
Who will love Bhangarh, and who may not
You'll love it if: you enjoy ruins, walking, landscape and the slightly melancholy pleasure of empty places.
Photographers: love the palace against the hills.
- History lovers: love the intact market street.
- Families: lively older children love the climb.
- Make it a night: add Ajabgarh and Sariska, and it becomes one of the most rewarding corners of eastern Rajasthan.
- Disappointed if: you come only for the ghosts. In daylight it is a peaceful, sunlit ruin full of picnicking families and monkeys.
- Weekends: it can be crowded and noisy.
- Short on time: from Jaipur with only two or three days, it is a long drive for a short visit. We would rather show you the living forts of Amer and save Bhangarh for a slower trip.
What we tell our own cousins
Go early on a weekday: the light is better and the crowds are far smaller.
Wear walking shoes: the climb to the palace is over uneven stone and loose gravel.
- Carry water and a hat: there is little shade once you are past the bazaar.
- Hide your food: the langurs and macaques have learnt what a plastic bag means.
- Respect the hours: the ASI bars entry before sunrise and after sunset, and the forest comes right up to the walls.
- Go gently with children: some find the ghost stories thrilling and some frightening, so we let parents decide how much to tell.
- Read first: the wider forts and palaces of Rajasthan. Bhangarh makes more sense once you have seen the living forts of the same family at Amer.
