Sariska Tiger Reserve

Bhangarh Fort

Bhangarh is less a fort than a whole town that emptied, and the Archaeological Survey of India protects it as exactly that: an "ancient site" of fort walls, bazaars, havelis, temples, royal palaces and a maqbara, among hillocks on the right bank of the Sanwan river in Alwar district. A Kachwaha ruler of Amber built it in the 1570s for his younger son, Madho Singh, and nobody has lived inside since the famine of 1783. Inside the walls, a long road runs between roofless ruins, which a local guide told The Hindu's Rana Safvi were the jauhri bazaar and the dancers' haveli. A gateway follows, and beyond it, before the climb to the palace, is the Someshwara temple with its stepwell. Gopinath, raised on a 14 ft plinth, is another temple to find. The palace sits at the far end, on the lower slope of the hill. It is said to have had seven storeys, the Satamahala; four remain, and the steps to the top are littered with broken columns. Then there is the reputation. Her 2017 column ran under the headline "the most haunted fort in India", though the local guards, she wrote, denied ever seeing anything paranormal. Rajasthan Tourism ties the rule that nobody may enter before sunrise or after sunset to the fort being thought haunted. That rule is the one part of the legend that will shape your day.