Mandu city , Haunted Places In Indore MP!!

“When you set out on a voyage to Ithaca, pray that the journey may be long; full of adventure, full of knowledge.” Our most recent trip to Mandu was exactly how Cavafy wished one to be, full of adventure and learning.
I had first heard of Mandu  near Indorefor a different reason, of it being one of the most haunted places of India. That and some photographs of this beautiful place in monsoons which saw over time gave it a place on my wishlist. So this September, when Ekta wanted us to spend a holiday away from the bustle of the city, the first name which came into my mind was Mandu. What an experience it came out to be!
Mandu or Mandav was once named Shadiabad (City of Joy) by a long gone monarch. Perched on a plateau in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, it has seen dynasties rise and fall, the destiny of India getting written within the intrigue of palaces and at the battles outside its ramparts. Famous names, on who pages have been colored in the History books of the subcontinent, lie buried in its desolate tombs. Most famously, Mandu is witness to the love story of Baz Bahadur and Rupmati – the lovers who life could not unite, their tale still lives in the folklore of Malwa.
History
Mandu ruins are enchanting as well as mystifying
First established in 600 BC as a fortified city, Mandu saw its moment of glory first under the King Bhoj and then during the Muslim rule. Its fortunes rose during the reign of the Afghans and with the rise of the Khiljis, it became an important center of power in Central India. It exchanged hands between the Sultan of Gujarat and Mughals, and for a brief time was ruled by Baz Bahadur before being finally conquered by the armies of Akbar. From here, it maintained its importance to an extent till the capital of Malwa was shifted to Dhar by the Marathas, bringing an end to the Muslim rule. Though in ruins today, this once magnificent city remains one of the priceless specimens of the Afghan architecture in India.
The Trip
Mandu is not connected by railway and the nearest significant railways station/ airport is Indore. So we took a train from Pune and arrived in Indore on one Saturday morning. Some direct buses run from Indore to Mandu but one often has to change buses at Dhar. We decided to be a little lazy and took a cap instead. Contrary to what we have read before, the roads were in excellent condition (4-lane for most of the time) and the 95 km  journey took hardly 2 hours.  So by around 10:00 AM, we were entering the still standing gates of Mandu !
The first view of Mandu from the balcony of our guesthouse
The monuments in Mandu are divided into three distinct groups – The Village group, the Royal enclave group and the Rewa Kund group. The monuments of Rewa Kund group are best to visit during the mornings and the Royal enclaves, being in the West, gives a good view of sunset. Considering these factors, we decided to visit them in the following order: Village group on the afternoon of our arrival, Rewa Kund group early next morning and the Royal enclave during the evening.
Village Group
Jama Masjid
Since the Village Group was the nearest to our stay, we decided to walk to it first. This group has three monuments – the Jama Masjid (Mosque), Hoshang Shah’s Tomb and the Asharfi Mahal. Ticket can be bought for all the three monuments at the Jama Masjid so we took our tickets, hooked up with a local guide and started our tour.
The Solitary corridors of the Jama Masjid
Designed to resemble the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, the 15th century Jama Masjid is a huge structure on a high plinth and a dome which reached 17 m in height. The mosque was started by Hoshang Shah in 1406 AD and was finally completed by Mohammad Khilji in 1454 AD. A relatively austere and plain structure, the characteristics of this mosque are huge domes, long corridors flanked by massive pillars and a green manicured lawn. It is considered as one of the largest specimens of Afghan architecture.
And the gates open to Hoshang Shah’s Tomb
One corner of the Jama Masjid has a small opening which goes towards another courtyard, Hoshang Shah’s Tomb. As we reached the gates of this monument we realized why this monument holds such an important place in the architectural history of India. It happens to be the first marble building in the country, predecessor of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan apparently sent his architects to study this building before they started work on the Taj. The imposing white dome of this tomb is adorned with a crescent which was imported from Mesopotamia. The inner walls are adorned with intricate stone jaalis (lattice) in interesting geometric patterns. Overall, a classy affair !
The steps of Ashrafi Mahal
Walls of the tumbled down Victory Tower, adorned with verses from Quran
After completing the trip of the mosque and the tomb, it was time for the palace. The term “mahal” in Ashrafi Mahal is a misnomer, as it was not a palace but a madarsa built by Mohhammad Shah and serves as his tomb. After a series of battles with Rana Kumbha of Mewar, which ended in a stalemate, Mohammad Shah built a seven storied Victory Tower in Asrafi Mahal to commemorate his victory. Rana Kumbha erected a tower in Chittod for the same war. According to the guide, “the tower of the true still stands in Chittod, while the tower of the liar collapsed long back.”
There was a political rally of Congress at the very place on that day and the village was swamped with hundreds of political supporters, most of them quite unruly and noisy. So we decided to call it a day and start further explorations next morning. But come evening and we got restless again, so we came out and went in the opposite direction, towards a building at some distance where some people seemed to be sitting on the top. This is how we reached Gada Shah’s Shop.
The Shop and the Wells
Gada Shah’s Shop (Supermarket)
If size be a factor, Gada Shah’s shop was more than a shop, it could easily be classified as a medieval shopping mall. A huge building with tall walls still standing and arches so high that a gasp escaped my lips as I was face to face with it. the roof had collapsed in the middle of the building and the arch was the only structure which remained to remind the visitor of the glory of this building in its heydays. Gada Shah (Beggar King) is often thought to be the Rajput merchant-noble who lived in Mandu and flourished in the trade of ivory, saffron and musk. There were steps leading to the first floor of the building and we went up. However we could never find steps going up to that part of the building where we had seen those people sitting, which we found quite strange.
The huge arch which surprised us
Near Gada Shah’s shop, there are two step-wells – one called Andheri (Dark) Baoli and the other Ujaala (Light) Baoli. The former was an underground well infested by bats. The Ujaala baoli was in an open step well in the middle of thick undergrowth. It was a desolate place and as we went down, we could feel our isolation from the rest of the world. Ekta went to the other side of the well to pose for a photograph, while I stayed to take it. As soon as I took one photograph, there was a loud splash in the well, as if someone jumped into it. It was stronger than a frog jumping in water, there was no human or animal in the vicinity and to make matters rather spooky, there were no ripples in the water which should have followed the sound. Ekta took the cue and promptly fled the scene and I had to beat a hasty retreat too. I do not want to imply that Mandu is as haunted as its reputation, but the incident was a little weird.
The Ujaala Baoli
This was where Ekta sat before she ran away
Delhi Gate
An old man sat at the Delhi Gate, tired with the chores of the day ..
After coming back to the civilization, we quickly rejected any ideas of the supernatural and continued our exploration towards north. We came across a small hamlet of people and lots of children who would greet us with “Hi” and “Bye” as they saw us. Walking further, we approached a majestic gate – the Delhi Gate (apparently all major forts have the gates pointing to Delhi in the north named as Delhi gate).  The gate was in a good condition with imposing arches and had cobbled pathway, stone slabs rendered shiny and slippery making us think about those who had walked on them for centuries.  The gate overlooked the ravines below and provided a beautiful view of the mountains in the front.
The arch of Delhi Gate
After looking at the bounties of Mother Nature, we decided to return back, we were quite tired too by this time. The rest of the evening was spend sitting in the balcony of our guesthouse, looking at the skies as the sun went down.
Sun went down ..
There is more to the awesomeness of Mandu, but in another story..

Paranormal power influencing kids to self-immolate?

Indore: A bizarre ghost haunted story is in circulation in a part of old Indore after the parents of a 14-year-old girl, who was found with cent percent burn on Wednesday afternoon , told the police that two mysterious girls had asked their daughter to pour kerosene on self. Their neighoburs are also attesting to the ghost haunted story and claiming that around 20 girls died under similarly mysterious circumstances in the last few years.
Goma Ki Phel and Kazi Ki Chawl, the two downtown localities in Indore, are agog with feverish rumours of paranormal power behind the death of Henna, who succumbed to burns in MY hospital.
Henna's father Abdul Razzaq and brother Feroz were shocked when the dying girl told them that two girls had come to her and asked her to douse with kerosene and accompany them. However, no one saw the mysterious girls entering in or going out of the house before or after the incident. They were also shocked as Henna was absolutely normal and had meal with family before she was found 100% burnt.
Investigating officer sub-inspector Qureshi told us the family members and neighbors stated that Henna had told them she was under influence of some paranormal power who asked her to commit suicide and she followed the order.
The police officer claimed similar incidents occurred in the past too where minor girls committed suicide by immolating inside their houses and they cited the same reason behind the extreme steps.
Vimla Bai, who had taken Henna to hospital, claimed that she too had lost her son Dharmendra in similar grotesque circumstances. He immolated self inside the small house, the woman said. She also claimed before her death Henna told her about two girls who asked her to accompany them.
Two years ago, a minor girl Aatesha, daughter of Atiq, was found with cent percent burns in the house. Atiq had then claimed that barring his daughter all the other items in the house were found intact. Besides, the reason behind her suicide is unclear till date. In her dying declaration Aatesha had also told about some paranormal haunted powers influencing her.
Rafiq Khan, a resident of Kazi Ki Chawl claimed that family members do not get wind about immolation of girls until they burn completely even in a adjacent room. A family after losing a school going daughter had shifted from the locality before Aatesha’s death.

The  haunted Story behind the picture starts under the Sun on the bike. After the horrible viva(Major Project on Open Source Software in India) we had. We were on the way while I told him to visit some place to forget the Poor Viva Performance in college and thus we reached this place.
 

It was a massive ruined building built with red stone. On Ground floor there was a temple without any door, although it has proper structure to fit the door has no door in it. Anyways nearby there are many rooms I let the temple to explore it. I got in one of room, this has opening to another room and that was darker. As I entered a guy appeared in front of me and shouted in Hindi “Get out from here.., go upside from stairs behind…. this isn’t your area”. The dark room and shouting guy really frightened me at the time. Somehow I hide my fear from my friend and moved outside.
I was feeling something weird about the place and people out here, Anyways at least we found right way to go to first floor, And the first thing I noticed here is an incomplete staircase.
There are well structured walls and beautiful crafted pillars/columns to support the roof, But it has no any Roof. Again there are many rooms connecting each other, And One more thing I found repeating was ‘No Doors at All‘.
 
Now one thing was clear to me, the building was not ruined by time, it was left incomplete intentionally.
I found a person smoking there asked him,

‘Are you localite’ ?
He replied rudely: ‘why are you asking’

I got my answer through his attitude (a Big YES) and fired next question

Do you know who built it ?? and why its incomplete ???
He replied: “This was a dream of Holkar Empire to have this building here.Maharajah Holkar, the ruler of Indore started it But he could not get it completed.”

 
King tried to construct the building many-times but every-time something destructive happened and it could not get completed, so he left it as is, till first floor. He even brought a door fixer and mason from England, but they also failed. A mysterious gale would blow and sweep the doors away. The Maharajah then abandoned the mansion. Since then this building is lying forlorn and barren.

It is also being told that on the dark night of the moon some eerie things happen here.

We were nearly outside while this question answered by him in detail, I was also feeling little relaxed getting out of here and asked him the final question

He was the King of this City, he would have been Powerful, why he couldn’t get it completed ????
and I got a ‘less scientific and more philosophical’ answer…
Some Powers are bigger than anyone, everyone is same for them whether it is King or Beggar.
These Powers may help you sometime, that time you call it DIVINE; and it may stop you doing something, and you call it EERIE.

Mandu City

Mandavgarh is situated at a distance of about 90 km from the Indore city of Madhya Pradesh. Popularly known as Mandu, the town is located amidst the Vindhya Ranges, at an elevation of 2000 feet above the sea level. It was originally founded in the 10th century by the Parmar rulers who made it their fort capital. Later, it was conquered by the Delhi Sultans, who named it as Shadiabad, meaning the "City of Joy". There are a  haunted host of historical monuments here which are constructed on the fusion of Hindu and Afghan style of architecture.
Mandavgarh is famous for its amazing Fort. The fort is 82 km in perimeter and is considered to be the biggest in India. It contains the ruins of palaces, ornamented canals, baths, pavilions etc. The fort was once the monsoons retreat of the Mughal emperors. Mandu has over 40 monuments which are divided into three broad categories: the Central Village Group, the Royal Enclave Group, and the Rewa Kund Group. The city is also famous for the legendary romantic tale of Rani Roopmati and Baz Bahadur which still haunts the place.
Champa Baoli - a well, the huge 15th-century Jami Masjid, the beautiful Jahaz Mahal (ship palace), Hindola Mahal or Swing Palace, the romantic Baz Bahadur's Palace, Roopmati's Pavilion and Hoshang Shah's Tomb are some of the unique gems of architecture and must see tourist spots of Mandu. It is believed that Emperor Shah Jahan took the inspiration of building Taj Mahal from the tomb of Hoshang Shah only. Mandu is an ideal place to be visited in the monsoons, when the weather is pleasant and surroundings blooming.
The mystical beauty of the monuments, amidst the sprawling lush green landscape and the purple sunset sky, paints the live picture of the bygone era. The effect is completed by the rich surroundings of mango, tamarind and banyan trees. The place is also famous for its 'Khusrani Imli', tamarind trees which bear fruit only in the rainy season and juicy custard apples. Mandu can be reached via taxis, available from Indore. You can buy beautiful Chanderi and Rewa [Maheshwari] saris here, as well as some medicinal herbs and local handicraft. 

Haunted Places in Indore, MP: Haunting Stories from Indore, Get Spooked!!!