BHANGARH FORT

Bhangarh Fort is an ancient fortress overlooking a vast wooded park, a series of temples and a ruined village. According to legend, the village was abandoned after the sadhu Baba Balak Nath put a curse on it. He had announced the destruction of the city if ever a house projected its shadow on his. In reality, this fort, belonging to the Kachhwahas dynasty of Amber, was abandoned with time, and the village with it. The fort was built in the 16th century by Maharaja Bhagwant Das for his son Mado Singh. The royal presence attracted a court of notables and a village developed at the foot of the palace-fort. A few temples were also built in the vicinity of the palace. Bhangarh Fort is today the object of a pleasant visit in a park planted with palm trees and majestic banyans.

The old village. The access to the fort is through the ruined village which had 229 havelis and 550 stores. One can still guess the big houses of the notables and the old market in the main street.

The temples. There are five of them. To visit them, just follow the paved alleys. The temples of Mangla Devi and Keshav Rai are lost in the park, while those dedicated to Ganesh and Gopinath are installed along the central path. Further up on the left, at the foot of the fort's perimeter wall, is the Somesvara temple.

The fort. Not much remains of the old palace, but one can still climb to the top and admire the well-kept park and the Aravalli mountains.