In every article about the so-called “haunted” places of Delhi, you can find some usual suspects; Feroz Shah Kotla, Sanjay Van, Bhuli Bhatiyari Ka Mahal, Chor Minar, Malcha Mahal, Khooni Darwaza and Mutiny Memorial, to name a few. Some even mention Karkardooma Court, though I don’t know why the ghosts will prefer “court-kacheri ka chakkar” when they have the ridge forests at their disposal.
I have visited several of these sites, but neither did I go alone (except for Chor Minar) nor after dark. So, I should not make any claim regarding their “bhootiya” rating. But even in broad daylight, some places emanate an air of eeriness. In that respect, I will give four stars to the abode of djinns at Kotla.
Sanjay Van looks like any other forest, and it seems that probably the rumours about the spirits roaming there were spread by anti-social elements who did not want anyone else to venture into their shelter. Bhuli Bhatiyari ka Mahal, a Tughlak-era hunting lodge behind the huge Hanuman statue in Jhandewalan, is unkempt, but not scary. Lovebirds and loafers are found aplenty at the site. Chor MInar in Hauz Khas, associated with stories of heads of thieves being hung from it, looks deserted, but can headless ghosts rest at a garden in the middle of a Delhi neighbourhood manned by security guards?
Kotla Feroz Shah, however, offers the perfect ambience for supernatural experience with its dark alleys, cave-like chambers with flickering flames of candles, hordes of bats, smell of burnt incense and pieces of paper left behind by people seeking fulfilment of their wishes by the resident djinns. I went there on a heritage walk once. Perhaps it was the effect of a series of odd stories narrated by the walk leader, or of the approaching twilight, but as I was capturing a video in the passageway, and suddenly realized that our group has gone ahead leaving me alone there, my footsteps became more rapid than required.
Yes, the video is still here and did not vanish mysteriously. (In pics: A collage of Sanjay Van, Bhuli Bhatiyari Ka Mahal and Chor Minar; the photo of the arches and the video is of Kotla Feroz Shah)
P.S.: I will never visit these places at night, because "bhoot se darr nahi lagta sahab, insaanon se lagta hai".
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