Spectral Encounter: I have worked with paranormal research for three years, and I believe I slept with the ghost of a king instead of my boyfriend. I have always found the world of ghosts, spirits and the supernatural a tad bit more interesting than the normal world people think we live in, So I stepped out of the conventional world to explore possibilities that many won’t believe in.
I have been working as a paranormal investigator for the last three years and travelled to many “haunted places” in India to uncover the truth behind the local legends. One such trip took me and my boyfriend to a small, lesser-known town near the border of Madhya Pradesh.
The city had a grand Haweli, home to a lineage of kings that inhibited the place for over 3 centuries. The lineage died down in the absence of heirs. Locals believe that once the final king of the lineage died, his home, the Haweli, became haunted. The locals even reported hearing eerie sounds coming from the old building.
Compelled by my fascination of the paranormal and my love for mystery, I dragged my boyfriend to the investigation. We travelled from Baranagar, West Bengal, to Shamgarhi, a small city near sitting near the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan Border.
Upon reaching, we met the caretaker of the place, who told us that his forefathers had served the kings who ruled over the city for several generations. He warned us, per the local legend, that we were to complete our research and probing till nightfall.
The problem was I wanted to spend the night at the place. The caretaker was not pleased with my insistence but I convinced him to give us permission to stay the night. I could tell that some parts of the Haweli were well used, even now, but some other rooms and halls of the place had stayed locked for months.
Interestingly, all the mirrors and reflective surfaces of the place were painted in Black. I asked the caretaker about it, but he didn’t answer the question to my satisfaction.
The caretaker gave us a tour of the place and spoke of the intriguing history of the place. The last king of Shamgarhi married twice and found his soulmate in his second (and much younger) wife. According to the caretaker, the younger queen was beautiful beyond compare.
Her looks and manner took the king’s attention off his first wife, the older queen. The queen grew jealous of the blooming love between the new couple and made some efforts to break the king and his young queen apart.
“When all else failed, she poisoned the young queen,” said the caretaker. “She thought the king’s attention would finally return to her, but that did not happen.”
In a heartbreaking twist of fate, the king died within months of his beloved queen from an illness that no one could diagnose or treat. “The older queen sacrificed herself at her husband’s funeral pyre in adherence with the Sati Custom.”
The story made me even more curious to learn about the king and his two queen’s lives. We were allowed to stay the night. However, the caretaker warned us against going into the room where the king and his young queen died.
I should have listened to him, but I believe that if the place is haunted, the whole of the building will be affected. By nightfall, we were done with most of the open rooms in the house. Meanwhile, my boyfriend was adamant we should not go into the locked rooms, even though we had the keys.
It felt like we would miss out on a golden opportunity, and I did not want that. Eventually, we unlocked all the rooms and saw the most breathtaking pieces of history. The king and queen’s belongings were preserved to the best standards. Some of the clothes looked barely old enough.
I clicked many pictures of the jewellery, clothes, and tidbits that were in the room, but I was not satisfied just yet. I asked my boyfriend to choose one of the King’s clothes and dress up while I did the same with one of the queen’s clothes. Both of us returned to the room in the regal clothes.
Thinking back, I knew there was something different about my partner, but I shrugged it off as imagination. We spent the night in the room and even got intimate. My second warning should have come there because we had been intimate before, and this time was different.
I thought it was because of a new place and excitement. But I was wrong. We left the room as it was the next morning, and I think the caretaker must have seen the room unlocked, clothes and jewellery tampered with, but he didn’t say anything.
While leaving the place, I asked my boyfriend if we should perhaps give some money to the caretaker, but he said we did not need to do that. It was his job to take care of us.
When we got back to our, which my boyfriend had been driving for two days, he refused to drive. He looked like he had never seen the car before in his life. He gave the keys to me and asked me to drive. I think the person who left the haunted Haweli with me was not my boyfriend but the king who had died from heartbreak.
I think I slept with him while he was possessing my boyfriend.