Thursday 29 October 2015

Nimatala Samsan View

As we reached Nimtala Ghat we were lost in a huge crowd. It was the visharjan of the Durga Puja idols. It was so noisy. Police everywhere. It was like a mela being held out there. We managed to get out of crowd and walked a minute or so and finally reached the Nimtala Mahasamsan. Its one of the largest crematorium grounds in Kolkata. Before entering there we saw many people in white dress coming out with sadness on their faces. They might be relatives and friends of someone who passed away.

We entered the crematorium ground. It was very clean and well maintained. We could see some dead bodies being burnrt out there and their relatives crying. But there I felt some dizziness in my head. May be the sadness of the people crying got over me. We went over to the Hooghly river and Started clicking some pictures. By that time it was almost dark. The view of the moon, howrah bridge, Hooghly river sound and the crematorium made it exactly look like a perfect haunted location as seen on movies. Though I couldnt find there anything creepy as I heard from other sources. But ya visiting there alone at night will for sure give you goosebumps. We stayed there for a while and finally returned back to our guest house.

River Hooghly at crematorium ground



Wednesday 28 October 2015

After visiting 2 of the most haunted places in Kolkata we had plans for more. The Sunday just after the Durga Puja we decided to get a crack at 2 other locations. This time it was the famous PUTULBARI and NIMTALA SAMSAN. We started in a taxi using google Maps. This time we had a new member Prashant.
After travelling for about 30 minutes we ended up at Hari Ghosh Street. But where is the Putulbari. We even asked some people about the location of Putulbari. No one there had ever heard of that name. We were like getting mad at that point. Suddenly an old man came upto us and said in a sad voice, "Everyone comes here and asks about Putulbari. But its not here. It is actually located at Ahiritola." For the first time in my life Maps application took me to a different location. Ahiritola was close by though, about 1 km.

We three of us started walking. After about 20 minutes we reached Ahiritola. It was like an old Indian colony. Old brick houses, plants coming out inbetween bricks and narrow lanes. Our eyes fell over a group of old people who were having an arguement over a topic. We went over to them and asked them, "Dada can you tell me where is the Putulbari?". One of them replied,"why?? tell me how will you feel if people come to your house and ask that your house is haunted or not?? Look thats the house. The one from which the saree is fluttering." That was a creepy response. We immediately went towards the house.

It was a very old house built of bricks. There was quite a number of doors outside but only one was open infact half broken whereas the rest were kind of sealed. And in front there was a banner written in Bengali which says, "Strictly prohibited to enter. There is no ghosts. Please dont enter and spread these false idea.-Local people".



Entrance

We were glad to find out that even some families live in the first floor. From some sources we came to know that the second floor is banned from entering. We started entering the house. It was so cold and so dark even in the afternoon. It was totally creepy. But then we saw local people started staring at us. We decided not to go further so as to avoid local people issues.
Locked Doors
  It was just beside the river Hooghly on the strand road.
Though our hearts were not willing to leave we decided to leave instead and have a walk by the river.
While walking on the Strand Road towards the backside of the house our eyes fell on a woman walking on the second floor. We neglected and went forward towards the Nimtala Ghat. After reaching Nimtala Ghat suddenly something struck my mind. If the second floor is totally banned as per sources then whom did we see on the second floor from outside the house... 
Back view showing dolls at the peak
 









On the same evening as we went out through the exit door of South Park Street Cemetery we heard some college students passing by saying, " Ya we are approaching Lower Circular Road Cemetery bus stand. Tell the taxi to wait." I saw the glimmer in Ishan's eyes. It was 4:45pm and we were about to visit one of the most haunted destinations in Kolkata. He said, " Bhai, chalte hain. Abhi Guest House mein ja kar aur kya karenge."

As usual we opened Google Maps and in about 3 minutes were standing infront of a small Gate which says "L.C. Cemetery". We entered our names in the visitors copy and went for a walk. It was in one word "Huge".
L.C. Road Cemetery
A few weeks ago I read an article which says that there is a grave of Sir W.H. Mac Naghten where if anyone narrates the former's story the tree beside the grave shivers. Frankly speaking the cemetery looked like some place from the ghosts movies. Anyone who visits this place at night either alone or with friends, bound to get goosebumps. We hardly went inside for 15 minutes that the gatekeeper asked every visitor to leave as it closes at 5:00pm. The tomb of Sir Naghten is enormous. I hardly know about his actual story so there was no point narrating his story and getting the tree to shiver and eventually getting frightened. We left eventually. If you want to visit a spooky place where there is absolute silence then L.C. Cemetery is the best place to visit with graves everywhere and half the entire area tree covered.
In front of Sir W.H. Mac Naghten tomb

Different world
While me and my friend Ishan were getting bored walking through the crowds at Esplanade on a Sunday afternoon he shouted, "Is there no place in Kolkata where we can hardly find no existence of life?? ". I have earlier heard a lot about South Park Street Cemetery. I told him that I exactly know such a place. "Take me there", he said. Instantly we hired a taxi and in a few minutes we were standing infront of a creepy gate beside a stone inscribed on it "Opened 1767 Closed 1790". Creepy huh. We entered it and signed the visitors copy. The gatekeeper instantly told us its about 4:00pm, it will close by 5:00pm. As we started walking I felt as if it was some different world.
With graves on both sides and leaves all over the floor and also the dim light through trees made the place look perfectly creepy. It would be pretty terrifying in the dark. The place was so silent as if we were in a different world in the midst of a busy city. The best part was the center of the entire place. It was cold even on such a hot day. I was feeling something different there. As if people are watching me. Surrounded by graves on all sides the center of the cemetery was out of this world.The entire cemetery has around 1600 graves. If you walk alone at night you will seriously recall the scenes from The Walking Dead. After being there for half an hour we returned to the gate where we started. Seriously speaking its a huge cemetery. For all those who seriously want to experience goosebumps do visit this place alone.
At the center of the Cemetery