Spooky Taj

A brief introduction about myself, I am professional lawyer based in Delhi. Born and brought up in Delhi. I hold a Masters Degree in Sociology and Law. I have travelled the world over, I come from a deeply spiritual Bengali Hindu family. Learning all the rituals, hymns in Sanskrit and astrology directly from my father. Mind you I am not a Brahmin (priest class), I belong to the Kshatriya clan (Warrior class), therefore while I was growing up, I had gathered considerable knowledge on Ghosts and beings from the spiritual realm. Our Hindu scriptures provide minute and acute details about them (no point discussing here). I have had many spiritual and spooky experiences. I am going to narrate the one that has been the most overwhelming for me.

I had this uncanny experience at none other than the world famous monument Taj Mahal. I still have to rack my brains to understand what it was that happened with me on that chilly December evening of 2004. One of my relative had just come to India with her husband and as usual she was very keen on visiting the Taj, so she along with her husband, me and one of my friend set out for Agra from Delhi and by the time we reached it was like 7 PM and it was dark. We were fortunate as we were part of the last batch to have entered the Taj, as the time of closure was approaching soon. I and my friend asked the newlywed couple to go inside the Taj Mahal and see it to their heart's content, we did not want to go because we had seen it a billion times before. So I asked my friend to take a stroll with me towards the left side of the monument, where there stands a grand old mosque.

The first sight of that mosque created an eerie feeling in me, I don't know why both of us started walking briskly towards that mosque. I and my friend paused just a few meters from the entrance to the mosque, she was afraid to go any further, we could very well see that at the central part of the mosque, on an altar there was small candle burning, which was the only source of illumination, otherwise the entire mosque was pitch dark. I ventured into the unwelcoming mosque, leaving behind my friend who got stuck, due to fear, a few meters from the entrance.

I went straight to the central altar where the candle was burning, there was aroma of itr (traditional Indian perfume) and to my unpleasant surprise I heard a loud growling noise that seemed to have come from the dome that was just perpendicular to me. With that sound the flame of the candle also wavered violently, that whole thing sent chills down my spine. I realized the unknown entity inhabiting that place was not in a welcoming mood, I simply rushed back to the place where my friend was waiting.

She inquired about the reason of me being profusely sweating on a chilly December evening, I narrated her all that briefly and we started walking back, we didn't go towards the main monument but rather we started strolling towards the back side of the Taj, where the river Yamuna flows.

We were still discussing about what had happened and all of a sudden I had a very strong urge to go there once more, I told her that, "I want to go there once again", she said, "no you are not going", I said, "I will go no matter what", she said, "I think you have gone crazy, why do you want to go there again, when you know there is something wrong". I was relentless, she held my hand tightly, suddenly I saw two men in white shirts and dark coloured trousers just a few feet away from us going towards that mosque, I told my friend, in order to gain her approval, "that look these two men are also going there, so why can't I go there again...?". She looked at me in disgust and said which two men are you talking about...? I said, "look here, these two men", I pointed out walking a few feet towards them, she said, "my god that's plain stupidity, there is no one there". I could so clearly see them walking towards the mosque, I could also sense their unspoken of invitation, it was so weird. Bizarre and frightening for my friend and strange for me. I saw those two men entering the mosque and walking up to the burning candle and disappearing into thin air. I could not believe my eyes.

By this time, my relative and her husband had come back to the point from where we bifurcated, my friend and me both shocked to the core somehow managed to reach that point.

Upon noticing our condition the newlyweds got very serious, the entire episode was narrated to them and we all preferred to leave for Delhi as soon as possible.

Pertinent to mention here is that while I was taking long strands to escape the eeriness of the Taj, there was a relentless desire to go back to the same spot in the mosque, there was a disparate cocktail of dread and desire brewing inside me, I strongly felt as if some large magnet was pulling me.

Anyhow once out of the Taj complex I felt considerable relief and we drove back to Delhi, pacifying ourselves by having dinner at The Great Kebab Factory at Noida, the only good thing about the outing.