Kasauli Graveyard: A Hauntingly Enigmatic Destination | Solan

Nestled amidst the picturesque landscapes of Himachal Pradesh, the serene town of Kasauli conceals a chilling secret that beckons thrill-seekers and paranormal enthusiasts alike. Along the road to Shimla, lies the enigmatic Kasauli Graveyard, a place shrouded in eerie tales and unexplained phenomena. Venture with us into the depths of this haunted sanctuary as we unravel the mysteries that surround it.

Situated in the Solan district, Kasauli Graveyard has earned a reputation for its alleged paranormal activity. Many visitors have reported spine-tingling encounters and supernatural experiences within its premises. The air is said to carry an otherworldly presence, and the atmosphere becomes thick with unexplained energy as twilight descends upon the graveyard.

Witnesses have attested to sightings of apparitions and spirits wandering aimlessly among the tombstones. Some have even claimed to hear the mournful cries of unseen entities, as if the ghosts of the departed were still lingering, unable to find peace. These accounts have left a lasting impression on those who have braved a visit to this eerie location.

The eerie reputation of Kasauli Graveyard has reached such heights that the local authorities have ceased their visits after sunset. It is said that the inexplicable occurrences and the unsettling ambience have deterred even the bravest souls from venturing into this haunted domain during the night. The graveyard stands as a silent witness to the enigmatic forces that inhabit its grounds.

Kasauli Graveyard’s allure extends beyond its paranormal tales. Steeped in history, the graveyard serves as a reminder of the past, offering insights into the lives of those who once called this place home. The weathered tombstones bear the names and stories of the departed, evoking a sense of nostalgia and curiosity.

Visitors who are captivated by the enigma of Kasauli Graveyard can explore the surrounding area, which boasts breathtaking natural beauty. The town of Kasauli itself offers stunning vistas, tranquil walks, and an opportunity to immerse oneself in the serenity of the Himalayan foothills.

As one embarks on a journey to Kasauli Graveyard, it is essential to approach this haunted haven with respect and reverence. The spirits that reside within its confines deserve to be treated with the utmost consideration. It is a place that holds a delicate balance between the known and the unknown, the living and the departed.

Kasauli Graveyard stands as a testament to the inexplicable mysteries that inhabit our world. Nestled in the heart of Himachal Pradesh, this hauntingly enigmatic destination beckons those with a thirst for the unknown. With its paranormal encounters, ghostly apparitions, and abandoned after-dark visits, Kasauli Graveyard continues to captivate and intrigue visitors, leaving an indelible mark on all who dare to uncover its secrets.

Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) – Premiers Institute of Himachal

Image Source: igmcshimla.org

The present Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, one of the premiers Institute of Country, was established in the year 1966 in the erstwhile Snowdon Hospital Shimla. Its initial name was “Medical College, Shimla”. During the year 1978-79 its admission capacity was enhanced from 50 to 65 students per annum. However, in 1984 it was re-named as Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. Prior to 1981-82 only MBBS Classes were going on. With the vigorous persuasion with MCI and Govt. of India, the department successfully procured permission to introduced Post Graduate Degree and Diploma courses in Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. Initially only 22 departments were established in this medical college whereas its present strength has increased to 32 departments with the introduction of Super-Speciality department

The post Graduate courses were started in 16 disciplines in the year 1981.Now these are increased 16 to 20 disciplines. So far 923 postgraduates and 377 in diploma students have passed out from IGMC till date. More PG courses have been added from the session 2002-2005 in the specialties of Radiotherapy (Oncology) and Skin & VD.

Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla has also been granted the status of Regional Cancer Center by the Govt. of India, thus providing much needed comprehensive cancer care to the cancer patient. Essential periodical up gradation of facilities for investigations and treatment have been going on regularly and in the year 2005 facility of Open Heart Surgery has been made operational and in 2006 MRI facility has been added. Second Cobalt Unit & 64 slice MDCT are also operational.

IGMC Haunted
Indira Gandhi Medical College is the largest medical set up in not only Shimla but whole of Himachal Pradesh. At the same time, it is also among the most haunted places in Shimla. Patients, their families, doctors and other staff have many times complained of mysterious activities in lifts, corridors and rooms.

Besides weird noises and strange voices, some have also reported being pushing from behind while taking the stairs. Common belief is that all these activities are due to the presence of spirits of the people who have died in the hospital. Though there is no reason for these spirits to be haunting the college, the premises are quite scary sometimes.

Ghosts of the IGMC Road
The forest road that leads to IGMC, Shimla is occupied with many ghosts .There was a man who used to sell oranges on this road in the 1960s. It is said that he died there and still some people have seen him with his basket of oranges, while walking on this road. He doesn’t harm anyone though.

The Charleville mansion-Most Haunted Home of Shimla

Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh is a city that is blessed by God not just with beautiful locations but also with clear waters and flowered valleys which make it one of the most attractive tourist destinations in India. The pleasant weather of the city was the reason that it was chosen as the summer capital of the British-India Empire. Along with it, its picturesque hills have been the talk of several ghost stories. Highly acclaimed writer Rudyard Kipling also shares his experience of witnessing ghosts in Shimla in ‘My Own True Ghost Story’.

Queen Of hIlls

Several houses and hills are part of haunted stories and are known to be haunted by the occasional appearance of mysterious people. In most of the cases of haunted houses, it is usually the ghosts of the previous occupants who either disappeared mysteriously or committed suicide due to one reason or another. One such house that is known as the most haunted house in Shimla is the Charleville mansion.

The Story Behind Charleville Mansion

Charleville Mansion is a lush mansion located in the hills of Shimla. A British man Victor Bayley was appointed as the Assistant Secretary of Railway Board and was posted in Shimla in October 1913. Victor and his wife spent a considerable time looking for a perfect home for them and settled for the Charleville mansion owing to its location and the low rent. But they didn’t know that the house was known to have a poltergeist. In fact, before them, an army officer used to live in that mansion. Even though he didn’t believe in ghosts, he wanted to test the authenticity of the mystery surrounding that home. So he decided to lock the room where most of the haunted activities were reported.

One night a large crash was heard and he was astonished to find the room in shatters. Everything had been turned upside down. Horrified he decided to vacate the home. Even after knowing all this, the Bayleys decided to stay in the mansion and continued to do so for over a year. Most of their stay was peaceful except for one particular incident. It was a cold night and the Bayleys were out for a dinner party. As the servant was waiting for them to return, he felt that his master was in fact present in a room. He went up to him and asked him if he wanted something. The British didn’t respond to him and went out through a closed door. The Bayleys vacated the house soon after.

Since then the house has seen several occupants and all of them have their own experiences to share. Even though the experiences are enough to send a chill down the spine of the readers and audience, the fact that these ghosts have never been violent in nature brings a sense of relief. The house is currently owned by an Indian gentleman who remodelled the mansion completely. But it is still the talk of the town with people reporting ghosts of Englishmen roaming the mansion.

The Shimla Hauntings Spirit.

In April 2009, one of the weekends happened to be a long one. i had 3 holidays covering friday, saturday and sunday. So family and friends decided to visit Shimla. The plan was an instant one. I took my own car for the trip. In all we were 5 people going for the trip. My parents and my best friend along with his sister.

We started the drive on Friday morning. The total distance between Delhi-Shimla is approx. 370 kms. The drive was a smooth one and the highway covering the distance between Delhi-Shimla is a smooth one. Recently the authorities have completed the construction of the bridges being built on the highway leading to decongestion of the roads.

When we reached Shimla on the friday night, we had to first find a suitable hotel close to the Mall Road. We did finalise on one of the hotels and checked in there. The hotel had a connecting lift to the Mall Road. We checked in the 8th floor room of the hotel.

It was already night and the Mall road closes as early as 8 pm, so we decided to rest in the hotel room till morning. But then me and my friend thought of having a walk on the mall road at night just for fun sake. So we both left the room for the walk. From the 8 th floor of our hotel room, we had to further go to 4 floor above. At the top we had to walk to a connecting building and then take lift for another 2 floors. Then we had to take some steps to finally reach the connecting road to Mall Road.

Since we were new to the place, both of us had no idea where we were going? But the weather was chilling and we were wearing our jackets. The crowd was not much at that point of time (11:30 pm). We started moving in the dark corridors of the place. We came across a building which had a british architecture and is supposed to be some govt. building now. The structure looked great in night.

My friend was joking in the night that since Shimla was a british colony at one point of time, so it still has “Ghostly/Spirit Activity”. And that the place still has some mortuaries. We had read stories by the famous author “Ruskin Bond” about “Shimla Hauntings” during our school times. We were laughing out at each other on the weird talk we were having at mid night walking amongst the woods of Shimla. Then suddenly we saw some NOTICES painted onto the walls saying : “SMOKING AND LITTERING ON ALL PUBLIC PLACES IS FORBIDDEN BY LAW. ANY VIOLATION IS PUNISHABLE WITH A FINE UPTO Rs. 500/- – by order/commisioner M.C. Shimla”

We thought of clicking some pics at that point as we were enjoying our cigars in the night. First i stood against the wall notice and my friend clicked my pic with his camera phone. The lighting over us was of a lamp post, so the picture came quite clear.

Next, my friend decided to stand in the same spot and get a pic clicked in the same pose. So i took his camera phone and clicked his pic in the same pose with the same lighting. But as soon as i clicked the pic i observed a white cloud in the pic. I asked my friend not to puff before the pic but he showed me that he hadn’t taken the puff and he stood still for the pic. I asked him to come over and have a look at the pic. He was amazed to see a white cloud like formation in the foreground of the pic. it was a spooky thing. Both of us then got scared of the spot and discussed how in the movie “Shutter” the ghost were captured through the photograph clicks and even they appeared as white clouds in it.

We decided to move away from the spot and as we moved ahead we saw an old guy walking alone in the night moving steadily. I went ahead and asked where Mall road was and he told us we were heading in the wrong direction and should move in the opposite direction. So we did as he told us and finally after a 15 min walk reached Mall Road. The place was good and was almost empty in that hour of the night.

But the spooky event in the night of Shimla made this trip a memorable one for me and my friend. The line with which i can end this experience is : ” MAANO YA NA MAANO…….. ”

Now here below i shall be stating facts from a well known book named “Ghost stories of Shimla Hills – written by Meenakshi Choudhary”

Ghosts are timeless. Whether you like it or not. You can never really get it rid of them. Minakshi Chaudhry’s book, “Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills” (published by Rupa) is a good read, preferably at night when trees, roads and dim corners of rooms can throw up sinister shadows and diabolical shakes take form in the confused mind. But Minakshi’s ghosts are something more than this. They are the ones who still wouldn’t let go of their beloved Shimla.

As Ruskin Bond rightly remarks in his Foreword, “Mussoorie is not the only hill-station with a generous sprinkling of ghosts. Shimla, it appears, has more than its fair share… (judging from the tales in the book), there are almost as many ghosts as people parading on the Mall or under the deodars… Kipling started it with his Phantom Rickshaw…and since then there have been any number of phantoms haunting Shimla’s old schools, hotels, cemeteries and places of entertainment. In 1947, the British departed but left their ghosts behind.

The Forest Road is one spot where British ghosts wander. An ideal place for cavorting teenagers because of its seclusion, there used to be five benches at the top of the spur. Aman resides in the U.S. club, Shimla and goes for long walks along this road in the morning and evening regularly. This has been his routine for more than two decades. He is an artist and the walks not only uplift him spiritually and make him physically fit, they also make him more creative in his work. On one such evening, about a decade back, when he reached the somewhat flat portion where the five benches were, he stopped and decided to rest. Admiring the beautiful vistas spread out before him, he was approaching the benches when he felt something coming up from behind. Thinking it was someone else on a walk; he paid no attention but moved forward. Seconds later he felt someone overtake him. Unlocking his gaze from the mountain ranges he looked in front and then behind him. There was there. Puzzled, he sat down on a bench and got the shock of his life! He was sitting on someone?s lap! With a shriek he jumped up, embarrassed. But the bench was empty, there was no one there. Then he felt cold, very cold. Aman did not try to figure out what it was; he literally ran from the five benches. It was only after a few weeks that he could bring himself to cross that area alone again. After that first experience, Aman has felt someone walking alongside him on several occasions when he passes the five benches. Though he has never had the courage to sit on a bench again, he has slowly got used to his eerie companion.

It was around midnight and Shyam was driving back home. Shyam’s mind was on an important legal case. About 100 metres away from his car he saw a woman waving her hand gesturing him to stop. She was clad in a red saree. It flashed through his mind that she must have been attending a wedding because of the way she was dressed. He stopped the car and was about to stop when he saw that the woman was no longer there. He looked ahead. There was she. About a hundred metres away. Baffled, he drove on, again slowing down as she approached him. She was now waving her hand frantically. Shyam was?nt sure what he saw first-her hand or her face-but it made him drive away as fast as he could. Her hands were turned inwards and her face had been terrifying-big lips with long teeth protruding out. Her howls and screams followed him as he sped past her. From that day, he has never travelled on that road late at night again.

If anyone of you reading this article has ever experienced any haunting, please put it in the comments section – so that all of us can know more about these paranormal activites.