In the forests of Madhya Pradesh there is a palace more than 100 years old which belongs to Maharaja “Veersingh” dynasty. It is known as “Sona mahal” as said by people in nearby villages. It is left abandoned with no one to take care as many villagers felt that there are ghosts inside the building as many of them heard of a woman crying after late night when they move from one village to another village they have to move across this forest.
“Kriti” an Archaeologist by profession lives in Delhi.“Kriti” because of her profession she always had a curiosity about ancient buildings and monuments etc. One day while speaking to her uncle she came to know that her grandfather has got a rich palace through his ancestors which is near to village “Kareli”
Same time her grandmother came in and said it was almost collapsed, useless palace and said that no need to discuss further, after which she cried seeing her grandfather’s photo frame.
Kriti observed that there is something which her grandmother is hiding from her and became very enthusiastic about it. Kriti saying that she has to leave for Kolkata for some task takes permission from her grandmother and leaves to “Kareli” to unravel the mystery and to get her property back.
She is very much known for her daring and dashing attitude. She finds a key that is secretly kept in there pooja mandir untouched which her grandmother used to hide. As they look like keys of locks in olden days, she takes that keys without notice of her grandmother and starts her journey.
Adventure starts………………….
She reaches “Kareli” with the help of her friend ‘Karan’ who lives there. When she tried to inquire about the mahal there, her friend warned her not to go that palace and go where ever she wants except that palace as it is surrounded with ghosts.
Kriti simply laughed and said OK! (She doesn’t believe in this at all)
As usual saying another lie to Karan, she went to the palace there along with few other brave villagers .They traveled through the forest and reached the palace. Kriti opened the lock with the key with her and lock opened. While stepping into the palace, Kriti had a strange experience, while she is going to step in, for few seconds she was unable to move as some force which is equal to the power of ten people made her fixed for few seconds and released her suddenly like an electric shock.
After facing such a strange situation she thought there is something un usual in this palace.
She entered into the palace with a lantern in her hand; she saw the monuments, fountain and other things in the palace covered with dust and spider webs. She can see how lavishly their ancestors have constructed the mahal.
Every step she moves, every sound of the dry leaves under feet while walking increased her nervousness.
“There is a painting of a woman with closed eyes and loose hair giving a scary look”
Entire palace is surrounded with darkness, but the very next moment when she entered, eyes of the painting opened with a ferocious look having bright light from the eyes and rest all being dark. When Kriti moved nearer to the painting it automatically closed, when she turned and started walking from there the eyes automatically opened and closed again.
Workers started to clean the palace until the evening after which they have left.
Kriti went and slept in a bedroom, after few minutes suddenly again the eyes in woman’s painting opened ferociously. With a big sound the ceiling fan fall down and stopped just few centimeters before her face in the air.
After some time it automatically fell beside her with big sound and a mix of laugh and cry of a female voice from the center where painting is there.
But even being nervous, Because of her strong desire she controlled herself and slept that night. The next day early morning as usual the workers started their work cleaning, painting etc.,
Everything is going fine in while just going around the rooms, in an old suitcase she found an “old diary” through which she got to know that it is written by non-other than his uncle(Her father’s younger brother)
“She came to know that her uncle after completing his masters in US came to the palace where his parents are living. There used to be a beautiful girl named Pooja who is the daughter of dalit worker who is working under his grandfather.
Coming from raja’s family, due to her charm and innocence kriti’s uncle fell in love with her and even after repetitive request from her that there is no scope for them getting married because she is a dalit girl.
But finally she accepted his love because of the kind of love he is showing and his caring attitude.
He painted her picture when she closed her eyes feeling shy when he is painting and to her surprise he painted her picture with closing eyes and loose hair.
After knowing this Kriti’s grandfather warned her uncle, pooja and her father to forget about this thing and lead their own lives.
But they didn’t listen and continued to love each other and said that they would marry each other at any cost. After seeing that for many days, one day when his son is out of the town he called both pooja and her father saying that he has accepted the marriage and called them for discussing about the marriage.
Only this is available in the diary and after that rest of the story is not known and again her curiosity increased to the peaks.
She went to the painting there and just touched it and suddenly eyes of the women opened just before her and continuous glow in the face of the painting along with bigger sounds with a women laughing and crying.
Kriti became panic for some time and couldn’t move her body again and stood just before the painting.
She was fixed there for one hour and after that it released her and threw her from the center to out of the stairs.( Painting is there at the center of the hall before the stairs)
After that she was unconscious for some time and after gaining consciousness, she shouted from there
“Who are you… What the hell is going on here…? Why you are playing with a helpless women like me..
What do you want.. What do you want ?
“Your life” loudly came a reply from the painting.
Kriti heart beat increased and even under great fear she shouted “Who the hell are you”
“ I am your death.. My Name is Pooja..”
You came here to find your death and no one can stop me from killing you but now I won’t kill you.
“I will kill you on next Monday at 2:28 am and until then go wherever you want to save yourself from death”
Helpless Kriti went to her friend “Karan” for help who is living in kareli. Karan took her to “Ram Sharma”(Holy priest of durga mandir) who lives in a nearby village to kareli.He is very known for relieving people from ghosts and black magic.
Seeing her he said “You want your mahal, she wants your death”
“Human courage on one side, evil power on another side”, smiles seeing Kriti.
Kriti burst out into tears and asked him for help in this situation. Ram Sharma consoled her and said “Don’t cry dear, your determination and bravery are your weapons… You will win”
He asked her to close her eyes and took her hands into his hands and after few minutes asked her to open her eyes.
He started saying
“You are the one who can eliminate the evil from that palace”
This is your re incarnation Kriti, in your previous birth you are “ Sumitra” a girl from a royal family who loved “ Sameer singh” your uncle, you both are relatives.Your grand father wanted you both to get married. You also share a good bonding with him, many a times pooja watched you being close with him whenever you visit their house.
This has irked pooja.
One day sumitra visited Kareli for offering prayers at “maa durga temple”. Before going to the temple she visited the palace to meet her relatives. Pooja was also sent beside her to assist and for security.
Pooja went with her and while walking to the temple pooja asked her about sameer and through her words she came to know that she loves sameer and willing to marry him. Pooja suddenly stopped her and said “sameer is mine, you leave him”. Surprised sumitra asked “What the hell are you talking”
Pooja: What you have listened is absolutely correct leave him, he is mine.
Sumitra: How dare you say this, you are just a labour here and you want to become the princess of this mahal by marrying him. This will never happen.
Angry pooja hits sumitra with a big wooden stick on her head and bet her brutally with which sumitra was hurt severely and started bleeding, pooja dragged her and sumitra prayed her to leave but pooja didn’t showed no kindness and threw her into a big old well. Pooja loved sameer earlier but her and her father’s intention was to get the palace and the property. As a part of their plan she killed sumitra.
Now she silently went to the palace and said to your grandfather that sumitra asked her to leave saying that she will come later.
POOJA AND THE POT OF ASHES
She silently went into kitchen and started pretending that everything is normal. Mean while a villager who saw the entire incident came to your grandfather and narrated the incident and said that he wanted to save her but couldn’t as by the time he reached there she was thrown into the well and pooja started running away from there.
Your grandfather couldn’t believe this and went to the place and shocked to see her lying dead in the well. He came back to the mahal furiously and shouted “Pooja… Pooja”
Pooja came in silently and before he could speak, she attacked him with a knife with the help of her father .Your grandfather escaped from their attack and mean while your grandmother and other servants came in there. The servants caught both of them and your grandfather bet both of them severely with a whip and after that he left his dogs onto her father and he burned pooja alive. But the time which she was killed was a very bad time and after your grandmother’s suggestion the ashes of pooja were kept into a small mud pot. The next day he wanted to mix the ashes in the holy river so he kept the pot in a cupboard on the wall and kept the painting of her in front of it to cover pot of ashes.
Pooja who was killed without fulfilling her desires didn’t leave this world and was waiting for revenge in the pot of ash.
When it was kept in the cupboard behind the painting, the concentrated power of it entered the painting.
Your uncle sameer singh was back to the palace and started enquiring about pooja for which they said she along with her father has gone for a marriage and will return after two days. Two days passed and he shouted on his parents and went outside in search of her and when his parents tried to stop him he locked the door from outside and moved in search of her.
When they were locked inside suddenly the painting shined brightly and eyes of the painting opened and the chandelier in the center of the building automatically displaced and fell down on your grandfather and he died there itself. With a huge sound there your grandmother came in and her heart broke seeing him and started weeping and suddenly a voice came from the painting.
“Leave the palace!!!!
Or
Even you will die like this”
After listening to these sounds few villagers unlocked the door and entered inside but the devil killed even those villagers. Your grandmother who is scared in a helpless situation locked the palace and moved to your parents in Delhi. Your uncle was never back again. The remaining villagers living near the palace were scared with this and vacated their homes and palace was left abandoned.
“Pooja died on this Monday night 2:28 am before 25 years and she wants to see your death at the same time”
“Now it’s time to eliminate the devil and get back your palace back”
Let’s go there and I am with you.
Kriti along with Ram Sharma and his disciples went to the palace on Monday and after entering into the palace Ram Sharma and his disciples started chanting mantra due to which the painting started shaking.
Suddenly they heard a voice saying “Stop it or else you all would die along with her”
After that there was a silence all over the palace, Ram Sharma instructed his disciples to start the chanting again.
Painting started to shake even higher making big sounds.
THE WAR BEGINS
Suddenly a big light came out of the painting and created a high wind which shattered the objects and gradually looked like a human surrounded with black smoke.
It started moving towards kriti. Ram Sharma tried to stop it but it threw away him a side onto the wall due to which he became unconscious. Kriti thought that it is going to kill her but to her surprise it sat down and started weeping, Kriti went near the devil and suddenly it lifted it head and caught kriti’s neck and moved her onto the wall and lifted her into the air.
Kriti couldn’t breathe and is tried to release herself.
The evil suddenly dropped her and vanished.
When kriti got up the objects suddenly started to hit her and a brick which was far away from her automatically lifted in the air, rotated and has hit kriti on her head.
Poor kriti suffered with bleeding got up slowly and this time a knife was thrown which narrowly missed her. Evil appeared again and slapped her hard and kriti fell down.
After a few minutes she got up and looked there and she didn’t find the evil there, while she was little relaxed she heard a scaring laugh behind her and turned back but again nothing is there.
Heard the same laugh again, turned front and saw the evil coming onto her. She threw the knife beside her onto the devil, it went and hit the devil but as the devil is a soul with no physical form like air, nothing happened to it and the knife went inside and came out.
The evil lifted kriti onto the wall and kriti was unable to breathe.
The knife which kriti threw went on and pierced into the painting. Suddenly the devil shouted with great pain.
With that shout Ram Sharma became conscious and kriti said him that devil is feeling pain when painting is damaged.
Ram Sharma and his disciples started throwing objects onto the painting and the evil cried and shouted in pain with that.
Watching this Ram Sharma ordered kriti to destruct the painting.
Kriti moved on to the painting and she found a big hammer besides the steps where painting of pooja is located.
She took the hammer and moved further, watching this devil went onto kriti in a flash.
Kriti with the hammer has hit the painting hard with which the painting got destructed.
After that she turned back and the evil disappeared, after that behind the painting she found the pot of ashes she took it out of the cupboard. Kriti with the advice of Ram Sharma takes the pot of ashes with her and along with Ram Sharma goes river Narmada and mixes the ash in holy water.
Finally she has won the battle on the devil and got her ancestral palace back.
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The end
WRITTEN BY:
Singamaneni Sairakesh
harshitapurang 