The Ruined Temple's Shadow: A Night in Jaipur
Chapter 1: The Golden City and The Forbidden Mistake
Jaipur is beautiful. The pink walls, the royal forts, and the smell of history in the air make it a dream destination. I was there with my husband, celebrating our new life together after marriage. My elder sister (Di) and her husband (Jiju) live there, so it felt like a perfect family reunion.
On a bright Tuesday afternoon, we decided to visit one of the ancient forts on the outskirts of the city. I was feeling very pretty that day. I wore a beautiful traditional dress, and despite my mother's old warnings about not keeping hair open in lonely places, I let my long hair flow in the wind. I wanted the perfect photos. We laughed, we clicked hundreds of pictures, and the day was filled with joy. But as the sun began to dip below the horizon, the atmosphere changed. The air felt heavy, and the golden light of the sun started looking like pale blood.
Chapter 2: The Temple That Time Forgot
We were returning home on our bikes. The city lights were far away, and the road was surrounded by dry bushes and old stones. Di and Jiju were on the bike ahead of us, their taillights flickering in the growing darkness. We were just a few meters behind them.
Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to something on the left side of the road. It was an ancient temple, but it didn't look holy. it looked cursed. The stones were black with age and cracked. Huge, thick roots of a Banyan tree had wrapped around the temple like the fingers of a giant monster, slowly crushing it. There were no lamps, no people—just a deep, hollow silence coming from inside.
I looked at it once and felt a sharp chill. But then, something pulled me. I turned my head back and looked at the ruins again. In that second, my breath hitched. I felt a cold gaze staring back at me from the darkness of the broken door. I quickly looked away and hugged my husband tightly, but the image of those roots and the dark hollow was stuck in my mind.
Chapter 3: The Presence in the Room
When we reached home, I tried to act normal. I freshened up and sat on the bed in the guest room. The house was lively with Di and Jiju talking in the kitchen, but the room I was in felt... different. It felt small. It felt crowded, even though I was alone.
I leaned back and happened to look up at the ceiling where the electrical wires were running. My heart skipped a beat. A shadow was stretched across the wall, long and thin, shaped exactly like a large kitchen knife. I blinked, thinking it was just the shadow of the wires, but it didn't move. It was sharp and pointed directly at me.
Then came the feeling. Have you ever felt someone standing so close to you that you can feel their breath, but when you look, no one is there? That's exactly what happened. I felt a heavy, cold presence standing right at the edge of my bed. The air became so thick that I couldn't breathe. I tried to scream, but my throat was dry.
Chapter 4: The Battle of Faith
I was paralyzed with fear. I closed my eyes as tight as I could. I was terrified that if I opened them, I would see a pale face with dark eyes staring into mine. My body started shivering violently. I felt like a cold hand was slowly reaching out for me.
My Di came into the room and saw my state. I was pale, sweating, and my face had started to swell up unnaturally. It wasn't a normal swelling; it looked like I had been struck by a hidden force. She immediately understood. She grabbed me, pulled my head into her lap, and started reciting the Hanuman Chalisa.
"Jai Hanuman gyan gun sagar..." her voice was shaking, but she didn't stop.
Every time she said a verse, I felt a vibration in the room. The "thing" in the room didn't want to leave. I felt a pressure on my chest, like someone was trying to stop me from hearing the prayers. I kept my eyes shut. I couldn't open them. I didn't want to see the shadow on the ceiling.
Chapter 5: The Longest Wait for Dawn
The clock ticked slowly. 12:00 AM... 1:00 AM... 2:00 AM. The night felt endless. My Di never stopped praying. She held me like a shield. My face was throbbing with pain from the swelling. I felt like I was in a dark tunnel, fighting to stay conscious.
Whenever the room went silent for a second, I would hear a faint scratching sound near the wires where I saw the knife shadow. It was as if something was waiting for the prayers to stop. But Di was strong. She kept the holy words flowing like a river.
Finally, as the clock struck 4:00 AM, the heavy weight on my chest suddenly lifted. The room felt lighter. The freezing cold was gone. Exhaustion finally took over my body, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, still holding onto my sister's h
A Warning Remembered
The next morning, the swelling on my face stayed for a while, a physical mark of the terror I had faced. We went to a temple to offer prayers, and I vowed never to ignore the warnings of the elders again.
The desert city of Jaipur holds many secrets. Some are buried in the forts, and some are waiting in the broken temples by the roadside. I learned the hard way—some places are better left unseen, and some gazes should never be returned...