CITY OF DJINNS
Chasing ghosts and
genies and exploring caves and forts in the stark landscape of Bahla
This fort was built by a ghost in just one night,”
says my guide Saleh as I stand in front of an imposing citadel. The 13th
century Bahla Fort, located about 200 km from Muscat is one of the UNESCO World
Heritage Sites in Oman and it is surrounded by an aura of occult and magic. It
is a hot afternoon and in the sweltering heat, I huff and puff my way up the
fortress which is surrounded by a wall that is 12 km long. According to the
story, Bahla was threatened by an attack from a neighbouring kingdom and the
ruler reached out to a djinn or a spirit to help them. A formidable fort was
built apparently overnight and the opponents beat a hasty retreat after just
looking at it.
URBAN LEGENDS
Bahla, however, has several legends of genies and
ghosts haunting it. There is a legend of a man who was stoned to death for
practising witchcraft over thousands of years ago. However, locals say that his
spirit wanders around town haunting desolate alleys and crumbling ruins. Trees
are believed to be bewitched and people tell you not to touch them as you may
just vanish in thin air. But it is the occult that fascinates me. Saleh tells
us the story of a flying mosque that came up around the town. Three Sufi saints
lived in a hillock near the fort. It is believed that they could communicate
with djinns who flew in a mosque from a neighbouring town and parked it here.
However, everything lies in crumbles today and the town, which was once Oman’s
capital is now getting a makeover apparently under UNESCO guidance.
ARABIAN TALES RETOLD
We are on a roadtrip in Oman driving past souks,
castles, wadis, mountains. The mirage here is real. The deserts suddenly morph
into valleys where emerald- tinged waters bordered with date palms greet the
eyes. Every landscape here is a scene from the Arabian Nights with stories of
genies. Besides Bahla Fort, we stop at the medieval Nizwa Fort in the erstwhile
capital of Oman. The souk here comes alive every Friday but we head out to buy
some dates. Oman apparently produces a staggering 250 varieties of dates and we
are recommended the Khalas, the most delicious of them all. Walking around the
souk, I lose myself in the pottery and ceramics and taste some delicious Omani
halwa until it is time to continue our journey.
If Bahla has an aura of the supernatural, then the
ruins of Al Hamra leave us spellbound. Stark and naked, the ghostly mud houses
of the 400-year-old abandoned village stand out against the blue sky and the
smattering of date palm trees. The narrow alleys clone each other and it is
very easy to lose your way. Suddenly I find myself surrounded by a sea of
ruins. I look up to see multistoreyed crumbling edifices with holes in them,
that would have been windows at one time and for a moment, I feel an eerie
presence around me. I walk away hurriedly and turn a little corner to find my
guide looking out for me.
DEEP DARK CAVES
Our next stop is a dark and wet cave nestled deeply
inside the Hajar Mountain Range – Al Hoota Caves. Everything about the cave
exploration seems like a fairytale as a toy train takes you to the foot of the
caves. This two million-yearold cave was discovered just 50 years ago by a
local whose goat wandered away and fell in one of the crevices near the
entrance of the cave. Our 45-minute trail takes us through the stalactite and
stalagmite formations while one can imagine various formations and designs. We
stop at the black lake inside the cave, home to some blind fish while the bats
find several silent dark corners.
Lakshmi Sharath
TL16SEP18
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