164 year old Nicholson Cemetery of Delhi

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In almost every country there are hair-splitting stories about haunted places and buildings besides cemeteries. In the latter, men and women lie buried in tightly secured coffins with their souls (''Athma'') trapped inside. In an unreleased state, these souls, it is said, are restless and are longing to get out. When discussing superstition, rationality and the very existence of ghost, our curiosity always gets the better of us because the topic is unusual, something we are not accustomed to it before. The subject of ghost is always a contentious issue, an enigma.

Delhi:Nicholson cemetery, location map. en.wikipedia.org

Nicholson cemetery, Delhi, heritage walk. delhiheritagewalks.com

Among the Hindus it has been their religious custom to have the dead body cremated after performing certain rituals. It is said it is done with a view to “releasing the soul” so that it can “reincarnate”. They find the Christian practice of burying bodies underground no longer odd because there is are large Christian communities living across India, in particular Kerala and NE India. However, cemeteries such as this one in Delhi or elsewhere are avoided by locals on the assumption they are haunted. The Nicholson Cemetery in Delhi has gained the reputation of being a haunted place by the locals because it has a large number of tombs within the graveyard. The Hindus as mentioned earlier, normally cremate the dead so that the soul is allowed to go free from the physical body to get into a new life depending on his/her past sins.

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Paranormal forces are often associated with unused strange places, buildings, etc where people had a violent and unnatural death. Besides, such places are normally abandoned and surrounded by overgrowth of vegetation, creepers, trees, broken structures, strange-looking thick spider webs, dark shadows, etc creating an uncomfortable ambiance. Such odd-looking innocuous, but uncertain surroundings can further aggravate the chilling experience.

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So far there has been no concrete proof of ghosts sightings in the supposedly haunted places. Such spooky and eerie places, with some sudden mysterious and weird noise or moaning of women, etc often cause the excitement and fear, according to the locals. Over a period of time these places are tagged as haunted by the them with a cooked-up, poignant story linking the haunted site. Visitors are afraid to get in there primarily due to overwhelming fear and anxiety often accompanied by palpitation of heart. The unusual calm and empty space will commonly increase our curiosity. In a strange situation people feel compelled to think the creepy-crawly things are lying in wait to get them; The fear factor goes way high after sundown.

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When people see spooky flicks in a theater, they become nervous and shiver their way till the end of the film. It is quite funny we shell out money on such movies to get ourselves frightened to death over something that is not real. Such horror and macabre movies give you a big dose of suspense and anxiety with cinematic special effects, in particular, background sound. If you see the same flick without sound, you won't experience any anxiety or fear. Psychologically speaking, such horror movies or places unconsciously trigger the lingering fear in our subconscious mind, particularly when we feel unsafe in a queer, deserted environment with no people around. It triggers the panic buttons in our brain and warns us before hand about the impending danger to our life. Driven by imagination and fear, these strange feelings motivate us to proceed with caution and look for an exit in case of real threat. The psychological fact is such unsafe, secluded, deserted and ambivalent places may leave you just frozen in place, making you uncomfortable and unease. The psychological mechanism is at display behind feeling ''creeped-out''. In the USA, there are thousands of haunted places, a part of Halloween Theater and here haunting tour is a money-spinning business.

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The cemeteries and cremation grounds, the final destination places of all mortals in this planet, have close links with ghost sighting or paranormal activities. The Indian Paranormal Society says that the Nicholson cemetery located in a secluded, quiet place far away from the urban madness of south Delhi in Kashmere Gate is a haunted one and there have been speculations about the sighting of headless apparition of John Nicholson on some nights and European ghosts crisscrossing the grave on certain nights. Soon after late evening people with weak heart leave this deserted place as quickly as possible to avoid any weird experience.

Locals believe that the mortal remains of John Nicholson in his grave regroup and his spirit has the tendency to pop up unexpectedly from nowhere, say like Jack-in-the box. It is said it happens in the place where he was buried in Sept. 1857. Brig. Gen Nicholson was shot in the chest and after severe pain he died in the hospital tent on the third day. He was just 37, remained unmarried; reports say he had children out of wedlock (?). He had a violent death, so were the countless people in the 1857 rebellion. After violent death they were buried in the same grave.

The explanation given by Hindus is that at the Nicholson Cemetery, the English men who were buried here, had experienced horrible death, not a peaceful one. Though their mortal remains have been there since 1857, they are still restless with their trapped souls having found no way to exit from their bodies. Being agitated and having no peace of mind, they turn into ghosts and aimlessly roam the graveyard at night hoping one day they would get a permanent relief for their souls and would get a new lease of life.

Brig.Gen. Nicholson's war exploits in the NE Frontier areas, his tragic death in the 1857 rebellion, his killing spree against the native rebels - all these unpalatable events are part of one of the darkest chapters of colonial India in the 19th century. In 2006 a major restoration work was done at this historical cemetery in Delhi and the young generation of English people who are related to those buried here are anxious to visit this site to pay their

respect to their forefathers who were part of Colonial India.

Tit-bits:

The Nicholson Cemetery in Kashmere gate in South Delhi is a historical site that underwent renovation in 2006. Delhi Cemeteries Committee and BACSA (the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia) invited INTACH’s (The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) Delhi Chapter to look into restoration work and they all collectively did a painstaking job. The grave yard is a big one, covering 8.8 acres and 2,463 graves and it was a major challenge for the conservationists and restoration workers to bring the grave back to old glory. The site had been a neglected one for a pretty long period. With passage of time, the plaster over innumerable tombs had come off. Some people drew the attention of the British newspapers about the British cemetery in Delhi and its poor upkeep. The British High Commission took up the matter to save the cemetery. A sum of Rs.7 Lakhs was spent on the restoration work and additional work needed funds to complete the project. Brig. Gen. John Nicholson was a brave military officer very much liked by his troops. He was quite loyal to the Crown Being a brave man he had an aura of a daring soldier, always risking his life. A religious cult developed around him: the ‘Nikal Seyn’.
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/phase-ii-set-to-begin-funds-awaited-as-nicholson-cemetery-among-oldest-in-city-is-restored-5857420/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson_Cemetery,_New_Delhi
https://web.archive.org/web/20160409234236/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1151483251.html