The National Library of India is located in Belvedere House, a sprawling mansion that formerly served as the palace of the Viceroy of India and later the Governor of Bengal. Like any great house of a certain age, Belvedere House has a haunted history. The ghost of Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of the East India Company, is rumored to walk its halls, looking for a black bureau that contains papers proving his innocence of wrongdoing that led to his impeachment by Parliament. Librarians and visitors have reported strange occurrences, from chairs moving to books falling, from the sound of breathing to pages turning.
In 2010, the Archaeological Survey of India discovered a secret chamber in the library. The 1000-square foot room had no entrances or trap doors, only an arch that appeared to have been walled up. Surveyors searched all the rooms above and around the chamber for an entrance, to no avail. Was this where the black bureau was kept? Was it a torture room or a place to hide treasure? When the ASI drilled into the room, all they found was mud, which they believed was intended to strengthen the foundation. Still, this didn’t answer every question, such as what might be underneath the mud. The ASI stopped answering questions in 2012.
What do you think? What was the original intent of that room and what’s hidden there now? How far would an intrepid treasure seeker go to fide out? Is the library haunted? What happens next?
