At Maharashtra’s 2,000-year-old Lohagad Fort, guides are now fielding a strange new question from visitors: “Where is the Siya spot?”
Long known for its Maratha history and dramatic hilltop views, the fort has seen footfall jump by roughly 25 per cent since 26-year-old Pune businessman Ketan Agarwal was allegedly pushed to his death from the cliff.
Accused Siya Goyal and co-accused Chetan Choudhary are currently under investigation, but that hasn’t stopped visitors from turning up to photograph the exact spot, so much so that police briefly shut the site during their probe.
It’s a fresh example of dark tourism, travel to places tied to death, tragedy or disaster. The term was coined in 1996 by Scottish academics John Lennon and Malcolm Foley, though the instinct is far older, from Roman crowds at gladiator games to Civil War-era Americans picnicking on hillsides to watch battles unfold.
Why the fascination is growing
This is no niche curiosity anymore. Dark tourism is now a global industry estimated at $ 32.8 billion in 2025, headed toward $ 40 billion within a decade. Sites like Pompeii, the 9/11 Memorial and Auschwitz-Birkenau each draw over a million visitors a year, some capping numbers just to manage the rush.
Psychologists say the pull is less about morbidity and more about processing mortality. A 2025 University of Tennessee study points to “Terror Management Theory”, the idea that confronting death in a safe setting can sharpen our appreciation for being alive.
Some researchers also link it to a search for authenticity, wanting to witness something “real" in a world of curated, filtered experiences, even if that reality is grim. Others see it as a way to learn, mourn, or make sense of something unimaginable. But experts warn the line blurs fast. Dr Makhan Shakya, a psychiatrist at GMC, Sheopur, told NDTV that turning a site of real grief into a weekend photo-op chips away at basic empathy. The same appetite plays out on screens too, with true crime now dominating Indian streaming platforms.
Dark tourism spots across India
India has no shortage of its own.
Port Blair’s Cellular Jail, once used to torture freedom fighters, now welcomes tourists into its old cells and gallows.
Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh still bears bullet marks from the 1919 massacre, while its Partition Museum holds memories of 1947.
Bhopal’s Union Carbide site marks the 1984 gas tragedy.
Uttarakhand’s Roopkund, or Skeleton Lake, draws trekkers curious about the ancient remains scattered along its shore.
Rajasthan offers two mysteries in one state: the overnight-abandoned Kuldhara village and Bhangarh Fort, widely called India’s most haunted site, off-limits after sunset by ASI order.
In Ladakh, the Kargil War Memorial at Dras honours soldiers lost in 1999 against a stark Himalayan backdrop.
Whether it’s a fort caught up in a fresh murder case or a decades-old war memorial, the pull seems the same: standing close to history’s darkest moments while staying safely on this side of them.
