Agartha: Exploring the Legends of a Hidden Subterranean World

For some reason, we’ve long been obsessed with the idea of lost cities and advanced hidden civilizations. A classic example of this is the ongoing hunt for Agartha, a legendary city supposedly hidden beneath the Earth’s surface. Often linked with the Hollow Earth theory, Agartha is described as a hidden realm inhabited by advanced beings possessing profound wisdom. It has close ties to ancient Buddhist mythology, and everyone from 19th-century occultists to Nazis and new-age hippies has searched for it. No one has found it. Does Agartha exist? Probably not, but the stories surrounding those who claim it does are fascinating.

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The Hunt for Agartha: Origins and Ancient Legends

The legend of Agartha has deep ties to ancient myths and fascinating esoteric traditions. Multiple cultures across the globe have embraced the idea of worlds beneath the Earth. Ancient Greek mythology frequently refers to the underworld of Hades, while Hindu texts mention Patala, a subterranean realm inhabited by serpent-like horrors known as Nagas. Even some Christians have been known to believe that Hell is literally a place beneath their feet. 

As for Agartha itself, it began to gain prominence in the 19th century thanks to the rise of the Hollow Earth theory. This theory suggested that the Earth was either completely hollow or at least contained vast interior spaces that hid advanced civilizations. Early proponents of this idea, such as John Cleves Symmes Jr. and Cyrus Teed, suggested that entrances to these inner worlds could be found at the poles.

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Symmes’s hole hypothesis held that there were holes at the poles, giving entry to the Earth. Represented here.   (Public Domain)

A major influence on the modern legend of Agartha came from Theosophy, a spiritual movement founded by Helena Blavatsky in the late 19th century. Blavatsky's writings often mentioned mystical cities beneath the Earth's surface, describing them as centers of ancient wisdom and spiritual power. She and her followers, such as William Scott-Elliot, elaborated on these ideas, portraying Agartha as a utopian society guided by enlightened beings.

Key Accounts and Historical Figures

Unsurprisingly, there’s no solid proof that Agartha exists (because it doesn’t). Nearly all the information we have on it comes from various explorers and mystics who claimed that they either went there themselves or had met someone who had.

One of the earliest published mentions of Agartha as a subterranean realm appeared in Louis Jacolliot's 1873 book Les Fils du Dieu (The Sons of Gods). In this book, the Frenchman claimed that his Brahmin friends of Chandernagore, India, had told him the story of "Asgartha.”  According to them, this was an ancient city that had been destroyed almost 5,000 years ago, just before the Kali Yuga (the fourth, shortest, and worst of the Yugas in Hinduism’s Yuga cycle).

It was quite a while until Agartha captured the attention of Europeans again. In 1910, the French occultist Gerard Encausse edited and re-published an 1886 account by the famous 19th-century French occultist Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alverdre. In Mission, de l'Inde en Europe, Saint-Yves claimed to have learned of Agartha while learning Sanskrit from someone called Haji Sharif.

This time referred to as Agartha, it was a strange and ancient place where the original language of mankind was said to be preserved. In his book, Saint-Yves claimed to have received telepathic communications from those who still lived there and reckoned he had even visited via astral projection.

Saint-Yves wrote that Agartha was a utopian society ruled over by advanced beings with profound spiritual and scientific knowledge. According to Saint-Yves, Agartha was a place of harmony and enlightenment, contrasting starkly with the surface world's chaos and conflict. 

While Jacolliot had believed Agartha to be long gone, Saint-Yves strongly believed (or claimed to believe) that it still existed. He reckoned it was as strong as ever and had moved underground at the beginning of the Kali Yuga. 

A little later, a Polish writer and adventurer called Ferdinand Ossendowski entered the discussion with his 1922 book, Beasts, Men, and Gods. In this book, he recounts his travels across Mongolia and his encounters with lamas who spoke of a hidden kingdom called Agartha.

A cross-sectional drawing of the planet Earth showing the "Interior World" of Atvatabar, from William R. Bradshaw's 1892 science-fiction novel The Goddess of Atvatabar (Public Domain)

According to them, Agartha was a massive underground network ruled by the “king of the world,” a man with immense wisdom and power. Following WWI, German occultist groups, inspired by writers like Ossendowski, took an interest in Agartha and began searching for it.

Things took a more troubling turn during World War II when Nazi occultists began showing an interest. Members of the Thule Society, a secretive group with a deep interest in Aryan mythology and the occult, believed in the existence of Agartha.

Of course, being Nazis, they used the story of Agartha to further their own racist beliefs. They speculated that Agartha housed the remnants of an ancient Aryan super race with advanced technology and knowledge. Some of them even proposed expeditions to find entrances to this racist wonderland, particularly at the poles. This might sound like fantasy, but Hitler was a recorded believer in the occult, and much of the Nazi ideology was founded on similar bizarre occult claims. 

Agartha in Modern Culture

The Nazis never found Agartha but modern culture's interest in it never disappeared completely. The legend has continued to evolve, mainly thanks to the fact people tend to confuse it with the legendary Buddhist spiritual kingdom of Shambhala from Vajrayana Buddhism and Tibetan Kalachakra teachings. 

Agartha’s modern association with Shambhala in the West is largely down to Madame Blavatsky, the Russian co-founder of the Theosophical Society. This society believes that the real Agartha is a massive network of caves located under Tibet, inhabited by demi-gods called asuras.

Founder of the Theosophical Society Elena Petrovna Gan (HP Blavatsky), born in Russia 1831 - died in England 1891 (Public Domain)

An offshoot of theosophy, taught by Helena and Nicholas Roerich, continued to add to the legend of Agartha. According to these two, Agartha is both a spiritual and physical place, reinforcing the idea of an enlightened subterranean realm. The Roerich’s' expeditions and writings further popularized the concept, suggesting that these mystical realms could be accessed through spiritual means. That might explain why the Nazis never found it.

Conclusion

These days, some people continue to believe in the idea of a hollow Earth in the same way some believe in a flat one. Some even bizarrely believe in both at the same time. Sadly, all evidence points to Earth being round and pretty solid.

Yet the legend of Agartha remains, a compelling blend of ancient myths, esoteric teachings, and modern imagination. From its origins in early subterranean myths and the Hollow Earth theory to the detailed accounts of figures like Louis Jacolliot, Ferdinand Ossendowski, and Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, Agartha has been a subject of fascination and speculation. The association with Shambhala and its revival by the Theosophists and the Roerich’s have further enriched the narrative, intertwining spiritual and physical realms.

Today, Agartha is usually depicted by the media as a mysterious symbol of hidden wisdom, enlightenment, and utopian ideals. While the city itself may not exist, there’s nothing wrong with searching for wisdom and enlightenment, but our time would be better spent building a utopia than looking for a legendary one.

Top image: The concept of tunnels and caves leading to the underworld or underground cities has pervaded the myths of cultures around the world.  Source: vladimir / Adobe Stock      

By Robbie Mitchell