These two villages from a group of about 84 villages of a particular community and are still standing at a distance of around 15 kilometers from Jaisalmer, on Jaisalmer – Sam Sand dune road to tell their story.
The folklore and local historian tells the story of village as below.
These villages of Vegetarian Paliwal Brahamans, who had most probably migrated from the nearby Pali district of Rajasthan in 3rd or 4th century AD, was bustling and brimming with activities till around 200 to 300 years ago. Now stands as a ruin. These villages were on the trade route of Caravan going from this part of Rajasthan to Multan & further ahead for trade. Probably these Paliwal Brahamn of that period were also involved in some activity related to the above trade.
The villages were properly planned. Surprisingly , in both villages, Kuldhara and Khamb , all the ruined houses are without roof. Only one temple and Chatri of that age is with roof showcasing the architecture of that era. Otherwise all the houses are built of stone with simple architecture with probably a central open place in house ( Aangan), this is on the basis of reconstructed house in Kuldhara village by Archaeological Department. Probably most of the houses were of single story , with some having double story. Temple is almost in the middle of village with "Chatri" nearby with open space for meeting of people. Step well for providing water to the villagers on outskirt of the village.
Difference between Kuldhara and khamb is that , there is an outpost/ fort at kuldhara. This fort is on a hillock near the village. This fort was on the route of caravan route , probably for regulating and enforcement purpose. Apart from well-kept fort / outpost , one can see some Vegetable fossil and utensil of that era. One tumbler for keeping water kept there is of interest for the beautiful painting on it.
Khamb is around 15 Kilometers from Kuldhara, connected by a single road.
Inside the fort we met a boy who was studying in 11th standard, and he was sitting there as his uncle had gone down for lunch. His uncle was the man responsible for the tourist tickets to this place. He told us about the local life and that a lot of peacocks come there in the morning and evening, which explained all the corn scattered around. He saw my wife's face light up on the mention of peacock's and immediately went and got her a few feathers.
As per folklore , all the 84 villages were deserted on a single eventful night , when leaders of community decided to desert the village to escape the wrath of their king for rejecting the King’s proposal. King had proposed to marry a beautiful girl from Kuldhara and asked the villagers to respond to the proposal within 3 days. The proposal was not acceptable to the villagers ,probably one of the main reasons being differences in eating habits of King (Kshatriyas) and the village inhabitants(Brahmans). King was non-vegetarian and Paliwal Brahmans were vegetarians.
It was a good road trip on our way back from the Sam sand dunes to jaisalmer. There was a very old man in Kuldhara, who we came to know was the story teller for the area. If you go there, you must take time out to meet this very fascinating old man who walks around with a bag on his back and kind words in his mouth...