There are many haunted places in India, and this time I went to to see a place called the haunted Kuldhara village which is just 26 km from Jaisalmer.
Kuldhara village was founded in the 13th century CE. It is a haunted place, so there must be some story behind it. I had many questions in my mind like:
Why was it abandoned?
What is the real story behind it?
Is this place still haunted?
The answer to these questions lie in the myths and tales that have become a part of the folklore here.
Let's start with the first story:
For generations, Paliwal Brahmin used to live in Kuldhara. Today wherever Paliwal brahmins are, it is believed that their ancestors belonged to this place.
Eventually, a moment arrived when Salim Singh happened to be the prime minister of Jaisalmer. He was not liked by anyone. Salim Singh's evil eye fell on the village head's beautiful daughter and he asked for her. He also warned if the girl was not given to him then it may lead to some frightful consequences.
Villagers asked him for some time to think. Kuldhara was a group of 83 villages and the story says that villages did not agree with Salim Singh. One night they left this place suddenly. Where they went, how they went, nobody knows.
But how did this place become haunted? The story further says that when those people left, they cursed the place, and henceforth, nobody was able to stay in this location.
According to the 2nd story, Salim Singh imposed heavy taxes on this village, and hence people left this place.
3rd story
Some people believe that there were droughts and earthquake and because of that a lot of villagers died and those who survived, eventually went away from here.
If you guys have seen Lord of the Rings, in the opening scene, there was a monologue where it says History becomes legend and legend becomes myth.
Now whether these stories are myth or not, you can figure it out when you come here.
But this is very clear that this civilization was quite intelligent and had made their houses according to Vastukala. Here one temple and three homes are constructed well just to show how these people used to live here. There is a small cave that is inside the home of the village head to keep his valuable things.
A few sculptures were stolen from here and hence the government had made a boundary for this village. We stayed here till late evening and my co-traveller and friend, Harvijay sir did night photography here.
We planned to shoot the Milkyway galaxy here but unfortunately, it was cloudy so we did something different.
The fact is that I got goosebumps here. I felt that far away a group of people was laughing. We also left this place soon.
Who knows how many other stories are buried in this place. If you come to Jaisalmer, then try to visit this place too and try to see the history of when this place used to live.
Best Time To Visit
The right time to come here is in winter. That is from November till March.
How to Reach Here
The nearest airport, railway station, and bus stations, all are at Jaisalmer.
I hope you like this blog. Will come back with some other destination very soon. Until then have a wonderful time, stay safe, and take all possible precautions while traveling.