Last Sunday, my son and I stumbled upon an article about the most haunted places in India while checking something on internet. To our surprise, the second in the list mentioned was a place where both of us had been some two years back- Kuldhara near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India.
I dug out all the pictures of the place and what I found was weird. All the pictures came out fine except for the picture of mine. I am standing in the pic, the body is visible but my face is not clearly visible. Then came the realization- Oh, it was my visit to Kuldhara which left me insane with all kinds of Ghosts popping out from within every now and then since the last couple of years 🙂
Kidding! I have been an insane ghost for ages now. And this could be really the photography mistake 😉
Our visit to Kuldhara in Rajasthan
Okay now let me share a few pictures of Kuldhara – the haunted eerie abondoned village 26 kms from Jaisalmer
Remember Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella (Bengali Film). A part of the film was shot in Kuldhara at the place below.
By the way, as a matter of fact, here too, I was with my son and my mother only. My mother was not very happy to come out of the car so it was just my son and me who were exploring the ruins all by ourselves. I remember the driver insisted on leaving the place before dark but we were not really bothered. If only I knew that it was supposedly part of most haunted places in India list.
Why is Kuldhara haunted? What had happened here?
There is an interesting story behind. Kuldhara was once a prosperous village inhabited by Paliwal Brahmins. As per the legend, these brahmins were being harassed by the local ruler in terms of paying a huge amount of taxes. To add to the ordeal, the ruler set his eyes on a girl of the Paliwal community, possibly the daughter of the village chief. He wanted to marry her and left no choice with the Paliwals but to accept what he wanted. If the Paliwals agreed the girl’s life would be ruined and if they didn’t the whole village would have to pay more taxes besides other tortures.
Out of desperation, the entire community of Paliwal brahmins vanished over-night. No one knows where they went and what happened to them. They left their homes, their village and the curse behind. There is only a temple in this village which still stands intact. God power, I think.
We were only told this much of the story and that’s why we were bolder than the bold in such a place. Had I known all other stories which are rumored around, I would have been more cautious probably. Some people say, ghosts walk around after dark. Some say no one can stay here anymore because of mysterious deaths that have occurred whenever people tried to inhabit.
Weird no? While there is a dearth of land for people to make homes, this place still stays deserted.
Thankfully, we were here not longer than 30 min more after the sunset. I really can’t comment on the truth, for that, we should have spent the night there, I guess. But one thing I have decided for sure is to read about such eerie places before including them in my itinerary. That way at least I would make sure that I return before sunset to avoid such horror pictures.
Lovely narration illustrated with beautiful photographs!
Glad that you liked it !