Rajasthan has a dual nature, you fall in love with it and it can also scare you to death. There are countless places of pure manmade and natural beauty over here and there are plenty of haunted places to stay away from. Bhangarh and Kuldhara are two places famous in all over the world and acts as magnets for the seekers of supernatural experiences. Kuldhara, specifically is known for some scary stories that have been told and retold again and again to the point that it all feels so real.
And even if the stories aren’t enough to scare the hell out of you, there is this thing that the entire village is haunted. Not like other places in the country such as Bhaangarh fort. The ruin in the village reeks of horror and it feels like a ghost is just there staring at you right in the eyes. Literally anytime in a year is good to visit the place but the summers are considered the best. As the sun shines at its very best, the walk into the ruins of the place is made way more expressive. However, if you are one of thoghostbusterter types, the foggy nights in winter will give you the best horror experience of your life.
A 20-kilometre drive to the west of Jaisalmer city with brings you here. Located in the desert, this little village got abandoned by its inhabitants decades ago. But it wasn’t always this way. It used to be a quite happy and prosperous village that was flourishing under the Jaisalmer state. All that was some 300 years ago. The dreaded prime minister of the state Salim Singh had bad intentions for the daughter of the village head and he wanted her to be his wife. Under pressure, the villagers refused to give their daughter and decided to desert the village. Although, before leaving the village, they gave the village a curse that nobody will ever be able to inhabit the place. The legends say that since then whoever tried to stay here intentionally or unintentionally gets haunted by the evil spirits. Overtime, people have made their pact with the fact that this place can never become habitable.
The first monument you witness upon entering the town is a barren place. The remains of the building reek of years of suffering from the changing seasons, rains and desert storms. The place however is a protected area and is maintained this way by the Archaeological survey of India. After collecting the ticket to enter, we fall upon the village which sure looks like it must be full of life once. But now it all looks straight out of a post apocalyptic movie. The roofless walls, the rotten streets and rows of mud all tell a sad story. The story of the people who must have this place as their home and the dreaded reason they left this place for, it all seems so depressing.
There is a place right in the middle of the village which looks like a house. Although most of it has been ruined, still there is pretty much of it that is left intact. There are few rooms with broken furniture, scary walls and everything else that makes you feel the presence of something supernatural. The roof is still intact and gives a great glimpse of the entire village. Although it did seem all scary to us, somehow, the village was accepting us. Maybe the nights would be scarier, but we didn’t wait for it and left.
All these experiences do make us realise that there are some outward forces in the midst of us. These haunted places are a great way to experience the complicated phenomenon that human existence is.
