Once a prosperous town, Kuldhara now stands haunted, deserted, and engulfed in an eerie silence. What transpired on a fateful night, almost 300 years ago, which forced all the residents to abandon the town overnight, remains a mystery.

India is home to many haunted places, and Rajasthan tops the list with the historical ruins of Kuldhara and Bhangarh Fort, which are considered to be the most haunted places in India.

Situated about 17km (10.5 miles) west of Jaisalmer in the desert state of Rajasthan, India, Kuldhara is believed to be a cursed town. The deserted narrow lanes guiding through the ruins of houses and temples have been the hotbed of spooky folklore for ages. As per a popular belief, the place is possessed by ghosts, and it is impossible to spend an entire night in the village.

About two centuries ago, this ancient village used to be a flourishing town under the state of Jaisalmer. On one fateful night, all residents disappeared from the village, leaving it deserted for centuries to come. No one exactly knows why the residents suddenly abandoned the village, or where they went without a trace.

As per the legend, the village was home to an affluent ‘Paliwal Brahmins’ community. The village was under the rule of Salim Singh, the powerful Diwan (minister) of Jaisalmer, who was notorious for his evil ways and unscrupulous methods of tax collection. Salim Singh got smitten with the beautiful daughter of the village chief, and he wanted to have the girl by force. He threatened the villagers not to come in his way otherwise he would levy huge taxes on them. 

Fearing the wrath of the evil minister and to save their honor, all the residents fled the village one night, leaving behind their ancestral homes. Strangely, no one witnessed thousand-odd residents leaving the village together. Before leaving the village, anguished by leaving the land of their forefathers, they cursed the village – that no one would ever be able to settle down in Kuldhara again. The curse stays till today! 

The mysterious and sudden abandonment looks similar to the Lost Colony Of Roanoke Island.

Some theories attribute dwindling water supply as the cause of desertion, while others believe an earthquake may have forced the residents out of their village.  No one, though, knows for sure the exact cause of the abandonment.

With time, the place gained a reputation as a haunted ghost town, and people from different parts of the world started to visit the village to witness the mysterious and spooky side of Rajasthan.

In 2013, a team of Indian Paranormal Society members spent a night in Kuldhara to unravel the mystery behind the ghost town. The team headed by Gaurav Tiwari – a prominent paranormal investigator in India, claimed to have witnessed paranormal activities in the village.

The team scanned the entire village with their high-tech electronic equipment, and they claimed to have encountered various paranormal occurrences in the form of haunting voices, talking spirits, moving shadows, and even children’s palm imprints on their cars.

One of the team members felt a spooky touch on his shoulder from behind, but when he turned back, he could not see anyone. 

The team also claimed to have communicated with spirits using the equipment named ‘Ghost Box’. They also noticed a sudden drop in temperature from 41 degrees Celsius (105.8°F) to 31 degrees Celsius (87.8°F) within a distance of a few steps. Using laser rays, the team noticed some unexplained moving shadows.  

In 2015, the Rajasthan government decided to develop the village as a tourist spot. Now, the village is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a heritage site.

There may be a difference of opinions on the presence of ghosts in the village, but everyone unanimously agrees when it comes to the spooky and eerie feeling that the haunted town evokes.  

Source:
Kuldhara – India’s very own ghost town
Kuldhara—the ghost village
Revealed: Mystery behind the haunted village of Kuldhara