Kuldhara Village Jaisalmer

An abandoned village in the district of Jaisalmer, the Kuldhara village was once a prosperous town, inhabited by the Paliwal Brahmins. The village is reputed to be a haunted site and also came to be called as a ghost city, because it was abandoned in the early 19th century.

After the village earned the reputation of being a ghost city, it was turned into a tourist spot by the Government of Rajasthan. There are unknown reasons for the abandonment. Some guess it to be the dwindling water supply, whereas some local legends claim the reason to be the persecution by the Jaisalmer State's minister Salim Singh. Studies suggest that the reason behind this could an earthquake.

The place started attracting tourists because of the stories and rumours of paranormal activities associated with the village. The local residents propagate the stories to the tourists to lure them. An eerie trail to the Kuldhara Village is an adventurous experiences, one must take up when visiting Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer to the haunted village Kuldhara
Kuldhara is around 20km from the main city of Jaisalmer. And it takes around 45 minutes by taxi to reach here. It is located at a slight diversion from the Jaisalmer – Sam – Dhanana Road which leads to the deserts. We anyways had plans to stay in a desert camp during the first day of our visit to Jaisalmer (PS: Things to do in Thar Desert Rajasthan). So, upon reaching Jaisalmer in the morning, we headed straight to the desert. And, on our way to the desert camp, we decided to visit the haunted village of Kuldhara. The highway is in a very good condition. And the narrow road stretch that leads to Kuldhara is also well maintained for most part of it. There are signboards for guidance. In short, you can conveniently reach Kuldhara even if you are driving on your own.

The legend of Kuldhara
The Paliwals were harassed by the local Samant or the ruler and were paying huge amounts of money in the form of taxes to them. But one fine day, the ruler apparently set his eyes on one of the girls in the community, possibly the Chief’s daughter . The Paliwals were given no choice in the matter and they had just a day to accept his proposal. Overcome by remorse and in desperation, the entire community left their homes and hearths behind, cursing the king and escaped in the death of the night .