Kuldhara is a haunted and abandoned village about 17 km west from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India.
Until 300 years ago, it used to be a prosperous village of Paliwal Brahmins under the state of Jaisalmer. According to the legend, the evil eyes of Salum Singh, the powerful and debauched prime minister of the state, fell on the daughter of the village head and he desired to marry her by force. He threatened the village with grave consequences if they did not adhere to his wish. Instead of submitting to the order of the tyrant, the Paliwals held a council and people of 85 villages left their ancestral homes and vanished.
Salum Singh had more power than the King of Jaisalmer.
Before leaving forever, they laid a curse on the village that no one will ever be able to settle in their village thereafter. To this date, the village remains barren; left almost the same as its inhabitants had left it centuries ago. It is also said that people who have tried to stay there at night have been chased away by strange paranormal phenomenon.
This place is now a protected monument and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The kuldhara haunted village curse episode is said to have happened around 1825 AD. The people of Kuldhara also leave a curse behind that nobody would ever be able to live in the village ever again, and whoever tried to dig out the wealth would live to regret it. Today, instead of humans, rats, snakes and desert foxes make the village their home.
In 1998, 2 foreigners were found digging soil in this village and hiding something in their bags. Others who saw them alerted local police and upon searching their bags, some gold and silver coins were found.
This brought back Kuldhara and its neighbourhood 84 villages, their curse story into light after more than 160 years.
Local legend also has it that anyone who tries to live at Kuldhara dies in mysterious ways because the Paliwals cursed it when they left. After cursing the area, nobody saw the villagers leaving or figured out where they went. They simply vanished overnight