Our quest for the most beautiful abandoned places in India and the history behind them took us to Kuldhara - a vast maze-like cluster of roofless homes, bare walls, and a carpet of disjointed bricks are all that remain of what is once said to have been a prosperous village. Sitting quiet in the sand dunes of western Rajasthan, this is just one of eighty-four such abandoned villages dotting the stark landscape. A local myth tells us that these villages were of the Paliwal Bhramins who fled their homes overnight to uphold their honour because the then prime-minister of the Jaisalmer court, man called Salem Singh wanted to marry the headman’s daughter against her wishes. How true this myth is, no one can tell.
