A TERRIFYING village thought to be haunted by ghosts has been left frozen in time after locals fled from an "all seeing" leader and his mysterious demands.
Kuldhara is a creepy, abandoned village in India and has been left untouched in the desert since the early 19th century.
Once home to the rich and powerful Paliwal Brahmins migrants, the seemingly "haunted" village was a thriving community in the 13th century.
But according to Indian folklore, the original residents of Kuldhara put a chilling curse on the village meaning no one was ever allowed to stay there again.
Around 1,500 people are thought to have lived in the village during its peak but by 1890 just 37 remained.
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Most of the Paliwal Brahmins in the ghost village were farmers, traders or bankers.
These useful and clever jobs allowed the locals to turn the desolate land into a beautiful and prospering oasis of life.
But now the village is just a shell of its former glory as the old, crumbling homes and temples have been left to rot in the burning sun surrounded by an eerie silence of the wicked curse.
THE CURSE OF KULDHARA
The village soon met a grisly end if the legends are to be believed.
In the 18th century, a tyrant leader named Salim Singh came to Kuldhara and wrecked havoc.
Dubbed the "monster of Jaisalmer" Singh is thought to have committed a number of heinous atrocities that drove residents to disappear overnight.
According to the legend, the evil Singh - who was the all-powerful prime minister of the area - decided he wanted to marry a young girl from the village.
However the feeling wasn't mutual and an annoyed Singh had decided that no wasn't an answer he was going to accept.
He threatened the village with severe and grave consequences if they didn't give him what he wanted.
But the brave people of Kuldhara stuck by their morals and repelled the thuggish ruler and refused to give in.
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The Paliwals are then thought to have got together a council of 85 villages and made the group choice to leave their ancestral homes and vanish forever.
Leaving the village empty and their whereabouts completely unknown.
But this wasn't the end of the chilling saga, as moments before they left, the villagers put a curse on Kuldhara that would ensure no one will ever be allowed to live in the village ever again.
To this date, the village has remained barren and untouched with the only memories of life being the battered homes and fallen temples from centuries ago.
The rumour of this terrifying curse has only been fuelled further by reports of people trying to stay in the village overnight but being chased away by strange paranormal phenomena.
OTHER EXPLANATIONS
However, for those who don't believe the supernatural curse, a more plausible explanation is that Salim Singh raised the taxes in the area.
The taxes were thought to have risen so sharply that the locals decided they couldn't continue to live a happy life anymore and felt forced to move out.
Others believe that the village was simply abandoned because the living conditions were simply too bad to continue growing a population.
Nowadays, the eerie and empty spot is laid bare with just 410 crumbling buildings left - something some think could have been anticipated by the locals hence the swift evacuation.
Kuldhara is now an archaeological site and it is a beloved tourist spot for thousands during the daytime to take in the creepy atmosphere.
The village next door is now in charge of Kuldhara and to avoid any freaky nighttime curses coming to life they close the entrance gates at 6pm and ban anyone from staying overnight without permission.
Despite there being plenty of ruins littered across the village a few houses have been renovated to give visitors an idea of the homes.
The place is a protected monument these days and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Alongside the government of Rajasthan, the ASI has started to heavily invest in the notorious ghost village since 2015.
A cafe, lounge, a folk-dance performance area, cottages, and shops have all been added alongside the refurnishing of several temples, staircases, walkways, and guard posts.
