Winter of India

Here is some pictures of India in winter...

 Morning cycling

 The majestic Tajmahal in Winter...

 Morning school

Ghost Town of Kuldhara, Rajasthan

Ghost Town of Kuldhara, Rajasthan

Kuldhara, Jaisalmer: All of us have had an encounter with a ghost or heard an eerie ghost story. The existence of ghosts is a debatable topic. Many scientists and researchers, all across the world, have studied the phenomenon and tried to unravel the mystery behind strange and scary places.

Recently, Paranormal Society of Delhi acknowledged that there is something strange about these scary places. 

The society was studying one of these locations in Jaisalmer's Kuldhara village. Kuldhara village is a haunted location and it is believed that it is impossible to spend an entire night in the village. The society decided to unravel the mystery behind the village of Kuldhara's spirit.

Delhi's Paranormal Society of Delhi reached Kuldhara under the leadership of Gaurav Tiwari on Saturday.

A brave team of 18 members decided to spend an entire night inside the village along with 10-12 other people.

The team spent 12 long horrifying hours inside the village and experienced some strange activities.

The team equipped with their high-tech electronic equipments scanned the entire village and encountered really strange activities. From moving shadows, haunting voices to hand imprints of children on cars; the team members lived through one of their scariest nights.

One of the members revealed that he felt someone touching his shoulder from behind. When he turned back to see who it was, he found no one.

Visit Kuldhara in Rajasthan, India - A village where its believed that no one survives overnight...

The village of Kuldhara is popularly known to be a deserted ghost village that has been abandoned since 1800s.It is said to carry a curse of the villagers who vanished from there overnight, after having lived there for over 7 centuries.
The village lies in ruins, established in 1291 by the Paliwal Brahmins, who were a very prosperous clan and were known for their business acumen and agricultural knowledge. It has been said that one night in 1825 all the people in Kuldhara and nearby 83 villages vanished in dark. All of a sudden and without any warning.
Tales about this mystery include the fact that Salim Singh, the minister of the state, once visited this village and fell in love with the beautiful daughter of chieftain wanting to marry her. The minister threatened the villagers by saying that if they did not marry the girl to him, he would levy huge taxes. The chief of the village along with those of adjoining villages decided to abandon and migrate elsewhere to protect the girl’s honour. Nobody saw them leave nor did anyone figure where they went, they simply vanished. It is said that the villagers also cast a spell on the village as they left, cursing anyone who tried to inhabit the land.

Jatinga, Valley of Death for Birds

Jatinga

Jatinga a village on a ridge, is located in Dima Hasao District, Assam State in India. It is 330 km south of Guwahati. It is most famous for the phenomenon of birds “committing suicide”. Although the birds do not commit suicide and are actually killed, the phenomenon of suicide has spread far and wide among common people. The village is inhabited by about 2,500 Khasi-pnar tribal people and few Dimasa people.

At the end of monsoon months especially on moonless and foggy dark nights between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., birds are disturbed by the locals and they are attracted to lights. These dazed birds are captured using bamboo poles by the locals. The local tribals first took this natural phenomenon to be spirits flying from the sky to terrorize them. This phenomenon is not confined to a single species, with Tiger Bittern, Black Bittern, Little Egret, Pond Heron, Indian Pitta and Kingfishers all being affected. 

  

The famous late naturalist E. P. Gee brought this phenomenon to global attention in the 1960s. He drove to Jatinga with famed ornithologist late Salim Ali.The cause of it is likely to be disorientation at high altitudes and high speed winds due to the widespread fog characteristic at the time. The zoological survey of India sent Sudhir Sengupta to unravel this mystery. The most recent description of the phenomenon and its comparison with similar incidents elsewhere in Malaysia, Philippines and Mizoram is found in the book The Birds of Assam by Assam's best known ornithologist Anwaruddin Choudhury. He concluded that the birds, mostly juveniles and local migrants, are disturbed by high velocity winds at their roost. When the disturbed birds fly towards lights as refuge they are hit with bamboo poles and killed or injured.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkdC4-ERvA8

Jaisalmer, The Golden City and The Golden Fort.

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer  nicknamed "The Golden city", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located 575 kilometres  west of the state capital Jaipur. It is a World Heritage Site. It was once known as Jaisalmer state. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples are finely sculptured. It lies in the heart of the Thar Desert (great Indian desert) and has a population of about 78,000. It is the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer District. 

Jaisalmer is named after Maharawal Jaisal Singh, a Rajput king who founded the city in 1156 AD. "Jaisalmer" means "the Hill Fort of Jaisal". Jaisalmer is sometimes called the "Golden City of India" because the yellow sand and the yellow sandstone used in every architecture of the city gives a yellowish-golden tinge to the city and its surrounding area.

Jaisalmer Fort

Jaisalmer Fort is one of the largest fortifications in the world. It is situated in the city of Jaisalmer, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is a World Heritage Site. It was built in 1156 AD by the Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal , from whom it derives it name. The fort stands proudly amidst the golden stretches of the great Thar Desert, on Trikuta Hill, and has been the scene of many battles. Its massive yellow sandstone walls are a tawny lion colour during the day, fading to honey-gold as the sun sets, thereby camouflaging the fort in the yellow desert. For this reason, it is also known as the Sonar Quila or Golden Fort. The fort is located in the very heart the city, and is one of the most notable monuments in the locality.

During medieval times, the city played a major role in trade with Persia, Arabia, Egypt and Africa. The fort contains 3 layers of walls. The outer or the lower layer is made out of solid stone blocks and it reinforces the loose rubble of Trikuta Hill. The second, or middle, wall snakes around the fort. From the innermost, or third, wall, the Rajput warriors once hurled boiling oil and water as well as massive blocks of rock at their enemies, who would become entrapped between the second and third walls. This defences of the fort include 99 bastions, of which 92 were built between the period of 1633-47.  

Ala-ud-din Khilji attacked and captured the fort in the 13th century and managed to hold it for 9 years. During the siege of the fort the Rajput women committed Jauhar. The second battle at the fort happened in 1541, when Mughal emperor Humayun attacked the fort city.

  

With the advent of British rule, the emergence of maritime trade and the growth of the port of Bombay led to the gradual economic decline of Jaisalmer. After independence and the Partition of India, the ancient trade route was totally closed, thus sealing the fate of the city. Nonetheless, the continued strategic importance of Jaisalmer was demonstrated during the 1965 and 1971 wars between India and Pakistan.[2] Although at one point the entire population of Jaisalmer lived within the fort, it today has a resident population of about 4,000 people who are largely from the Brahmin and Daroga communities. They are mostly descendants of the workforce of the Bhati rulers of Jaisalmer which was permitted to reside within the fort's premises.[1] With an increase in population, people gradually relocated to the foot of the Trikuta Hill and the town of Jaisalmer spread out from the fort. 

Merchant Havelis. These are large houses often built by wealthy merchants in Rajasthani towns and cities in North India, with beautiful, ornate sandstone carvings. Some havelis are many hundreds of years old. In Jaisalmer there are many elaborate havelis carved from yellow sandstone. Some of these have many floors and countless rooms, with decorated windows, archways, doors and balconies. Some havelis are today museums but most in Jaisalmer are still lived in by the families that built them. Among these is the Vyas haveli which was built in the 15th century, which is still occupied by the descendants of the original builders. Another example is the Shree Nath Palace which was once inhabited by the prime minister of Jaisalmer. Some of the doors and ceilings are wonderful examples of old carved wood from many hundreds of years ago. 

The fort has an ingenious drainage system called the ghut nali which allows for the easy drainage of rainwater away from the fort in all four directions of the fort. Over the years, haphazard construction activities and building of new roads has greatly reduced its effectiveness. 

  

The fort has numerous eateries, including Italian, French, and native cuisines. The famous Indian film director Satyajit Ray wrote the Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress), a detective novel, based on the fort and he later filmed it here. The film became a classic and a large number of tourists from Bengal and around the world visit the fort annually to experience for themselves the world that Ray portrayed in the movie. 

sonar Kella Movie poster

 

The Jaisalmer Fort today faces manifold threats that are a result of the increasing population pressure on it. Water seepage, inadequate civic amenities, derelict houses and seismic activity around the Trikuta Hill are some of the major concerns impacting the Fort. Unlike most other forts, the Jaisalmer Fort has been built over a weak sedimentary rock foothill which makes its foundations especially vulnerable to seepage. Over the years this has led to the collapse of significant portions of the Fort such as the Queen’s Palace or Rani Ka Mahal and parts of the outer boundary wall and the lower pitching walls. 

Entrance

Jain Temple

Road Block

 

Night Life

Desert Festival

1. Jaisalmer on Diwali