The point which I would like to put forth through all my previous blogs on this location is that, the location is getting destroyed due to lack of preservation. After reading my previous blogs of the same location some may argue that, I, myself have written that the jeeps are not allowed to enter the village, entry fees has been imposed and proper path for walking has been made, but is it a preservation.
My answer is “No”
“Preservation” in my understanding after visiting numerous historical places is, protecting the historical sites in the way they were handed over to the next generation. But at Kuldhara Village, the preservation has taken a different shape, new constructions are being done at the village which is destroying the original site. In the above picture, the stair I am standing upon has been preserved and it can be seen clearly that, lot of preservation/re-construction has been done on the residual site.
When I visited in 2013, there was no construction at the village and there was no artificial architecture at the village. The picture which I shared in previous blogs, shows two relevant structures at the village site out of three. Three structures are – a temple, a house which is intact and the ruins of the village, all the three structures were in raw form. The walls of the ruined houses were tall and only few bricks were lying on ground. Village houses were not having roofs, except one house which was biggest among all houses and the temple. The village was giving a haunted feeling with mystery around, no roofs on the village houses, no animals around and no facts of the village being abandoned overnight. When I visited the same village in 2020, I found a completely new look of the village and it was not looking like an ancient village or haunted village. The walls of the ruined village houses were not so tall now and I felt that, in this pace, in coming years, there will not be sign of any house in the village, if proper conservation is not done, which involves restriction on tourists to step inside these ruined houses.
Another big change was the preservation of the temple area and the only left-over house. The look of the house was such that, it has been renovated recently and new construction has been carried out around the temple area. All the new constructions around temple area and in village was beyond my understanding. There is no point in disturbing the site whose history is still a mystery and it was like glamorizing the haunted places.
I felt that, government authorities are promoting the tourism of haunted locations but before doing that the correct history of the location should be established. Proper research should have been carried out as to know the impact of this haunted place on the life of visitors, for eg, whether the site is safe for the tourists or not, proper demarcation of the area for tourists.
Tourism of haunted places should be avoided, as per my opinion, whether the place is safe or not. I don’t advocate haunting but unless the mystery is resolved, no opinions should be formed and the natural status quo should be maintained.