No one wants concrete house in this village

Thanks to age-old myths and beliefs, residents of a village in Rajasthan's Bundi district are afraid of concrete houses.

Thanks to age-old myths and beliefs, residents of a village in Rajasthan's Bundi district are afraid of constructing concrete houses.

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All houses in Santhelei village, about 200 kms from here, have mud walls and thatched roofs. Even temples are not made of concrete.

Villagers say that whenever a concrete building is made, big cracks appear in the structure and it collapses.

Legend has it that the village was established 600 years ago by a spiritual leader, Baba Santhal, after whom the hamlet is named.

There are as many as 200 mud houses in Santhelei, which is populated by about 2,000 people.

The state government had constructed a concrete school building but huge cracks appeared in that as well.

"Cracks appeared in the school building and children stopped coming to school. Later children came back when their parents were assured that the kids would be taught in open," said Narsingh Lal Gautam, the principal of the government school.

"We can't construct concrete houses in the village. It's the age old custom else the entire village would have to face the wrath of the gods," said PL Bhil, a villager.