DEVMALI: At a time when India has become the world’s fastest developing economy, people in Devmali, a small village in Ajmer district, are still living in the medieval style, as all their houses there are made of mud and the sole credit for the bizarre fad goes to their belief that if a family dares to build a concrete house, they will be punished by the almighty.
The residents of the village have avoided usage of a single piece of iron or concrete during building their houses.
The village is dedicated to deity Dev Narayan and therefore the villagers follow his teachings even in this modern age.
The story goes that once lord Narayana came in the village and directed the residents that they cannot build pucca houses until they construct a concrete temple for him.
Later on the villagers build a pucca temple for lord Narayana but to pay obeisance, they pledged to live in mud houses forever.
So according to the belief if anyone builds a concrete house and breaks the pledge, are severely punished by the gods.
Most of the kitchens use a `chulha' (earthen stove) and even though some houses have power connections, villagers have opted not to use air coolers or air conditioners.
Moreover, the villagers who are dedicated followers of Narayana don’t even eat meant or drink alcohol.
Moving on, they don't lock up their houses and as per police records, not a single case of theft or burglary has been reported in the village in the last 50 years.