[3] At each location, Akul seeks to uncover the untold stories behind these places by interacting with locals and historians, exploring the ruins that were once flourishing habitats.
A local myth states that these villages were of the Paliwal Brahmins who fled their homes overnight to uphold their honour because the then prime-minister of the Jaisalmer court, man called Salem Singh wanted to marry the headman’s daughter against her wishes.
Far up in the Himalayas, a couple of hours drive from the border town of Kargil, further north from the grand Srinagar-Leh Highway lie the ruins of what once must have been a majestic fort.
Legends of its making, numerous sinister and violent events, magical tales of wondrous creations and a heart-wrenching tailspin of destruction and apathy encompass the story of this fabulous fortress set in an almost fantastical location.
It is also held responsible for the slow but steady eroding of the nearby village of Malingi and the reason why every alternate generation of the ruling Mysore family has not had a male heir.
It has held back mighty warriors of the like of Shivaji the great Maratha champion and lends a distinctive colour to the eclectic social fabric of the region.
What followed in its wake is commonly known, yet 20 years before the great upheaval, Chenamma, the brave queen of Kittur in Karnataka, led the charge against the British, even defeating them on one occasion.
A thousand years ago, in an age when Buddhism was prominent in Kashmir, Ladakh and Srinagar, an exceptionally visionary scholar and translator, Lochava Rinchen Zangpo, set up a world class university a kilometre away from where the famous Thikse Monastery stands today on the outskirts of Leh town.
Lonely walls and silent shrines are what stand today, mute witnesses to the times when a wonder monk walked the land.
The episode also talks about the legend of Veer Savarkar and how his grit and determination helped him break free from one of the most dreaded jails in modern Indian history.
One, an erstwhile king's capital reduced to rubble after being ravaged by war, and the second, an unconquerable fort still standing high and proud after being torn by tragedy.
The cenotaphs and palatial homes painted on the outside and inside with some fabulous examples of local artwork are visually exceptional as we follow the story of what turned this cosmopolitan trade city into a sleepy unknown town overflowing with vestiges of a splendid era.
Described as "a dream in stone designed by Titans and finished by jewellers", the temple of Martand is part of the legacy of the indomitable Lalitaditya Mukhtapid of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir which was once the centre of a mighty empire governed from the capital city of Parihaspora.
Originally built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, the fort has been the silent sentinel watching the winds of change and the many hands eager to grasp the land fabled as heaven on Earth.
And few would stand in comparison with two jewels of ancient India – the fair mahajanpada of Vaishali, blessed and protected by Buddha and whose legacy led to the formation of amongst the greatest universities that the world has known – the unparalleled learning centre of Nalanda.
A rock that has been witness to thrilling times of an era when Shivaji and his empire spread through the Deccan like wildfire, followed by the formation of a naval force off its coast that dominated the Arabian sea for over 50 years.
While KK Muhammed, an exemplary officer of the ASI, has set new standards in restoration of almost half of these, there is much about the antiquity and intricacies of this temple town that still evades the brightest minds, while its magic is slowly coming back to life.
On the banks of the gleefully wavering Tungabhadra, flanked by mountains made of towering boulders, sits, what seems like an impossible city - Hampi.
Surpassing, if not equivalent to any modern-day urban settlement in scope, scale and vision; it was home to one of the largest populations in the world gathered in one location.
That such a city in stone and mortar was built 500 years ago could scarcely be believed, save the splendour that are its magnificent ruins - a testament to times that were as glorious as they are intriguing.
The legend of Shivaji and his heroic deeds is so vivid and overpowering in our minds that the place from where he set about creating an empire is lost in the haze of his personal glories.
Amongst the hundreds that dot the martial land of brave warriors is an exceptional one that is its dark knight - the extravagantly large fort of Kumbhagarh.
With an antiquity that only grows older every time it is explored, Asirgarh is a treasure trove of fascinating spellbinding stories so fantastic in their bearing that history and myth seem dyed in the same vat of riotous emotions.
However, the once capital of the Adilshahis, Bijapur emerged the most successful of the Deccan Sultanates spawning a rich cultural, architectural and literary heritage that permeates every layer of our identity.
Bursting with nuances of bravery, skill, diplomacy, patronage and an overbearing hangover of pathos, Bijapur is a sieve of memories that are destined to be treasured.
Built of rock and stone, sitting solid on the peak of a mountain that overlooks the grand confluence of Banging and Majhi rivers, it is easy to see that it must once have been formidable.
A change that was wrought when the will of one man from the distant plains of India caused ripples in history that shaped the folds of geography in this soul grabbing Himalayan region.
A fort that has been the proud host of great names like Mohammad Ghori, Mahmud Ghazni, Prithviraj Chauhan and where the indomitable Sultan Raziya was imprisoned, the Qila Mubarak of Bathinda, once the axe that broke the invaders from the north, seems stuck in a quicksand of time and is fast sinking into memory oblivion.
From a remnant of the Lal Kot - the first fortification of Delhi to the time of the British asserting their dominion, the park is spread like what can only be called, an island of Indian history.