Forgotten: The Non-Existing Existence (Ghost Towns)

Kalibangan is located 210 kilometres from Bikaner, between the towns of Hanumangarh and Suratgarh. Kalibangan is an ancient Indus Valley civilization located in northern Rajasthan state, northwest India. The site has both pre-Harappan and Harappan remains, and the transition between the two cultures may be witnessed there. Luigi Pio Tessitori, an Italian linguist and indologist, found the Kalibangan site. He died at the young age of 32, yet he accomplished much in the field of Indian Prehistory. Dr. Amlanand Ghosh of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was the first to identify the Kalibangan Archaeological Site as Harappan, after which excavations began. He conducted the most extensive research on Kalibangan in 1951-55, followed by BB Lal and B K Thapar in 1961. According to radiocarbon dating, the Mature Harappan settlement at Kalibangan had to be abandoned approximately 2650 BC.

Timgad, located to the north of the Aurès massif in a beautiful hilly setting, 480 kilometres south-east of Algiers and 110 kilometres south of Constantine, is a prime example of a Roman military colony established from scratch. Trajan constructed the Colonia Marciana Traiana Thamugadi around 100 A.D., most likely as an encampment for the 3rd Augustan Legion, which was later quartered in Lambaesis. Timgad, with its Roman military camp, model town planning, and unique civic and military architecture, illustrates an important exchange of ideas, technologies, and traditions carried out by Rome's central power throughout the colonization of Antique Algeria's high plains. Further excavations of the city resulted in its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Many Timgad remnants still survive today, including its distinctive arch, known as the "Arch of Trajan," and its theatre, which still hosts the occasional concert.

Taxila, in Pakistan's Punjab province's Rawalpindi district, is a sprawling serial site that contains a Mesolithic cave and the archaeological ruins of 4 early village sites, Buddhist monasteries, and a Muslim mosque and schools. Taxila flourished during the 1st and 5th centuries, ideally located on a branch of the Silk Road that connected China to the West. The archaeological sites of Saraikala, Bhir, Sirkap, and Sirsukh are unique in their ability to depict the emergence of urban settlements on the Indian subcontinent. The Bhir mound is Taxila's oldest historic city, and it was most likely founded by the Achaemenians in the 6th century BC. Another notable visitor was the 1st century BC neo-Pythagorean sage Apollonius of Tyana, whose biographer, Philostratus, described Taxila as a fortified city laid out on a symmetrical layout and compared it in scale to Nineveh, an old Assyrian city. In 1980, Taxila has designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ani, The City of Churches and Ghosts is located in the northeast of Turkey, 42 km from the city of Kars, on a secluded triangular plateau overlooking a ravine that forms the natural border with Armenia. This is the deserted, crumbling site of Ani, the once-great metropolis renowned as the city of a 1001 churches. Ani, which was founded more than 1,600 years ago, was located on multiple trade routes and expanded to become a walled city with over 100,000 citizens by the 11th century. The discoveries of explorers such as Ker Porter and Wilbraham laid the groundwork for Russian interest in this site for eastern Christianity. Russia supported a team led by Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr, a Georgian-born professor, to excavate the city in the 1890s. Marr's research, which lasted until 1917, succeeded in unearthing at least some of the city's glorious past. The collection of buildings was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 2016.

Tiwanaku is located on the Altiplano, near the southern beaches of Lake Titicaca, at an elevation of 3,850 metres, in the Province of Ingavi, Department of La Paz. Tiwanaku, the capital of a strong pre-Hispanic kingdom that ruled over most of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its zenith between 500 and 900 AD. Semi-underground Temple, Kalasasaya's Temple, Akapana's Pyramid, and Pumapumku's Pyramid Furthermore, structures like the Palace of Putuni and Kantatallita reflect the area's politicians and administrative authorities. Archaeological excavations were performed from 1978 through the 1990s by University of Chicago anthropologist Alan Kolata and his Bolivian counterpart, Oswaldo Rivera. Tiwanaku, often called Tiahuanaco or Tiwanacu, was a prominent pre-Columbian civilization noted for its remains near the southern coast of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. The main Tiwanaku site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.

Teotihuacan, the birthplace of the gods, lies roughly 50 km northeast of Mexico City. Built between the first and seventh centuries A.D., it is notable for the enormous grandeur of its monuments, particularly the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, which are laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. Teotihuacan is Mesoamerica's most prominent cultural center. The area was occupied by 400 B.C., but it was not until 3 centuries later that it witnessed large-scale urban expansion, thanks to refugees from Cuicuilco, a city devastated by volcanic activity. The first surveys were conducted out in 1864, and the excavations began in 1884 by discoverer, Leopoldo Batres. The city was founded in 400 B.C., developed to become the most prominent and influential city in the region by 400 A.D., when it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Petra is an ancient city that goes back to the 4th century B.C. and is located in modern-day Jordan. The ruins of the once-great metropolis and commerce center are now an important archaeological site and a popular tourist destination. Petra is around 150 miles south of both Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan's capital, and about halfway between Damascus, Syria, and the Red Sea, making it a perfect location for a trade center in the region. Petra is surrounded by mountains with passageways and canyons and is half-built, half-carved into the rock. Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in his travel diaries, described the ruins of the once-great metropolis. When Petra was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, the Jordanian authorities forcibly evicted the Petra Bedouin tribe's residents who had constructed homes amid the city's remaining ruins.

Tikal is situated in the Petén District of northern Guatemala, within a huge woodland tract known as the Maya Forest, which stretches into bordering Mexico and Belize. Tikal is among the few Heritage Places inscribed according to both ecological and historic criteria for its extraordinary biodiversity and archaeological importance. The Great Plaza, the Twin Pyramid Complexes, ballrooms, gardens, roads, palaces, temples, ceremonial platforms, small and medium-sized houses, the Lost World Complex, and large and small squares are all found inside and outside the urban zone. These extraordinary documents cover the years 292 BC to 869 AD and document the lives of 33 Maya rulers who ruled over a huge territory in the ancient Maya kingdom. Tikal was excavated by a team of archaeologists from U Penn's museum. The dig went on between 1956 and 1969. Tikal National Park, founded in the 1950s and named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, is centered on the Tikal ruins.

Angkor is the most important ancient monument in Southeast Asia, located in Cambodia's Northern Province of Siem Reap. It comprises of temples, basins, dykes, reservoirs, canals, and communication lines and encompasses around 400 sq. km. The capital of the Khmer Empire was Angkor for centuries. Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Preah Khan, and Ta Prohm, which are proof of Khmer architecture, are inextricably strapped to their geographical environment and filled with symbolic meaning. The Khmer Empire, which ruled most of Southeast Asia from the 9th to the 14th century, shaped the region's political and cultural development. In the 1840s, the French explorer Henri Mouhot "rediscovered" Angkor, writing that the site was "grander than anything bequeathed to us by Greece or Rome." It was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992.

Ghost towns are deserted villages, towns, or cities that yet have significant visible residual buildings and infrastructure, such as roadways, houses, religious architecture, and many more. A town is frequently forgotten because the economic activity that supported it has failed or terminated for whatever reason. The town may also have fallen as a result of natural or man-made calamities such as floods, prolonged droughts, excessive heat or cold, government acts, unrestrained illegality, war, pollution, or nuclear disasters. For example, the term can occasionally refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods that are still inhabited but, much less than in prior years, such as areas plagued by high levels of unemployment and decay. What caused these advanced civilizations to be lost? Were they cursed, or did people completely forget about them over time? Hi, my name is Aarif Dhariwala, and I'm here to reveal the mysteries, insights, and justifications behind the exodus of greatly sophisticated civilizations in Forgotten – The Non-Existing Existence.