Patalkot by Dipika Majumdar [Hardcover]

In the dense forests of Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, lies a mysterious valley about a thousand feet deep—Patal Kot. The Bharia tribespeople of this region still follow a way of life dating back roughly five hundred years. It is said that these self-reliant Bharias only venture outside the valley to collect salt. During the Mahabharata, when Duryodhana's spies were desperately searching for the Pandavas during their exile, it was Arjuna who armed these original inhabitants with weapons made from bharu grass to help fight off the spies. Since then, they have come to be known as Bharia. Meghnad, son of Ravana from the Ramayana, is the deity they worship. Separated from the rest of the country, the valley’s "Raja-Kho" region is rumored to hide the mythical gateway to the underworld, with the Bharia tribe as its guardians.

During the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the second Raghoji Bhonsle of Nagpur was killed. His son Parashaji was murdered, and Mudhoji Bhonsle seized the throne, taking the title Appasaheb. However, with the power of the British Company bearing down on him, Appasaheb was dethroned. He fled to the Mahadev Hills, where he waged guerrilla warfare against the British for nearly six years. Finally, exhausted, he took refuge in the kingdom of Raja Man Singh of Jodhpur for the rest of his life. During his six years in the Mahadev Hills, he fought desperately to regain his lost throne, even employing a rudraganika (fierce female warrior) as a spy. Legend has it that because of the anger of this warrior and the mistakes made by Appasaheb, Raja-Kho in Pachmarhi’s forests became cursed. But what was this historic mistake? Who was the mysterious rudraganika? And what terror has haunted the cursed caves of Raja-Kho for the past eight years?

Professor Anshuman Bardhan from the Department of Botany at Burdwan University died suddenly and mysteriously during an educational tour to Madhya Pradesh with his students. Who was the unidentified person with him at the time of his death?

Ananyo Chowdhury, an employee in the import-export office, had a strange experience while video conferencing with a client in his apartment. Late at night, a decomposed corpse emerged through the wall of his newly-built flat in Kolkata. Such inexplicable occurrences are not new to Ananyo. But what force is drawing him into these bizarre incidents repeatedly?

Four friends—Purabi, Aniket, Badshah, and Devkanti—created a YouTube channel called "Rahasya Shikari" (Mystery Hunters) out of their love for mystery, adventure, and the supernatural. Their passion was to capture footage of haunted houses and mysterious events and present them to their audience. When Ananyo invited them, they set out for Madhya Pradesh.

But will they truly encounter a mystery? What secrets lie hidden in the depths of Patal Kot?