Meet the man who lives alone in a tiny village with just a single building.
Gyan Das has been the only registered inhabitant of Shyam Pandiya since a census was carried out in 2011.
He is the priest of the village’s sole edifice, a temple that sits atop a 300-foot-high hill.
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Gyan took charge of the temple when the previous priest, named Rajesh Giri, passed away nearly 20 years ago.
He takes care of the temple in the remote village located in Churu District, Rajasthan State, India.
It falls under the jurisdiction of Nethwa Gram Panchayat, a rural local body in the region.
The village is named after warrior Shyam Pandiya, a hero of the Kurukshetra War, as described in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata.
The temple was built in honour of Pandiya and statues of his likeness are on display around the site.
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However, Gyan isn’t left on his own in the village all year round.
A large festival is held every full moon of the Bhadra Civil Month, which is the sixth month of the Hindu calendar, as reported by What’s the Jam.
Falling in August and September in the Gregorian calendar, the festival is attended by hundreds of locals who flock from nearby villages.
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Tourists are also welcome to visit the temple at any time of the year.
Meanwhile, the local authorities are improving the roads and temple appearance in an attempt to attract more visitors to the area.
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