The underwater Indian village that appears once a year

When the water recedes, cracked earth, stumps of trees, eroded remnants of houses and religious structures, broken remains of household items, water canals in ruins, and miles of barren ground criss-crossing with water bodies, are revealed.

The now submerged village of Curdi in Goa is unique as it emerges every year in May when the river water recedes, giving a glimpse of its remnants.

Residents of Curdi gather to reminisce their thriving past before the village was inundated due to a dam being built in 1986. Curdi was then located between two hills in the Western Ghats with the Salaulim river, a tributary of one of the major rivers in Goa, running through it. But when the state's first dam was constructed, Curdi was completely submerged, the BBC reported.

When the water recedes, cracked earth, stumps of trees, eroded remnants of houses and religious structures, broken remains of household items, water canals in ruins, and miles of barren ground criss-crossing with water bodies, are revealed (see pictures here). It had a population of around 3,000 out of which some come together to celebrate when the village emerges, the report added.

The residents, comprising Hindus, Muslims and Christians, used to make a living by tilling paddy fields surrounded by coconut, cashew, mango and jackfruit trees. There was a main temple, several smaller temples, a chapel and a Muslim shrine.

But things changed after Goa was liberated from the Portuguese in 1961. A dam was built on the banks of the Salaulim river to provide water for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes to most of southern Goa, besides providing around 400 million litres of water per day to citizens. But the dam forced over 600 families to relocate to nearby villages who were also given land and compensation.

• India