Flames of Love

 Mumal Rathore was a gorgeous princess who lived in a glamorous palace,  Kak Mahal  in Jaisalmer. The foklore has it that  the charms of Mumal were well known throughout the kingdom and further too. She along with her seven sisters and an attendant weave a web of magic in the Kak palace to attract brave and intelligent suitors for the hand of Mumal. They would refuse to accept them by challenging them  in a maze of labyrinths, fake ponds and other illusions of the palace.

The reputation of this palace, and of Mumal’s dazzling beauty made many suitors curious. Once, Rana Mahendra Sodha, the ruler of Amar Kot in Sindh, was hunting nearby and he rested near the palace with his friend. Mumal sent refreshments to them and invited them to the palace. He was attracted to the magical Kak.

He was an extremely intelligent and courageous man which led him to successfully reach the palace unharmed. Mumal was impressed and accepted him as her consort. He spent the night at the palace and returned to Umer Kot in the morning. He had his favourite camel, Cheetal because of which he covered long distance from AmarKot to Kak to spend time with Mumal every night.

One day, Rano reached Kak Mahal unusually late because he couldn’t travel with Cheetal. Mumal was playing with her sisters a game in which one of the sisters dressed as a man. Since Rano was quite late in reaching the palace, they became tired of waiting and went to sleep together. Rano saw Mumal sleeping and thought that the sister was another man and her lover. Out of disgust he left his riding cane besides Mumal’s bed and returned to Umer Kot. Mumal pleaded Rano to forgive her but Rano ignored her requests.

Out of desperation, she set a fire and jumped in it. When Rano came to know of this, he rushed to the place where he saw that Mumal was already in flames, he joined her to be consumed by the fire along with