A Rajasthan farmer who had buried Rs 5 lakh in his field to keep the money safe ended up forgetting where he had hidden it, only to recover the cash months later while ploughing the land for the sowing season.

Mangilal Meghwal, a resident of Pachpadra in Balotra, recovered the polythene bag containing the cash on Friday when a tractor brought it to the surface during ploughing, according to reports.

However, the money was found in a damaged condition, with the serial numbers on the currency notes also affected.

"The cash was found in damaged state," the farmer told reporters in Balotra. He said serial numbers of the notes are damaged and he has been advised by a local bank branch to go to Jaipur for exchanging the currency.

Meghwal said he had sold a plot of land a few months ago and received Rs 5 lakh from the transaction. He planned to use the money to construct a room on his land in Nevayi village.

Concerned that the cash could either be stolen or spent by family members, Meghwal decided to hide it in his field. He placed the money inside a polythene bag and buried it in a pit without telling his wife or sons.

He later forgot the exact location of the hiding place.

Meghwal searched across his nearly 10-bigha field for several days but could not locate the buried money. He eventually told his wife and sons about it, after which the family joined the search.

Despite their efforts, the family could not find the cash and eventually abandoned the search.

The money resurfaced only when the family began preparing the field for the sowing season following recent rains.

While a tractor was ploughing the field on Friday, the buried polythene bag was brought to the surface, leading to the unexpected recovery of the cash.

The farmer has now been advised by a local bank branch to approach Jaipur to seek an exchange of the damaged currency notes.