Exceptional Hindu temples and their mysterious powers!

Exceptional Hindu temples and their mysterious powers!

A land of strange tales and legends!

The world is full of myriad temples, churches, shrines and other sacred places. Some of these places are splendid creations, inspiring wonder in all those who look at them and then there are others that arouse a completely different sensation…something mysterious and mystical! Take a look at this jaw-dropping compilation of the most unusual Hindu temples...get set to be awed!

The secret of Chidambaram

Thillai Natarajah Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the town of Chidambaram, East-Central Tamil Nadu, South India. It is one of the "Five Elements" temples; particularly it is the temple of the Akasha Linga (or the Sky element) - the other four being Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Being an Akasa Linga, the main deity in the sanctum is invisible or rather, not present! There is simply a curtain behind which an empty space exists where the Lord is supposed to dwell!

Chidambaram Rahasyam

Chidambara Rahasyam is a Hindu belief that there is a secret message conveyed through the embossed figure near the shrine of Shiva in the Chidambaram Temple. However, some believe that Chidamabara Rahasyam is when during Puja, the priest just draws open the curtain (Maya) for a split second to let devotees "see" the Linga, with the inherent lesson that God is everywhere and not just in a specified place in a temple!

Panakala Narasimha Swamy temple

Panakala Narasimha Swamy temple is situated on the top of Mangalagiri hill on the Vijayawada-Guntur road, Andhra Pradesh. The Lord that is worshipped here is Lord Vishnu in Narasimha avatar. As per the baffling custom of this temple, jaggery water is poured into the mouth of the statue of the Lord and He shows that he is fully satisfied when half of the water is thrown back from the mouth of the idol as Prasadam.

The mystery behind Panakala Narasimha Swamy temple

While jaggery water is poured into the mouth of the Lord a gurgling sound is clearly audible as if the idol is actually drinking it. In addition, despite the fact that so much jaggery and jaggery water touches the floor, there is not a single ant that is seen near the hill.

The Simhachalam Temple

This temple is located near Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, and is dedicated to Lord Narasimha – an incarnation of Vishnu. The idol has to be covered with sandalwood paste to reduce the intensity of the Lord's fiery nature all through the year, except one day. On that particular day, the temple priests would remove the sandalwood paste covering the idol and the idol can be seen in its original form "nijaroopa darshan" (holy appearance).It is said that this day will be the hottest day in Visakhapatnam.

The Garuda Hill in Tirumala

The Garuda Hill in Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, features a natural rock formation that is in the form of Garuda (the eagle). Incidentally, Garuda is also the vehicle of Lord Venkateswara

Shiva Temple (Submerged Temple)

In Varanasi near the Scindia Ghat one can get a glimpse of a temple that people can associate with Leaning Tower of Pisa. Along the banks of Ganga, bordering the Manikarnika to the north in Scindia Ghat, there is a tilted Shiva temple. It lies partially submerged in the river. It is said the temple fell as a result of sheer weight of the ghat's construction in 1830.

Stambheshwar Mahadev (The Disappearing Temple)

Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is situated about 40 miles from Vadodara in the small town of Kavi Kamboi of Gujarat. It is located within the Bay of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea. This temple of Lord Shiva can only be visited during the low tide hours. In the hours of high tides it remains mostly submerged. People flock this temple in large numbers to witness the event of submerging or reemerging of the temple from the sea

.Tatwani Temple

Tatwani is about 25 km from Dharamshala is known for its waterfalls and hot springs. There is a particularly famous hot spring pool built within an ancient Hindu temple complex. It is mandatory for the visitors of the temple to take a dip in the hot springs. The water of the spring is just adequately warm and is believed to possess healing properties. The pool shown here is only for men. There is also a women's only pool complete with small fishes inside the temple complex.

Khabees Baba Temple

Devotees of Khabees Baba Temple of Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district offer liquor to the deity. The temple has no idol or a priest. Locals say that the temple was built 150 years ago to worship Khabees Baba, who was an ardent Lord Shiva devotee. Khabees Baba used to drink in the evening and could cure people's illnesses while drunk.

Jwala Ji Temple

Jwala Ji shrine is located in the lower Himalayan town of Jawalamukhi in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Done in the traditional Jwala temple style of a four cornered building with a small dome on top, it holds in its center a hollowed stone in which a flame has been burning for hundreds of years.

Karni Mata Temple

Karni Mata Temple otherwise known as the rat temple is in a small town of Deshnok in Rajasthan. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Karni, an incarnation of Goddess Durga. As per the legend, when her youngest son drowned, she asked Yamraj (the god of death) to bring him back to life. When Yamraj denied her request, she herself brought her son back to life and proclaimed that none of her family members would die and they would in fact incarnate in the form of rats.

Worshipping the rats

The temple dates back to 15th century and was built under Maharaja Ganga Singh's rule of Bikaner. Temple houses around 20,000 rats that are fed, protected and worshipped. Rats can be seen here eating from huge metal bowls of milk, sweets and grains, the leftovers of which are offered to the visitors. A glimpse of white rats (believed to be manifestations of Karni Mata herself and her four sons) is considered auspicious and fruitful.

Hanging Pillar of Lepakshi temple

The small historical village of Lepakshi is home to many ancient relics and architectural marvels. One of them is the Hanging Pillar of the Lepakshi temple. Amongst the 70 pillars of the temple, one hangs without any support! Visitors pass objects under the pillar to check if the claim is true. According to locals, passing objects under the pillar brings prosperity to one's life.

Virupaksha Temple

The Virupaksha Temple in the city of Hampi in India started out as a small shrine and grew into a large complex under the Vijayanagara rulers. It is believed that this temple has been functioning uninterruptedly ever since the small shrine was built in the 7th century AD which makes it one of the oldest functioning Hindu temples in India. The largest entrance tower of the temple is 50 meters high.

Shani Shignapur

Shani Shignapur is in a village located about 35 km from Ahmednagar of Maharashtra. This village is known for its popular temple of Shani, the epitome of Hindu god of the planet Saturn who is worshiped with supreme reverence and devotion. The uniqueness of this small village is that none of the houses in this village has doors for safety. The people here believe that it is the blessing of the god that no crime ever happens in this village. The first of its kind in the country, UCO Bank opened a 'lockless' branch in the village taking note of the near-zero crime rate in the region in January 2011

Dog Temple

A community in Channapatna's Ramanagar district has erected an unusual temple in honour of man's best friend. The temple to the dog has been built in a small village in Chennapatna taluk of Ramanagar district. It is 60 kilometers from Bangalore and perhaps this is the only temple built in modern times dedicated to a canine. Villagers believe that the dog can stop any wrong doing. They say that the dog is always with the village deity and works alongside the goddess.

Floating Stones of Rameshwaram

Located on Pamban Island, and separated from the Indian mainland by the Pamban Channel, the little town of Rameshwaram has great significance in Hindu mythology. It is from here that Rama is believed to have built a bridge across to Lanka to rescue Sita. Stones used to build this bridge had Rama's name engraved on them and they never sank in water. The curious fact is that such 'floating stones' are still found around Rameshwaram!

The only Brahma temple in the world

One of the five sacred dhams for Hindus, Pushkar is the only place in the world with a temple dedicated to Brahma, as only a few of them remain since most of them were destroyed by Aurangzeb. The temple is situated close to the Pushkar Lake and is believed to be 2000 years old. There is a silver turtle set on the floor facing the Girbha-griha, leading up to the deity.

Bullet Raja

In this temple, that lies in a village called Bandayi (about 40 km from Jodhpur), there's no idol to worship. Here, people bow their heads in front of a bike which they believe have supernatural powers. 'Om Banna' was a local youth of village Bandayi who died in a road accident. His spirit is believed to protect other drivers and prevent them from meeting the same fate.

Khairi wali Mata Temple

This temple is located in Datia (Madhya Pradesh). Legends related to this temple say that the temple was built by the King of Datia upon being instructed to do so by a Goddess in his dreams. It is also claimed that the goddess appears in the form of a girl child in the morning, a young lady in the afternoon and as an old woman in the evening, in order to bless her devotees. The deities here are also known to have special powers to protect devotees from evil spirits and black magic.

Mehandipur Balaji Temple

Mehandipur Balaji Temple in Rajasthan is located in Dausa of North India. The temple is dedicated to Lord Hanuman. The legends say that the deity in this temple has divine power to cure a person possessed with evil spirit. One can also say that Shri Bala Ji Maharaj saves his devotees from unfavorable planetary configurations.

A court for the evil

It is believed that long ago the image of Lord Balaji along with Pret Raja - the King of spirits appeared from the Arawali hills. Since then, the people suffering from malignant spirits and black magic or spell get their relief when they make an appeal at the temple for relief. Bhairav nath and Pret Raj holds a special court and awards punishment to the malignant spirits, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, evil eyed witches, etc.

The unusual happenings at the Jagannath Puri temple

Popular as one of the four dhams, Puri sees millions of devotees throng the Jagannath Temple premises throughout the year seeking the blessings of Lord Jagannath. Here are some of the amazing and interesting facts about the place: The flag atop the temple always flaps in the opposite direction of air. From any place in Puri you will always find the Sudarshan Charka (Charka at top of Temple) facing you and no bird or planes fly above the temple

Amazing but true!

The shadow of the main dome is invisible at any time of the day. In the temple kitchen, 7 pots are kept one on top of another and cooked on firewood; however, the contents of the top pot get cooked first. After entering from Singhadwara's first step (from inside the Temple), you cannot hear any sound produced by the ocean. But, when you cross the same step (from outside the Temple) you can hear it.

Land of snakes

Shetpal village in Sholapur district of Maharashtra, is known for snake worship. This village has a custom that can be only described as frightful. Each house in this village has a resting place for Cobras in the rafters of their ceilings. No cases of snake bites have been reported in this village despite snakes moving about freely in every household.

Kal Bhairav Nath Temple

Kal Bhairav Nath is the guardian deity of the city of Ujjain. The temple is well known for its deity who guzzles wine by the gallons. The main offering to the deity is wine. It is also the only Prasad given to the devotees. Liquor is poured into the mouth of deity. Devotees throng to this temple bearing bottles of wine as an offering. Liquor is available 365 days a year outside the temple. The temple is said to have been

Ravana Temple

The Ravana Temple is unusual to many Indians as in the Hindu mythology Ravana is depicted as a demon who kidnapped Sita. This might be true to others but not for people of Ravangram village in Vidisha district. The people of Ravangram village worship an ancient 10 feet idol of Ravana in a reclining position.

Levitating Stone

Though this is not a temple but worth mentioning here. In Shivapur, Pune, lies the Hazrat Qamar Ali Darvesh that has a magical story to tell. This shrine was a gymnasium, 800 years ago. A Sufi saint called Qamar Ali was taunted by the wrestlers there. The saint placed a spell on the rocks that were used for body-building. So now, the 70 kg rock can be lifted by 11 finger tips…all you need to do is chant Qamar Ali's name!

The Great Wall of India

The wall that surrounds the ancient fort of Kumbhalgarh is one of the best-kept secrets in India, and perhaps the world. Protecting a massive fort that contains over 300 ancient temples, the wall was constructed half a millennium ago in tandem with Kumbhalgarh Fort itself.

Gomateshwara Statue

The monolithic statue of Gomateshwara stands above all else at 60 feet. Carved out of a single block of granite, it is so huge that it can be seen even from 30 kms away. Gomateshwara was a Jain saint, who according to legend, was the first human in his half time cycle to attain liberation. Standing at the feet of this massive monolith, looking up, you'll understand how big the world really is, and how small we are in comparison.