10 Unique & Interesting Temples to Visit In India
India may be a strange and mysterious country to outsiders, but it is by and large a God-fearing country. Extremely rich and diverse in culture, history, and traditions. They dot India with beautiful, rich, large, and even weird and unusual temples. Some of these temples also happen to be major tourist attractions for their unique architecture, weirdness, and the legends associated with them. We Indians dedicate temples to cows, snakes, rats, etc.
India is a country where we can find many mysterious places. Here is a list of unique temples in India with super interesting back-stories:
1. Stambheshwar Mahadev, Gujarat
Located in the town of Kavi Kambol in the state of Gujarat, this 150-year-old temple lies on the betwixt of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Cambay. This is a temple where Lord Shiva plays hide and seeks with you. What is unique about this temple is that the temple gets submerged into the sea during high tide hours and as the tide gets low, it again starts emerging from the sea inch by inch, unveiling the 4 feet high Shiva Lingam.
2. Visa God Temple, Chilkur, Hyderabad:
Popularly known as VISA Balaji Temple, the temple is an ancient Hindu Temple of Lord Balaji in the Rangareddy district, Hyderabad. It is famous for clearing US visas. It is believed that Lord Balaji blesses everyone who needs a visa. Devotees have to perform 11 ‘parikramas’ around the temple while making a wish if they want their wishes of obtaining a Visa to come true. And if the wish is fulfilled, then one has to do 108 ‘parikramas’. Most of the devotees are in the age group 25 to 35 years.
3. Chinese Kali Temple, Kolkata, West Bengal
Tangra, popularly known as mini-China in the city of joy, Kolkata, with almost 2000 Chinese residents, dedicate this famous Chinese Kali temple to Goddess Kali. Situated in Chinatown, this Chinese Kali Temple is over 60 years old and serves as a splendid example of unity between Hindus and Chinese. An interesting thing to know about this sacred place in Kolkata is that the ‘Prasad’ (holy offering) offered at the temple are noodles and choosey, rice, and vegetables.
4. Nidhivan Temple, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
Located in the Land of Krishna ‘Vrindavan’ with many temples and shrines, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is one of the most sacred destinations, is a place full of mystery i.e. Nidhivan, ‘Nidhi’ means treasure and ‘van’ means forest.
It is said that Lord Krishna comes here every night and performs ‘ Raslila’ with Radha Rani and all His gopis, and if one sees these activities, he/she becomes deaf, dumb, and even blind.
So after evening prayers, no one is allowed inside the premises. Even the monkeys leave the Nidhivan temple after the evening aarti.
5. Mehndipur Balaji Temple, Rajasthan
Another bizarre temple is the Mehandipur Balaji temple. Balaji is another name of Lord Hanuman. Mehandipur Balaji is an extraordinary pilgrimage site as it is believed that the people get exorcised from ghosts and evil spirits here, and it has proved this belief correct in most of the cases. If you ever visit the place, you’ll get to see some severe disturbing sights such as people hanging from the ceiling or pouring boiling water on themselves, among others. The pandits chain people suffering from demonic beings to walls. This is the only temple in India where exorcisms by priests are still carried out in the open.
6. Veerabhadra Temple, Andhra Pradesh
Also known as the Lepakshi Temple, the temple is located in the small village of Lepakshi in the Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. The amazing and unique feature of the temple is that one of the 70 pillars, that it stands on, is hanging and the pillar does not touch the ground. There is a small gap between the temple floor and the base of the pillar, and people pass thin objects such as paper or a piece of cloth from one side to the other. Such a huge solid granite pillar, 20 feet high to be precise, that hangs from the roof, defies the law of gravity.
7. Aeroplane Baba or Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara, Punjab
Are you struggling to get a Visa? Don’t worry. Visit the ‘Hawaijahaj’ or ‘airplane’ Gurudwara and your wish to get Visa will be fulfilled. Located In the tiny village of Talhan in Jalandhar, people worship a deity, who prefers toy airplanes and not the traditional ‘Prasad’, hoping to settle abroad. It is said that people come here with a specific aim: approval of Visa applications. Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara is totally flooded with toy planes by devotees who believe that this will help them get a visa.
8. Jwalaji Mata Temple, Himachal Pradesh
Jwala Ji Mata Temple, in Jwalamukhi Town of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, and esteemed by the devoted Hindus of the country, is one of the oldest known pilgrimage destinations of Northern India. Jwalaji temple is believed to be the most auspicious of all the several other temples dedicated to Goddess Jwala Ji. The major attraction of Jwala Ji Temple is the eternal flames, as no idol is located in the temple, we worship the deity in the form of flames that come out of the cervices of the rocks and keep burning constantly. It is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas found in different corners of South-East Asia. It is believed that the tongue of Goddess Sati fell on this ground.
9. Karni Mata Temple, Rajasthan
Deep in the Thar desert is located the Karni Mata temple, which is also known as the temple of rats. This temple is known as the temple of rats because there are approximately 20,000 rats living in it. The temple was built in the early 1900s to honor Karni Mata together with her furry and reincarnated devotees the rats. They fed rats in the temple milk, grains, and coconut shells on large metal bowls. We refer these rats to as little children or “Kabbas”. It is believed that eating the leftovers of the rats brings good fortune to the devotees who visit the temple.
10. Kaal Bhairav
If you believed India couldn’t get any weirder, you thought wrong. The ‘Prasad’ offered by the devotees to Kal Bhairav temple in Ujjain will literally shock you! The temple is dedicated to Lord Kal Bhairav, who is a reincarnation of Lord Shiva, Here, the devotees offer liquor to the deity, and it is also given away as ‘Prasad’ to the visitors of the temple. The devotees offer liquor bottles to the priest. Weirdly the priest directly pours the alcohol into the deity’s mouth and then gives 2/3rd bottle back to the devotee as ‘Prasad’.
So friends, visualize yourself visiting the most mysterious temples of India. Discover the secrets of these unique Indian temples, from their statues to wall paintings, to architecture, to amazing legends. Taste the mystery of these temples with your family and curious friends.
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