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India is known as the ‘Country of Temples’, being the only destination in the entire world that believes in the existence of 33 million gods and goddesses. All of these temples have their own history, legend, and mythology, and various stories associated with their establishment. Beside these temples, there exist many others who have mysterious legends related to them. Our ancestors really used science in all the architectural marvels they have built. However, now it is known that it is the result of complex architecture and scientific calculations. It is nothing less than an architectural wonder that there remain a few mysteries that are not solved by science itself.
Here we bring a few of these stories that have interesting back-grounds.
1. Chaya Someshwar Temple in Telangana.
In Sanskirt, Chaya translates to shadow and it has in turn an immense connection with this temple of Lord Shiva. The major attraction of this temple is its mysterious shadow (Chaaya) on which the temple has been named too. There is shadow that falls on the main deity, Shiva Lingam ( Lingam is a form of Lord Shiva, he is worshipped in). The shadow is apparent even today when you visit the temple and it is what creates a sense of curiosity in the visitors . Although there is no pillar in front of the lingam, a shadow appears in the form of one of the pillars that have been sculpted outside the premises of the temple. The logic of this shadow of a pillar, is a mystery that many failed to solve.
Another story associated with this temple is that the shadow of the two pillars on either side of the temple, falls on the Shiva lingam as one. The second garbhagriha is for Lord Brahma. Here if a person stands for praying in front of the god, they are said to witness shadows of him on all four directions. The third grabhagriha is again for Lord Shiva. Here if a person stands in front of God his shadow will always fall in front of him irrespective of the time of the day. The shadow of the pillar is said to have been created through the reflection of light through various pillars which have been placed strategically in front of sacred chamber.
2. Panchavarnaswamy Temple of Tamil Nadu
This temple is again dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located in Woraiyur, a small town in the state of Tamil Nadu. The mystery here is that Lord Shiva (in the Lingam form) is believed to portray five different colours: early morning – copper colour, late morning-red, afternoon-melted gold colour, evening-emerald green and night- dark green. These five colours hence justify the naming of the presiding deity – Lord Shiva as Panchavarnaswamy (In Sanskrit, Pancha= five, varna= colour, Swamy= lord).
This temple is one among the 275 paadal petra sthalams of 63 Nayanmars. It has several stories associated, dating back to the Chola period. One of these stories narrate that this is the temple worshipped by Garuda, sage Kathiru and wife of sage Kasyapa. The inner sanctum is designed in such a way that durig the day the Sun’s rays falls on the Shiva lingam.
Similarly, one more temple in Nellur of Tamil Nadu has a colour changing lingam. This temple is also called as the Panchavarneeswarar Temple that is dedicated to Lord Shiva at Thirunallur, Nallur, Papanasam, near Thanjavur. There also the Lingam changes to five different hues at various times of the day.
3. Sahasra Lingam in Karnataka
Sahasralinga ( In Sanskrit, Sahasra means 1000 and Linga is the form in which Lord Shiva is worshipped) is a pilgrimage place, located around 14 km from the Sirsi in Karnataka state of India.
On the river bed of Shalmala river, one can find thousand lingams that are carved on rocks of the river and on its banks. The history of these 1000 lingams is that they were carved during the rule of Sadashivarayavarma, king of the Sirsi kingdom . An interesting point to be noted here is that for each Shiva lingam, a Nandi is also carved.
However, taking into account the position and structure of these rocks, it can be concluded that it is a difficult task to carve these Shiva lingams in a flowing river bed. The locals at this place, say that these lingams would have been carved during the drought times or during summers when flow of waters were less. On the auspicious day of Mahashivaratri thousands of pilgrims visit Sahasralinga to offer their prayers to Shiva.
4. Kamakhya Devi Temple, Guwahati, Assam
Situated atop Nilachal Hill, Kamakhya Devi Temple in Guwahati is probably one of the most mysterious temples in the country. The reason for this being the main goddess here bleeds once every year. Hence, this temple of Menstruating Goddess is also one of the oldest and the famous Shakti Peethas in India where there’s no idol of the deity but a stone in the shape of yoni or vagina is worshipped. This stone remains covered in a red cloth all the time. Every year in the month of June, the temple doors remain shut for devotees for three days as during those days, it is believed that the Devi bleeds and the underground water reservoir turns completely red.
5. Kaal Bhairav Nath Temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
This temple is interesting because of the fact that the deity is offered alcohol here. This temple is dedicated to Lord Kal Bhairav, who is a reincarnation of Lord Shiva. At this temple, alcohol is given as prasad as it is the only offering made to God here. One will find a wide range of alcohol available here outside the temple. Weirdly the priest directly pours the alcohol into the deity’s mouth, and then give the bottle back to the devotee as prasad. You won’t see a single shop here selling garlands or sweets, but several stalls selling alcohol.
6. Mehendipur Balaji Temple, Dausa, Rajasthan
This is the temple where people come to get rid of their demons or exorcise the supernatural being living in ones’ body. Situated in Dausa district of Rajasthan, the Mehendipur Balaji Temple remains flooded with devotees suffering from abnormal or supernatural situations. As per the records, there barely has been a day when people haven’t shown up with problems other than ghosts, demons or evil spirits. If you ever visit the place, you’ll get to see some severe disturbing sights such as people hanging from ceiling or pouring boiling water on themselves, among others. There can be seen pandits who will chain people suffering from demonic being to walls. This is the only temple in India where exorcisms by priests is still carried out in the open.
7. Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Thrissur, Kerala
This one is another mysterious temple because this is the only temple where devotees abuse the deity during a festival. Located in Thrissur district of Kerala, Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple is dedicated to the Bhadrakali goddess, who is a form of Goddess Kali. During the Bharani festival, which generally falls in the month of March or April every year, devotees shout lewd, crude, offensive, and abusive cries at the goddess. It is said that this ritual pleases the goddess. But the very next day, the ritual of purification follows. It is weird to imagine thousands of devotees verbally abusing their goddess as a form of worship, isn’t it?
8. Rajarajeshwari Temple in Bihar
This temple situated in Bihar is dedicated to Goddess Devi Durga. Not only Devi Durga there are many more Goddess statues that have been installed here in this temple. The mystery of this temple is that every night in this temple, sounds of someone speaking is heard by the people of neighbourhood .People around this temple claims that these sounds are the sounds of Goddesses talking with each other. Even now, no one is allowed to enter this temple at night.
9. Hasanamba Temple: Mystery of Hassan
This temple is located at Hassan, Karnataka and it is very famous for its mystery. Also, this temple is very unique from other temples. Hasanamba temple is opened once in a year for 10 days. After 10 days the pooja is performed and the doors are closed which is opened again only next year. The mystery is that the oil lamp lit before closing the doors will be burning when the doors are opened. It is more interesting to note that the flowers offered to the Goddess Hasanambe will be fresh when the doors are opened as if they were offered just then.
10. A Hanging Pillar
The Veerabhadra temple, also known as Lepakshi temple, is located in the Lipakshi district of Andhra Pradesh. The temple is known for its architectural beauty, however, what catches hold of most of the visitors is the hanging pillar of the temple. Although there are 70 pillars in the temple, one pillar which lies hanging in the premises of the temple is the real piece of wonder.
Thus, many people who visit the temple, are said to pass a piece of cloth through the bottom of the pillar, to test its reality. The mystery behind how this pillar stays intact without any support remains an unknown till date.
11. Idol Ejecting Water with an unknown source
The Kadu Malleshwara Temple is a 17th-century A.D. Hindu temple dedicated to the Shiva located in the Malleshwaram locality of Bengaluru. In the year 1997, during some construction process near the temple, the workers found another temple of ‘Nandi ‘ (a statue of the bull which is called the vehicle of Lord Shiva) buried. As they further dug out the temple, a small pool of water was found inside the temple and even the Nandi was ejecting clean water from its mouth which flows to the Shiva Lingam. However, the source of water for both of them is yet unknown.
12. Jagannath Temple, Kanpur
This Jagannath Temple from Kanpur is also known as ‘Rain Temple’ or ‘Monsoon Temple’. It is said to be more than hundreds of years old. Here, it is believed that the water droplets accumulated on the ceiling of Lord Jagannath temple predict, whether the upcoming monsoon season would be good or bad. If the size of water droplets is big, it is believed that there will be good rainfall and if it is small, then drought may occur. It is believed that the prediction is not just a day or two in advance, in fact, it predicts the onset of monsoon a good fortnight in advance. The roof of the temple starts dripping 15 days before the start of the rainy season and it is the trickle that reveals the type of showers that should be expected. A thin volume of the trickle indicates scanty rainfall, while a good volume indicates heavy showers. Thus, on the basis of the predictions, the farmers nearby put an estimate to their harvest accordingly.
13. Pancha Bhoota Stalam
The collection of five temples known as Pancha Bhoota Stalam lies in South India which is held in reverence for centuries. These temples are considered to be Shiva Lingam representing various elements such as Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Space. It is a striking fact that all these temples are geographically placed in almost a straight line. Among the five temples, three temples, which are Chidambaram Nataraja Temple, Ekambareswarar Temple, Srikalahasti Temples lie exactly aligned at 79 degrees, 41 minutes, East in longitude. Furthermore, the other two temples, Thiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and 1 degree to the west of the northern tip exactly of this divine axis, while Thiruvannamalai is around midway at 1.5 degrees to the south and 0.5 degrees to the west.
14. Jagannath temple, Puri
Famous Jagannath temple of Puri is a very important place for Hindu devotees. It is one of the Char Dham pilgrimages in India. It is quite amazing that the flag on top of the Sikhara of the temple always floats in the opposite direction of the wind. Every day a priest climbs the dome of the temple which is as tall as a 45-story building and changes the flag. This ritual has been continuing since almost 1800 years. The ritual says if it is not changed any day, the temple must be shut for the next 18 years.
