13 Mysterious Places In India That Will Blow Your Mind

The line ‘Incredible India’ has more to it than having her name among 7 wonders of the world. She cradles mystery, beauty and simplicity. We’ve often heard people saying that India is a land of mysteries.

For all the fellow travellers who wish to be awe struck by the enigma that these mysterious places offers, here is a list of such places that you can’t afford to miss:

1. Musical Pillars – Vittala temple, Hampi, Karnataka

Hampi being one of the world heritage sites as recognized by UNESCO, houses many architectural significance dating back to Vijayanagar empire. Among them that stands out are the 56 pillars called the SaReGaMa pillars of Vijaya Vittala temple which produces Indian classical key notes ‘Sa, Re, GA, Ma, PA, Dha, NEE’. It is said that these solid pillars, now 11 working have metallic ore content especially rich in silica the reason of ringing bell sound.

2. The eternal flames – Jwala Ji Temple, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh

The Jwalamukhi temple has no idol but nurses an everlasting burning and shining blue flame emanating from rock sanctum and is worshiped here. This is dedicated to the deity of flaming mouth, Jwalamuki. There are no confirmed reasons for such everlasting flames but mere prediction that it is a source of natural gas such as methane helping the flame burn bright.

3. The immortal corpse of St. Francis Xavier – Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa

The church is India’s first minor basilica an example of baroque architecture. But its crowded interior is due to the devotees who worship the healing power of mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. This is a miraculous well preserved body that is said to be as fresh as the day it was buried. The public viewing of this body is carried out every 10 years, last held in 2014.  Well not to fret, 2024 is your chance to have a glimpse of the never aging corpse!

4. Living root bridge – Nongriat village, Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya

Northeast India is well known for its living greenery but the idea of living growing bridge is somewhat a wonder. Living root bridges are handmade in such a way that the aerial roots (secondary roots) of banyan grow forming a path across rivers and streams as the roots, twigs attach themselves to the other side. These bridges are still in use by the locals and can be seen in East Khasi hills district and West Jaintia hills district. The famous one is the ‘double Decker’ root bridge of Nongriat village.

5. Magnetic hills – Leh, Ladakh

Planning on that Royal Enfield road trip to Ladakh with your buddies, no worries on mileage cause here is a hill to pull you uphill with your ignition off! The magnetic hill lies on the distance of 30 km away from the town of Leh at an elevation of 14000 feet above sea level. At this place a vehicle engine off can move uphill at a speed of 20 km/hr. This is in fact no supernatural power but an optical trick. The travellers assumes that he is travelling uphill but in reality they are moving downhill. This optical illusion is created by the layout of the area surrounding the slope as the view of the horizon (the reference point) is obstructed.

6. The tales of the twins – Kodinhi, Malappuram district, Tirurangadi, Kerala

Medical miracles are always a term used by the doctors when a person is saved beyond science. But here in Kodinhi we see a medical mystery at its prime bloom as there is a high twinning rate at present more than 220 pairs of twins. Even women from here who are married off to faraway places have exceptionally high rate of twin births. This is believed as an effect of the chemicals of the water of this area.

7. Hanging pillar – Lepakshi, Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh

Lepakshi temple also known as Veerabhadra temple is a 16th century Vijayanagar architectural beauty. Its fame resides in one particular pillar among the 70 that surrounds it. This one called the hanging pillar seems to be floating in the air as it barely touches the ground and its possible to pass objects such as a thin sheet of paper or a piece of cloth from one side to the other.

8. Blood rain mystery – District of Kottayam and Idukki, Kerala.

Kerala known for its backwaters had a Red Rain phenomenon where heavy down pours of red colour rain fell from 25 July to 23 September 2001. Reports of yellow, black and green rains also showed which had an occurrence in 1896 and several time since then and the latest one was in 2013. Studies said that this was the mechanism employed by the alga to disperse its spores to a very large area at once so that they can quickly colonize.

9. Door-deprived houses – Shani Shingnapur, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra

Located 35km from Ahmednagar city a village famous for its shani temple called Shani Shinganapur where houses , temple, schools or any building has no doors. UCO Bank has opened the country’s first lockless branch too. The belief by locals is that god shani punishes anyone attempting theft. However theft had not been reported until 2010.

How did the thief barged in, even with the new alarm security? Now here’s the answer!

10. Whispering gallery – Gol Gumbaz, Vijayapura, Bijapur, Karnataka

Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil shah, Sultan of Bijapur with its intricate Islamic architecture. The Whispering gallery of Gol Gumbaz is what makes it famous as it echoes even the faintest of sounds. Any whispers from one point to the 3.25 meters wide gallery can be heard on the opposite side. This is due to the sound waves that travel around the circumference clinging to the wall.

11. Milky sea – Lakshadweep

To visit heaven on earth Lakshadweep islands is one such place. The blue neon lights making the sea bed appear like the starry night sky as you walk on the Bangaram island sea shores. During the dark, the alga blooms of bioluminescent phankton under stress emit light due to which the sea appears uniformly glowing snow white the phenomenon is called milky sea.

12. Salt desert – Kutch, Gujarat

The land of desert, Gujarat inhibits a desert which is not deep tone of beige (light brown) but white in colour. Here we are talking about the Great Rann of Kutch, the white desert a salt marshy land, famous as largest salt desert in world.

Snow white desert indeed!

13. Aleya Ghost light – Marshes of West Bengal

Haunting movie stories comes to reality as unusual glowing lights of different colour have been sighted by the fishermen of West Bengal and are referred to as Aleya lights. It resembles a flickering lamp and travellers often encounter them to be ghost light, world wide it is called the will-o’-the-wisp. Scientist suggest as the marshes have methane forming from the decaying organic matter and ionization of these methane is the source of the light.

What are you waiting for? Pack your bags now.

Also read: 11 Unsolved Indian Mysteries That Will Amaze You