20 Most Mysterious Places in India

India is a land of mystics and mysteries. There are as many stories as there are people. Those who believe that India is all snake-charmers definitely need to brush up their knowledge of the country. There are not just snake-charmers, we have ghosts, avatars, strange phenomenon and stranger beliefs too.

Here are 20 places that stand out for being unusual and mysterious.

20. Karni Mata Mandir – Temple of Rats in Rajasthan

The Karni Mata temple is located in a small town called Deshnoke in Rajasthan. Its claim to fame is the huge number of rats that are revered here. The temple has about 20,000 rats roaming its premises.
Quirk factor: Food nibbled by the rats is considered exceptionally holy. If a rat is killed, it has to be replaced by a rat of gold!

18. Floating Islands of Loktak in Manipur

The Loktak Lake in Manipur, also known as the only Floating Lake in the world, poses a strange sight with large masses of vegetation, perfectly circular in shape, floating on the surface. These are called Phumdis and areclusters of vegetation, soil and other organic matter. Some of these floating ‘island’ are so large that resorts have been built on them.

17. Skeleton lake in Roopkund

The Roopkund Lake or the Mystery Lake OR the Skeleton Lake is a stunning glacial lake in Uttarakhand, and is called so because of the scores of human skeletons that were found in it. Yes, somewhere at 1600-feet above sea level, in a lake that remains frozen for most part of the year, mass deaths happened. These skeletons, which were discovered by a forest ranger in 1942 (the horror!), have been dated back to the 9^th century. Local legend believes that the skeletons belong to the troupe of a king from Kannauj who was travelling with his pregnant wife and servants, and died in a hailstorm at Roopkund.

16. Great Wall of India – Kumbhalgarh Fort 

Kumbhalgarh is a massive fortress situated 82 kms from Udaipur in Rajasthan. The walls of this fortress constitute a perimeter of around 36 kms, and are said to be the longest wall in India, and the second longest in the world, after China’s Great Wall. What’s more, the walls house 300 temples. And no, it’s not visible from space.

15. Bhangarh Fort

One of the most famous haunted places in India, Bhangarh is located in Alwar in Rajasthan. The place is know for its ruins – of temples, havelis, shops, and a palace. Staying overnight at the fort has been prohibited by the government as it is believed that the fort is haunted by ghosts at night. Locals also believe that there is a night market behind the palace, which is invisible to the human eye.

14. Malana, Himachal Pradesh 

It is considered as the oldest civilisation in the country, and does not associate itself with Indian governance. The inhabitants of the place believe themselves to be descandants of Alexander and his soldiers, and thereby superior to the rest of the Asian races. Touching them or their houses is not allowed and a fine of Rs 2000 is imposed on offenders. All this probably puts a cosy cloak on the hash trade that thrives in this tiny Himalayan settlement. Malana crean is believed to be one of the best and smoothest hash varities in the world.

13. Great Banyan Tree, Kolkata

The Great Banyan Tree located in Indian Botanical Garden in Howrah is the widest and the oldest tree in India. It has stood strong for 200 years and has faced two cyclones, a fungus attack, lightning. With 3300 aerial roots spreading far and wide, the tree is more like a dense forest.

12. Bullet Baba in Rajasthan 

Om Banna (real name: Om Sing Rathore) was a biker who died when his motorcylce fell into a ditch on the Pali-Jodhpur highway in Rajasthan. The police came and took possession of the bike. But the next morning the bike was found at the accident spot. When the police seized the bike again, this time chaining it, it was still found at the accident site the next morning. What was even more spooky was that the fuel tank of the bike was empty. The spot has now been made into a shrine named “Bullet Baba Temple” and travellers, especially bikers, stop by to pay their tributes to Om Banna.

11. Magnetic Hill, Ladakh

Cars seem to roll uphill on their own here, apparently being pulled by the hill’s magentic properties. It is located in Leh-Ladkah. If you know anything about gravity hills, you would figure out the mystery behind this strange phenonmeon. In reality it is an optical illusion. Go figure.

10. Kodinhi Village of Twins, Kerala

This tiny village’s claim to fame is the high number of pairs of twins found here. The village’s population is 2000 and the number of twin pairs is 350. Kodinhi has one of the world’s highest twinning rates, while India comes in the league of the lowest twinning rates. Almost every family here has twins. This gives rise to a lot of confusion – the most difficult one being that among couples.
Here too scientists have been left dumbfounded as no clear finding has been able to explain the Sita-Gita phenonmeon.