Road Trips to The Mysterious Religious Places in India
India is a place of religion and culture. As soon as you land in India, you will come across not one or two but several cultures. It is actually very interesting to see how people from different faiths and cultures, are staying together in peace and harmony. While the majority of the religious places are known for worshipping the main deities or the beautiful architecture of the temples, mosques, churches, etc., some are also popular for their mysteries. So, let us today talk about the mysterious religious places in India that you must visit.
7 Mysterious Temples in India
- Kamakhya Devi Temple, Assam
- Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Kerala
- Venkateshwara Temple, Andhra Pradesh
- Stambheshwar Mahadev, Gujarat
- Brahma Temple, Pushkar
- Kal Bhairav Nath Temple, Varanasi
- Nidhivan Temple, Vrindavan
1. Kamakhya Devi Temple, Assam
It is one of the pilgrim sites in India, which is located on top of the Nilachal Hill in Guwahati in Assam. It is a Shakti Peetha in the Indian subcontinent and one of the oldest ones. There is no sculpture that you can worship in this temple but have the yoni (vagina) of Devi Sati, who was the wife of Lord Shiva. The yoni is covered in a red silk saree. During the monsoon season each year, the Goddess menstruates and the temple remains closed for three days. Ambubachi Mela or the Tantric Fertility festival is celebrated here during this period and continues till the fourth day until the temple reopens. The mysterious part about this temple is the underground spring that flows in the sanctum of the temple. It turns red during these three days. The Prasad is the piece of red cloth that is offered to the devotees to cover the yoni of the Goddess during these three days.
Best time to travel: June
2. Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Kerala
The reincarnated form of Goddess Kali, Goddess Bhadrakali is worshipped in this temple. The unique thing about this temple is the seven-day festival that is celebrated each year here. The name of the festival is called the Bharani Festival. Both men and women wear red clothes during this festival and carry swords and run around the temple in a trans-like state. They hurt themselves with the swords and blood pours out. They enter the temple in that state and sing lewd songs about the Goddess. The offerings are thrown to the idol of the Goddess and they hit the rafters of the temple with sticks, repeatedly. The temple remains closed for seven days even after the festival is over so that the bloodstains can be cleaned.
Best time to travel: December to February
3. Venkateshwara Temple, Andhra Pradesh
Abode of Lord Vishnu, Venkateshwara Temple is one of the famous temples in India and is known for its unique side of sacrificing human hair. Instead of any kind of offerings or donations, devotees visit the temple and donate their hair. When you visit this temple, you will find two huge halls where barbers are sitting to shave the head of the devotees. These barbers here shave the head of more than 12,000 devotees per day. The tons of hair are then sold to the Italian wig manufacturers as well as to the Chinese who even use the hair extracts to preserve food.
Best time to travel: December to February
4. Stambheshwar Mahadev, Gujarat
It is one of the most mysterious temples of India that appears as well as disappears throughout the day. Sounds weird? Well, this temple shares shores with the great Arabian Sea. You can visit this temple only during the low tides hours of the day. During the hours of high tides, the sea swallows the temple and as the water descends, the temple appears again. In the line of faith, if you can visit this temple, you will be blessed by Lord Shiva.
Best time to travel: November to February
5. Brahma Temple, Pushkar
During the reign of Aurangzeb in India, several Hindu temples were destroyed in Pushkar. However, the only temple that he could not destroy was Brahma Temple. This is also the only temple in the whole world that is dedicated to Lord Brahma. The temple is made of marbles while you can find silver coins embedded in the inner walls.
Best time to travel: November to February
6. Kal Bhairav Nath Temple, Varanasi
While all the other Hindu Gods and Goddesses accept fruits, sweets, flowers, and bhogs, in the Kal Bhairav Nath Temple in Varanasi, Lord Shiva accepts alcohol. From whiskey to wine, you can offer anything in this temple. The alcohol is poured into the idol’s mouth and then the rest of it is offered to the devotees as Prasad. One of the attractive things to see here is the number of shops that sell alcohol outside the temple.
Best time to travel: October to February
7. Nidhivan Temple, Vrindavan
Nidhivan Temple is one of the historical temples in India that is dedicated to Lord Krishna. The interesting thing to see here is the trees that are intertwined with each other. Despite the region is dry, the trees are always green. Something that caught the attention of many people is the roots and trunks of the trees that are hollow from within. Locals here claim that if they visit near this temple at night, they can even hear the sound of ghungroo.
Best time to travel: November to February
If you are excited to see these temples, you can hire a car from Revv. What can be a better idea for road trips in India, right? The self-drive car rental option from Revv will give you the freedom of planning your trip at your convenience.
