Do you love paranormal phenomenon and mysteries?
If yes, Then you must visit these mysterious temples of India.
Despite best efforts of scientists and other researchers, an earthly or plausible explanation for these mysteries remains elusive.
How Mysterious Are These Temples?
Very mysterious. Because ancient folklore, myth and unproven facts continue to shroud these temples in deep mystery.
While some temples may have been built with alien technology thousands of years ago, others simply defy every known laws of science.
Others are witness to phenomenon which even the best brains in the world cannot explain.
Therefore, bear one thing in mind before visiting any of these mysterious temples of India: they are not for the weak hearted. Most of these temples are easy to visit. Ready? Then here is my list.
List of Top 10 Mysterious Temples of India
While visiting these temples is easy, remember to adhere to timings and other customs. Rules for entry at some of these temples are extremely strict. At some places, taking pictures may not be easy or even allowed.
1. Shri Kshetra Ganagapura Dattatreya Temple, Karnataka
This place is strictly no-go for timid and weak hearted people.
Shri Khsetra Ganagapura Dattatreya Temple in Ganagapur, Karnataka is the most mysterious temples of India.
This temple is where you can see hundreds of people possessed by demons and ghosts, victims of witchcraft and voodoo swinging and swaying.
The temple is dedicated to Hindu trinity, Sri Dattatreya.
At 11.30am daily, a ‘Maha Aarti’ is held at this temple. Children, women and men of all ages possessed by ghost or afflicted by voodoo, sway and swing on poles and walls in unbelievable, death-defying positions.
As the ‘Maha Aarti’ gathers tempo, they begin abusing the deity in unprintable language. When any one of these faints or falls, they are led away by temple assistants for a further ritual.
This means, the demon or evil spirit has left their bodies or they are rid of witchcraft and voodoo spells.
Others remain at the temple complex and refuse to leave. They continue to move around the premises with unkempt hair, dazed, wide eyes and strange demeanour that indicates haunting.
A word of caution: Never mingle with anyone that appears possessed or abnormal during your visit. These persons can harm you physically. Seeing them is traumatic for even a strong hearted person.
A team of psychiatrists, scientists and other experts from India and abroad continue to visit this temple complex to find earthly or scientific reasons for the occurrences. Till date, they continue to fail.
2. Shri Mahendipur Balaji Temple, Rajasthan
This place is also strictly off bounds if you are weak hearted. And even the stronger ones should enter this mysterious temple of India with caution.
Shri Mahendipura Balaji Temple is dedicated to Hindu deity, Lord Hanuman.
This is another temple famous for its exorcism rites. In fact, some scenes you would witness here are sufficient to give lifelong nightmares.
The temple is located near Hindaun city, which is well connected with Jaipur and other major cities of Rajasthan.
Horrific scenes begin unfolding right before your eyes as soon as you enter the temple. Children, women and men who appear normal will suddenly go berserk.
They will pour boiling water upon own body, lash themselves with chains, hammer their head and hands against the temple’s stone walls and hurl abuses at the deity.
Priests at the temple conduct exorcism rites on such persons.
This is a temple you should avoid visiting after dusk and before bright sunlight. The reason: people have seen different types of ghosts move around the temple during dark hours.
Also Read: Top 10 Spine Chilling Mysterious Places in India Which are Yet to be Unleashed
3. Sri Kamakhya Devi Temple, Assam
Can an idol carved from stone ever bleed or secrete fluids typical to humans? Surely not.
This is exactly what makes Sri Kamakhya Devi Temple in Guwahati, Assam among the most mysterious shrines of India.
Sri Kamakhya is a reincarnation of Hindu goddess Sri Kali. In her form as Sri Kamakhya, she symbolizes carnality, desire and fertility.
Hence, there are several strange Tantric practices you can see at this temple.
This is a very mysterious temple of India because nobody knows the origin of this shrine nor basis of rituals that include animal sacrifices.
There are also beliefs that men who undergo emasculation at this shrine receive immense divine favours. There are no evidences that remotely suggest this to be true.
In June every year, the stone idol bleeds from its ‘yoni’ or female genital, similar to a woman menstruating. During this period, the temple is closed to public.
Only priests and a select persons are allowed into the sanctum sanctorum to view the menstruating idol and perform service.
Waters of the nearby river Brahmaputra also turn reddish for three days during this time. Though it is not known whether locals and others taint the water with colors or it is a natural phenomenon due to algae or other causes.
At other times of the year, female genitalia of the idol appear moist, similar to a woman.
Researchers have so far been unable to gain access to these fluids and test veracity of their divine origin.
4. Sri Yaganthi Uma Maheshwara Temple, Andhra Pradesh
Sri Yaganthi Uma Maheshwara Temple is located in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. It is easily accessible by road. This 15th century shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva also features on our list of mysterious temples of India for one main reason.
There is nothing outwardly strange about this beautifully built shrine. You can see devotees visit the temple. Rituals are held daily.
In line with Hindu tradition and construction of Lord Shiva temples, there is a large idol of the mythical cow, Nandi placed just at the entrance of this shrine.
As is customary, you touch the Nandi idol before entering the temple for offering prayers.
This is where the mystery starts. The Nandi idol you just touched, is actually growing in size.
In fact, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), an Indian government body, actually confirms this Nandi statue grows in size by at least one inch every 20 years.
Locals of the area testify, the Nandi statue was much smaller in olden days. That it continues to expand in size.
There are no plausible explanations about how or why this Nandi idol continues to grow every year.
The common belief among scientific fraternity is that the stone used for Nandi idol has some characteristic that makes it grow in size.
However, no such examples of stones that grow are found on Planet Earth. Is this stone of some extra-terrestrial origin, is a mystery that awaits answer.
Also read: 20 Most Amazing Temples in India To Attain Spiritual Bliss
5. Shri Kailasha Temple, Maharashtra
Shri Kailasha Temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. It is part of the ancient Ellora caves near Aurangabad city, Maharashtra.
Hence, it is a very famous site that attracts tens of thousands of domestic and foreign visitors every year.
But this temple is also known as Cave-16 by archaeologists and scientific researchers. Not without reason. It is the most mysterious temple in India and in fact, around the world.
Shri Kailasha Temple or Cave-16 is carved from a single granite rock. Ancient craftsmen carved the rock beginning from the top.
This unique feat has no parallel anywhere in the world. Nor are there any monuments carved from a single rock seen anywhere across the globe.
Further, there is a lot of ambiguity over who built this temple and why was it carved from a single rock. At the time of carving- around 8th century, the Ellora caves also had several other temples.
This temple is a mystery because engineering and architectural styles used are not documented or copied anywhere else in the world.
How these ancient engineers and architects got the technology remains a mystery.
There are suggestions that alien technology went into creating of this temple.
Unless this was the case, the shrine would have taken hundreds of years to complete due to the hard nature of the rock and intricacy of carvings.
6. Shri Dharmeshwar Mahadev Temple, Himachal Pradesh
Heard of a temple where no mortal dares to visit?
You might never have heard of Shri Dharmeshwar Mahadev Temple located in Bharmour, Himachal Pradesh.
It is part of the Chaurasi temple complex of Bharmour that consists of shrines dedicated to several Hindu deities.
Among these, Shri Dharmeshwar Mahadev Temple is the most mysterious one in India.
This may surprise you: It is the only temple anywhere in the world for Lord Yama or Sri Yamdev- the god of death.
And there is also a special ‘Seat of Chitragupta’- the secretary of Sri Yamdev who maintains records of deeds of every human during their mortal life.
What is mysterious about this temple, you may ask. The answer is simple: Nobody ever goes there.
Visitors to other Chaurasi temples merely glance at the shrine and move away. It is a common belief that whenever Lord Yamdev looks at anyone, the person dies immediately.
Now, why would anyone build a temple that every mortal is scared of entering? There are no clear answers.
According to a legend, an ancient king built the temple as respect to Lord Yamdev who informed him in advance about impending death.
7. Shri Jagannath Temple, Odisha
The world famous Shri Jagganath Temple in Puri, Odisha is full of mysteries. Every research into unravelling its mysteries with modern science prove futile.
Since there are so many strange things, the Shri Jagannath Temple is the most mysterious shrine of India. Here we list only few of these mysteries.
Firstly, the Jagannath Temple does not cast any shadow, regardless of the location of the Sun, season of the year and other factors.
How ancient engineers achieved this feat while building a gigantic structure remains unknown.
Flags and banners on the ‘vimana’ or roof of the temple fly opposite the wind currents. This is another remarkable feat, since we all know that flags will point towards the wind direction.
Thirdly, technique of cooking ‘prasadam’ at this temple is very unique. They keep seven earthen pots over one another.
Yet, food in the topmost pot cooks first, though it is far away from heat from the firewood in the stove.
Engineers have mastered acoustics in a manner that sounds from nearby streets or even the sea cannot be heard inside the temple.
Since this is a world famous temple of India, you can visit anytime and experience these mysteries first hand. They will leave you gaping.
Also Read: 111 Amazing Things to Do in India – Your Ultimate Guide to India
8. Sri Dakshina Mukha Nandi Teertha Kalyani Temple, Karnataka
This temple is in the heart of one of the most modern Indian cities- Bangalore.
Hence, people are not serious while discussing any mysteries about this temple. Wait till you visit this temple and see for yourself.
This is a temple of Lord Shiva
The temple derives its name ‘Dakshina Mukha Nandi’ from the very fact that the ‘Nandi’ bull, vehicle of Lord Shiva, faces the south direction.
This is very unusual for a Hindu temple, where deities normally face east or west. North and south facing entrances can be seen only at Hindu crematoriums.
The Nandi idol faces the south, towards the north facing Shiva Linga.
There is nonstop water flow from the mouth of Nandi that pours and falls on the Shiva Linga. The source of this water remains unknown.
A team of construction found this temple by accident only in 1997. Archaeologists remain unsure about its exact date, which can range anything between 400 years and 7,000 years.
A source of freshwater is flowing beneath the temple. Water streaming from the Nandi’s mouth could be originating from this ancient pond.
However, it remains unknown how this water finds its way upwards towards the idol. And what ancient, unknown technologies ensure its constant flow?
9. Shri Anantha Padmanabha Swami Temple, Kerala
Shri Anantha Padmanabha Swami Temple is a magnificent shrine located in Trivandrum, Kerala. In recent years, this temple has been in news for various reasons.
One of them is the seven secret vaults located in the shrine.
Upon opening these vaults, gold ornaments and other treasures valuing at US$22 billion or more were found. The treasure is now with the Indian government.
Again, there is nothing about this temple that remotely suggests anything strange. It is located in the city and has crowds almost throughout the visiting hours.
Read the news and you will notice something is amiss at this mysterious temple.
The Supreme Court of India has not allowed anyone to open the seventh vault at the temple.
Entrance to the seventh vault depicts pictures of cobras- a symbol used to indicate danger in ancient times, like today’s skulls and bones.
Locals claim, the seventh vault opens with a special chant. Others say, there are some ancient mysteries in the seventh vault.
One of these mysteries is either an ancient Vimana or aircraft or a spaceship from some alien civilization.
Regardless of what lies beyond doors of the seventh vault, we only know there is something inside that cannot be made public for whatever reason.
10. Chinnamasta Temple, Jharkhand
Would you worship at a temple where the deity has no head? Maybe not. This is what the Chinnamasta Temple in Ramgarh town of Jharkhand is all about.
The headless deity is actually Goddess Kali.
The temple dates back to an unknown era. According to legend, Goddess Kali slaughtered demons and feasted on their blood.
However, her greedy assistants were thirsty for more. Hence, the goddess beheaded herself to satiate her faithful servants.
Chinnamasta Temple is the only shrine in the world with a headless deity for worship. The temple attracts thousands of visitors daily, since it is near Ranchi, the state capital.
The mystery? The Chinnamasta Temple finds mention in Vedas and Puranas. Hence, the time of construction remains unknown.
Secondly, who wanted to commemorate the event of Goddess Kali beheading herself and for what, remains unanswered.
Thirdly, there are also questions over why the idol shows three distinct streaks of blood spurting from the severed neck.
Wrap Up
These are not the only mysterious temples in India. Examples like these are seen across the length and breadth of the country.
These temples speak of very sophisticated engineering techniques that we barely know.
Yet, ancient Indians did know technology or could learn it from unknown sources.
While debates rage over the existence of ghosts and demons, these mysterious temples are proof they exist. Visit these temples to satisfy your quest for mysteries.