Bizarre Places in India

Not only for its diversity but India is also known for many bizarre and mystical destinations. Fear, respect, suspense, folklores, curse and many such things make these weird places more mysterious and arouse curiosity. Some of the places are beyond scientific explanation.

Kuldhara – Rajasthan (Ghost Town)

Kuldhara is an abandoned village in Rajasthan and famous as a ghost town. Located at a distance of 15 km from Jaisalmer, the town was once home of Paliwal Brahmins. Though the village has now been completely devastated but one can clearly make out the life back in the 18th century by looking at the ruins of the houses and streets. Paliwal Brahmins left the village at night in 1825 and cursed the place. As per folklore, the minister of the state, Salim Singh fell for the very pretty girl of Paliwal Brahmins in the village. He wanted to have that girl and threatened the villagers. The chief of the village decided to leave the place. On his orders, the villagers too left the village one night and migrated somewhere else. But neither anyone saw them going anywhere nor could figure out where they went.

Chandipur Beach – Hide-and-Seek Beach of Orissa

How will you react if something in front of you disappears? It is both surprising and scary. Chandipur Beach is one such magical place in Orissa that appears with high tide and disappears with low tide. This hide and seek behavior of the beach adds uniqueness and makes it a popular tourist destination. It recedes almost 5 kilometers twice a day. The seashore is bordered by amazing casuarinas trees to create the delightful view of Sunrise and Sunset.

Magnetic Hill or Gravity Hill in Ladakh

Have you ever imagine a vehicle moving uphill with its ignition turned off? It seems quite bizarre and illusionary. Well, you can experience this in Leh at Magnetic or Gravity Hill. The Hill is located on the Leh-Kargil-Batalik National Highway, about 30 kms from Leh and has extremely strong magnetic power. The power is so strong that it can even pull a car uphill at a speed of 20 km/hr depending upon the type of vehicle. Passing aircrafts have to change the altitude to escape from the magnetic pull. But some feel that it is just an optical illusion and there are no magnetic field or unknown forces behind this.

Thalon Caves – Manipur

Thalon Caves is a way to an unknown world of Hoabinhian culture which is a middle to late Stone Age culture and marked by agricultural village settlements. This of course is not a usual place to visit in India. Located under Tamenglong district, Thalon Caves bring Manipur in the list of most bizarre places in India. Anthropologists and archaeologists from all over the world visit Thalon Caves which were discovered by Maharaja of Manipur, Budhachandra in 1946. The Caves are very dark and gives a spooky experience.

Roopkund Lake or Skeleton Lake

Hundred of human skeletons (300-600) belonging to the 15th century AD can be found at the edge of the Roopkund lake and make it the most frightening lake in India. The Roopkund lake is located in the lap of Trishul massif, Uttarakhand. The place is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and there is no human habitation close to it.

Dhanushkodi – the Lost Town

Dhanushkodi has been derived from two word Dhanush meaning ‘Bow’ and Kodi meaning ‘end’. It is the place located at the southern tip of Rameswaram island in Tamil Nadu where Lord Rama had built a bridge between mainland and Srilanka. After war Vibihishana, brother of Ravana, requested Lord Rama to destroy the bridge which he broke with one of the end of his bow. Till date, many rocks and islets are found in a straight line pointing towards the great epic.

It was once a very flourishing town but the cyclone of 1964 hit it so hard that it killed almost 1,800 people. Following this the place was declared unfit to live by the Government.

Barren Island – Andaman and Nicobar islands

It is the only active volcano in South Asia which for the first time erupted in 1787. Since then it has erupted more than ten times.

Karni Mata Temple

The temple is located in a small town Deshnoke in Rajasthan. The temple is popular for near about 20,000 rats that are revered and roam freely within temple premises. If by chance a rat is killed then it has to be replaced by a rat of gold.

Gravity Defying Palace, Lucknow

This is not a natural but man-made wonder and a bizarre destination to visit in India. The Palace combining the European and the Arabic architecture style was built by the king Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula in the 18th century. Interlocking brick work of the main hall makes it popular as “Bhulbhulaiya- a dense maze”.

Balancing Rock of Mahabalipuram

Popularly known as Krishna’s Butter Ball, the Balancing Rock is situated 60 km from Chennai in Mahabalipuram. This is a very huge stone resting on a small rock base. Though the rock does not move a bit but it is hard to stand in front of the rock because of its size and narrow base. It feels as if the rock will topple over you.