7 Bizarre Places To Visit In India

1. Bhangarh Fort, Alwar, Rajasthan

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Considered haunted by locals, no one is allowed to venture into the fort at night. The legend goes that Singhiya, a wizard adept at black magic fell in love with Ratnavati, the princess of Bhangarh, and tried to trick her into marrying him through a magic potion. The princess saw through the wizard, and threw the potion on a boulder that started rolling towards the wizard, crushing him. Before he died he cursed that Bhangarh would be destroyed soon. The present state of the fort is attributed to the curse of the wizard and people believe the ghosts in the fort are that of the princess and the wizard. 

2. Karni Mata Temple, Rajasthan

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Located in Deshnoke, near Bikaner in Rajasthan, the Karni Mata Temple is known as the Temple of Rats. It has about 20,000 rats, called kabbas, which are considered holy. Legend has it that Karni Mata’s stepson, Laxman, drowned in a pond while he was attempting to drink from it. Karni Mata begged Yama, the god of death, to revive him. Yama relented, and deemed Laxman and all of Karni Mata's male children to be reincarnated as rats.

3. Living Roots Bridge, Cherapunji

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A species of the Indian rubber tree with an incredibly strong root system thrives and flourishes on the southern Khasi and Jaintia hills. The Ficus elastica produces a series of secondary roots from higher up its trunk. These can comfortably perch atop huge boulders along the riverbanks, or even in the middle of the rivers themselves. A local tribe saw the powerful roots as an opportunity to easily cross the area's many rivers.

4. Jwala Ji Temple, Kangra, HP

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The Jwala Ji temple has a square central pit of hollowed stone where Jwala, the main flame burns endlessly. Legend has it that Sati, Shiva’s wife, set herself on fire when her father disrespected Shiva. Her body disintegrated into 51 parts when a furious Shiva danced the Tandav with her burnt corpse. Each of these 51 parts fell on earth and became holy shrines. The temple in Kangra is said to be where Sati’s tongue fell.

5. Jatinga, Assam

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This village is famous for an uncanny phenomenon of birds committing suicide. In the late monsoon, these birds are disturbed by high velocity winds and fly fast towards bamboo poles crashing to their death. Initially thought to be a strange but natural phenomenon,  it was found that villagers put out lights and bamboo shoots to confuse and capture the birds.  

6. Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam

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Kamakhya denotes the spot where Sati used to retire to pleasure Shiva. Later, when Shiva danced with Sati’s corpse and it broke into 51 pieces, this was the spot where her yoni fell. Today, the temple is a religious spot for tantrik devotees.

7. Lucky Restaurant, Ahmedabad

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Dining with the dead is actually a thing in this popular restaurant. Located in the Lal Darwaza area of Ahmedabad and built on a Muslim cemetery, the owner decided not to disturb the graves or take them down, but made seating and eating arrangements in the spaces between the graves.