Religious places of India have been famous for different and interesting facts, you can find thousands and millions of pilgrims and visitors visiting the sacred places due to their strong and defined belief in God. The temples are ancient creations for the lords that are present in different parts of India, few of the well-known places with historical facts are as follows:

Sabarimala temple

Last few years this temple is under great controversial status after women between certain ages, 10 to 50 years were restricted from entering the Sabarimala temple. This is one of the famous religious places in India. It is located in the western Ghats of Kerala and thousands of pilgrims visit this place walking through the forests to reach the entrance of the temple.

Historical fact: Mahishi the demoness was killed by Ayyapan, who is the Hindu God, son of Harihara, and finally sat for meditation that is known as the Sabarimala temple.

Murugan temple

The temple is located in Tamil Nadu, at the foothills of Palani, this Hindu temple has been dedicated to the son of lord shiva, one temple in India that is popular for the Kartikeya. The idol is dedicated to the grown-up form of Kartikeya, from his childhood.
Historical fact: this temple is known for the six addresses of Lord Kartikeya who is known as Murugan. Kartikeya is not worshipped all over India but it is popular in Tamil Nadu and one time it is worshipped by the Bengali married women during the month of Kartik, Bengali calendar.

Jagannath temple

Jagganath temple is one of the famous sacred temples in India located in Puri, Orissa. Thousands of visitors and pilgrims visit the temple that is known as the Char Dham. This means you complete the pilgrimage religious sites and free from the sins.
Historical fact: Place of lord Jagannath, only a large temple and one of the sacred places of the Hindu pilgrimages. Idol was made by King Indradyuma after seeing Lord in his dreams.

Dwarkadhish temple

In Mahabharata, you will hear about the Dwarkadhish temple which is several years old located in Gujarat in Dwarka city. In mythological stories, it is mentioned about the Dwarka and most of us are familiar with the story. The temple is as huge as 5 storied.
Historical fact: It is one of the historical temples as religious places, Dwarka city is considered as one of the sacred pilgrimage cities.

Kedarnath

Place and home of Lord Shiva situated at the bank of Mandakini river, that is open between April to November. The temples are located between the beautiful atmosphere and are one of the ancient pilgrimage places in India.

Historical fact: The religious place in India was developed by the Pandavas which is the home of Lord Shiva, Kedar is another name of Lord Shiva.

Varanasi temples

An ancient and religious city with the river Ganges flowing nearby the ghats of the temples. Many popular temples are present at the ghats, where you can enjoy the morning sunrise and the evening sunset with the beautiful mantras, chants along with aarti.

Historical fact: It is one of the religious places where you can find the wonderful connection between Lord Shiva and Ganga. Ganga is believed to flow from the hair of Lord Shiva flowing from the Himalayas, worshipped as the devotees of Vishwanath.

Interesting historical facts has given priority and popularity to the religious places which are also considered as the heritage of India.

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We become meditative and one with ourselves when we step into pristine temples. There is a distinct charisma of spirituality that takes the weight off our mind and calms it down. Remarkably, there are ancient Indian temples that have progressive architectural promise. We really marvel at the crafting finesse of the bygone era leave alone their prodigal lifestyle.

Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and as scholars believe, it is the oldest religion in the world. There are many Hindu temples that are scattered around many parts of South East Asia and their breathtaking architecture attract many a visitors every year.

Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple, India:

Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple is located at Kanchipuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This Hindu temple is built in the Dravidian architectureal style and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. A ruler from Pallava dynasty, Rajasimha, has built this temple in around 685-705CE which contains a large array of carvings and half-animal deities.

Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmanu, Nepal:

Pashupatinath Temple is a famous Hindu shrine that is located at the banks of Bagmati river, Kathmandu. The temple is dedicated to Nepal’s national deity, Pashupatinath. One of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, this temple is famous for its architectural marvel.

Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore:

Sri Mariamman temple is one of the oldest Hindu temples of Singapore. This Agamic temple is built in Dravidian style of architecture. The temple is a magnet to many a devotees and tourists because of its architectural and historical significance.

Koneswaram Temple, Sri Lanka:

This is a classical-medeival Hindu temple located in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. This major place of Hindu pilgrimage overlooks the Indian Ocean. Koneswaram temple features they aspects of Dravidian temple plan. One of the notable things about this temple is its thousand pillared hall called, “Aayiram Kaal Mandapam”

Malibu Hindu Temple, USA:

This temple is located in California, USA and is dedicated to the Hindu God Venkateswara. This temple bears resemblance to the old South Indian architectural pattern where Lord Venkateswara is the presiding deity.

BAPS Sri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple, England:

This temple is located in London and is deemed as the first authentic Hindu temple in London. The temple is dedicated to Lord Swaminarayan who is being worshipped there since ages. It was constructed entirely from Indian marble, Italian marble, Sardinian granite and Bulgarian limestone. Remarkably, no iron or steel was used in the construction which is the unique feature of this temple.

Penataran Temple, Indonesia:

Penataran is the largest Hindu Temple which is located in East Java, Indonesia. It was believed to be constructed between 12^th Century to the 15^th century and the presiding deity of this temple is Lord Shiva. This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list in the year 1995.

The sublimity of architecture holds you captive once you visit these temples.

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A temple of a bullet, a temple where the prasad is liquor, another one opens only once in a year.

Different places, different traditions and different perceptions are the mix that makes up the culture of India. Incredible India as it is called has always surprized people with its different beliefs and cultural practices. The country which is a home for innumerable gods and goddesses, have end number of temples in the name of different gods.

But then as I said, the country has kept people astonished with its unusual beliefs and religious following.

Let’s have a look at unusual temples in India.

Baba Mandir, Gangtok

Located in the beautiful locations of Gangtok, imagine a soldier from Indian Army being worshipped by the people from all over the country. Known as the ‘hero of Nathula’ Harbans Singh died in 1967 near Nathula and it is said that he came in the dreams of another soldier to make a temple in his memory and so it is named as Baba Mandir. For all the soldiers, this is a sacred place and they believe he is the one who takes care of every soldier who is posted at the border. The temple made for him also has a small room where all his daily usable important things are kept with a small bed. People say that every morning the bed sheet of the bed is found a little crumpled. Many people from all over the country come to visit this temple.

Baba Temple, Gangtok

Bullet Baba Mandir, Jodhpur

Few years back when a man died in an accident riding this bullet, the police took it in their custody and surprisingly the next day it was again found at the location of the accident. The people of this place now have set up a temple at the same location where the bullet was found near the tree and they worship here for a safe journey.

Bullet Baba Temple

Stambeshwar Mahadev, Gujarat

Also known as the disappearing temple, around 50 km away from the Vadodra city of Gujarat, this temple is located near the Arabian Sea. This temple actually is visible during the low tides and while there are high tides the temple gets submerged in the Arabian Sea. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Stambeshwar Mahadev Temple, Gujarat

Raavan Mandir, Kanpur

While the whole country gets ready to celebrate Dusshehra, the festival of victory over evil by burning the huge statue of Ravana, there are a many people who worship him. This temple of Raavan, is opened only for few hours once in an year on this day. Many people come down to visit this temple and prayers are carried out.

Raavan Temple

Kal Bhairav, Ujjain

How about offering gallons of liquor to god every day? This strange temple situated in the old city of Ujjain is dedicated to the god Kal Bhairav. The most unusual thing about this temple is that when the worshippers offer liquor to the idol it just fades away by itself without any efforts and the sight is worth watching!

Kaal Bhairav Temple Ujjain

So while travelling to the incredible India, you just cannot miss these offbeat sites to have an amazing experience and add up your knowledge about this great country!

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Unusual temples – Temples are the souvenirs of bygone era. They radiate the genius of yesteryear whilst the styles and structures catch our fancy all right.

The temples that we are going to refer here have well surpassed the tag of a mere worship place and spotted by archaeologists at large for their rich architectural heritage. All of these temples are distinctly beautiful; no wonder tourists from all across the globe come here to soak up some serious visual pleasure.

Here are the names of the unusual temples that are unusually beautiful:

Unusual temples –

1. Wat Rong Khun, Thailand:

A local artist called Chaloemchai Kositpipat is behind this tortuously fine architectural heritage. The temple resonates with the purity of Buddha and the embellished mirror fragments are repository of his wisdom. There is a long bridge over a sea of ghostly hands that the visitors have to cross so as to enter the temple. You will be enamoured by the unexpected modern pop culture references set in parallel alignment.

2. Golden Temple, India:

This is unique because of the assortment of Hindu and Islamic architecture. The lower levels of the marble are adorned with flower alongside the animal motifs in Pietra Dura work. The higher level is carved with engraved old panels with the dome moulded with 750 kg of gold. You can enter this holy shrine from all directions, that symbolises people from different walks of life will be treated with equal respect here. Amrit Sarovar surrounds the shrine which is said to have some therapeutic powers.

3. Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple, Malaysia:

When the light from the crystal chandeliers spreads across every inch of the surface boasting of 30,000 tiny mosaic pieces of coloured glass, a divine atmosphere is created. This is the oldest Hindu temple in Malyasia and of course, one of its kind in the country.

4. Chion-in Temple, Japan:

Jodo sect, belonging from the Japanese Buddhism has raised this temple whose massive sanmon gate holds true with their signature style. The 70 tonne bell that sits in the ground, is the largest of the world belonging to 17^th or 19^th century. At least 17 monks ring this bell on every New Year’s Eve.

5. Borobudur, Indonesia:

The remnants of Borobudur were found deep inside the jungles of Java. The enormous structure was built with at least 2 million cubic feet of stones with 2,700 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. There is no proper information about the period it was raised in. It is also believed that Borobudur is a text of Buddhism, a monumental text to read which people scaled huge distances.

6. Hanging temple, China:

This is the example how man can build structures defying the laws of nature, this time it defied gravity. Around 40 rooms are connected with some unsteady maze of passageways and holds on to a crag of Hangshan mountain. It was built by a monk named Liao Ran who hailed from Northern Wei dynasty.

7. Stambheshwar Mahadev, India:

This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva which is located in Vadorara, Gujarat. The one that makes it distinguishable from other temples in India that one can only visit it during low tide. It dissolves in the sea when there is high tide and reappears again when the water level comes down.

These unusual temples should be ventured at least once in your lifetime, not only to seek divine blessings, but to also witness some serious architectural wonders.

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