Temples in India are ubiquitous. They are everywhere: from hilly areas to the Himalayas to the mountains of Ladakh to the villages of Tamil Nadu to the caves of Maharashtra and deserts of Rajasthan. Along with the temple, there are stories and legends associated with them. Some are so unexplainable that it can keep you up at nights:
1. The Bleeding Goddess of Kamakhya temple
Situated at Guwahati, Assam, Kamakhya temple is one of 108 Shakti Peeths and has a very interesting story. It is said that when Sati, Shiva’s wife, jumped into the fire and killed herself, Shiva went crazy. He then placed her body on his shoulders and started doing Tandava or the dance of destruction. While performing, Vishnu started cutting parts of Sati’s body to calm Shiva down. And this is the place where Sati’s womb and vagina fell.
The interesting thing, however, is that during the month of Ashaad, the goddess in this temple bleeds or menstruates still. During the month, the Brahmaputra river which is near the Kamakhya turns red for three days, and thus, the temple remains closed for 3 days too. People have not found any scientific proof of how the blood turns red. Some “logicians” say that priests pour vermilion into waters. Nevertheless, the mythical womb and vagina of Shakti that’s installed in the Garvagriha of the temple does bleed.
2. Devotees performing creepy things at Mehandipur Balaji Temple in Rajasthan
Located in Dausa district of Rajasthan (255km away from Delhi), Mehandipur Balaji temple is where evil spirits roam. Devotees from all over India flock to this temple to cure and exorcise themselves from evil spirits. The legend has it that images of Lord Balaji and Pret Raja (the king of spirits) appeared from Mehandipur Dham around one thousand years ago in a valley in the hills of Aravali Range.
The interesting thing you get to see in this temple is the work of devotees. They are doing strange things like pouring hot water on the head and still not burning themselves; pelting heavy stones on people; chaining like animals for being cured; inhaling fumes out of sweet patasas kept on smouldering cowpats. After performing prayers and walking out of the temple premises, they don’t look back at all as they believe that if there are any evil spirits, not looking back will not allow them to follow them.
3. The Miracle in Kedarnath temple
Everyone knows about the Kedarnath tragedy last year when multi-day cloudburst centered on North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused great floods in the region. Yet, even with such flood, the Nandi statue and other idols in the Kedarnath temple were intact. The pilgrims who were at the temple during the great flood were also protected and survived the terrible cloudburst and flood.
People say Lord Shiva himself protected them during the terrible floods. His temple stayed strong, even when everything else fell apart. It was like a sign of hope in the middle of all the fear. Though the floods left their mark, the spirit of Kedarnath lives on.
4. The healing water in Hanuman temple in Jagnewa
There is a hand pump located inside the premises of ancient Hanuman temple in Uttar Pradesh and is visited by thousands of people every month, regardless of the religion they belong to. The reason is that the water from the hand pump is said to have healing powers. According to locals there in the Jagewa village of Jalaun district, the hand pump was “converted into miraculous hand pump when a saint from Madhya Pradesh infused it with therapeutic properties”. Since then, there is a huge line of Hindu, Muslims, and people from other religion standing on the line there at the gate. There have been cases when the healing powers have been proved. (source)
5. Tantriks in Baitala Deula (Vaital) temple
The Baitala Deula temple in Bhubaneswar is known for its powerful tantric center. Dating back to 8th century, the temple hosts the mighty Chamunda (Kali) wearing a necklace of skulls with a corpse at her feet. Tantriks still use the temple to absorb the powers of Kali from this spot.
6. Constantly burning Jyotis in Jwala JI Temple
Jwala Ji shrine lies in the lower Himalayan town of Jawalamukhi in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. There are 7 or 9 natural Jyotis that constantly burn. They are said to be the seven divine sisters of Maa Bhagwati or the nine incarnations of Maa Durga. The Jyoti has not extinguished yet and burns in blue color. This might be because of natural gas according to modern science, but the source and reserve of that gas has not been known yet. It is also said that Mogul Chakravarthi Akbar tried to extinguish the flame once but was not successful. Even the Government of Indian with its team of able Geologists under Nehru tried to find the source of it, but the effort was in vain.
7. The self-ringing bell in Tirumala Tirupati
On the midnight of 7th November 1979, the huge Bronze bells that were hanging in front of Sri Venkateswara in the holy Bangaru Vaakili started ringing without anyone touching them. It sent waves of heavy metal sound the whole Tirumala hill shrine. The bell is so huge that the wind cannot ring it; creepy eh? (Read this)
8. The spooky returning bike in Om Banna Shrine
Om Banna or Bullet Baba is a shrine near Jodhpur, India. It is located in Chotila village, about 50km from Jodhpur. One day in 1991, Shri Om Singh Rathore, the son of the village leader, was killed when he drove into a tree with his bike. His bike was taken to police station and was seized, but the next morning, the bike was not there at the police station. Instead, it was found at the same spot next morning. The police took the same bike again back to the station, and this time, chained it. But the bike was found again in the other spot next morning.