India is the home of religion, beliefs and several deities. The country is full of temples. This land is a home of 64 crore deities. Belief is something which gives strength to people. Devotees offer flowers, fruits, garlands to various deities in a hope that there wish would fulfil. But there are some temples in India which follow unconventional rituals. These are weird and strange.
Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara, Jalandhar
Devotees offer toy planes in this gurudwara. They believe that this will help them to get a visa. There are shops outside the gurudwara where plastic planes of various sizes are sold. But unfortunately, no one knows much about the saint in whose memory the gurudwara was built.
Brahma Baba’s Temple, Jaunpur
In the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, there has a unique temple where devotees offer wall clocks. The god of this temple is called clockwise. When their vow is completed they offer clocks. The locals have faith that Brahma Baba fulfils all the wishes. Hundreds of devotees come here and offer wall clocks. They believe anyone who attends here does not return empty-handed.
Dog Temple, Karnataka
Yes, there is also a temple of man’s best friend. We all know how loyal and faithful the dogs are. So, a community in Karnataka has constructed a temple to honour the dogs and here dogs are worshipped in the form of idols. The worshippers believe that the Dog God has the power to stop any offence in the village.
Bullet Baba or Om Banna Temple, Rajasthan
People offer puja to a motorcycle or a 350cc Royal Enfield which belonged to Om Singh Rathore who died in a crash after his bullet collided with a tree. After the accident, police kept this bike at the police station for further investigation but the bike kept disappearing. Every time it disappeared, it was only to be found at the crash site. So the spot turned to a temple and visitors offer puja and pray for a safe journey.
Kal Bhairav Nath Temple, Varanasi
If you visit this temple remember don’t offer fruits to the Lord Kal Bhairav Nath instead offer alcohol. This is the ritual of this temple. The devotees offer wine or other alcoholic drinks to the deity and in return, they get the same as Prasad. There are also stalls around the temple which sell alcohol.
Chinese Kali Temple, Kolkata
Chinese residents of Tangra in Kolkata manage this temple. The temple is dedicated to goddess Kali. The uniqueness of the temple is the “Prasad”. Devotees offer noodles, chopsuey and fried rice to the goddess. All the Chinese who follow Buddhism and Christianity visit this Kali temple to offer puja.
Bharat Mata Temple, Varanasi
Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated this temple in 1936. This place is dedicated to the freedom fighters who martyred during the freedom struggle during the British period. The deity of this temple is Mother India which is in the form of Indian map made of marble.
Karni Mata Temple, Deshnoke
This temple is also known as the Temple of Rats. It is popular for the almost 25,000 black rats that live here. The rats are considered holy and called kabbas. It is considered to be a “high honour” to eat food which has been chewed by the rats.
Digambeshwara Temple, Nagrala
If a ritual doesn’t harm anyone then it is ok but this temple practices an inhuman ritual which is also popular among the people. Toddlers are tossed from the balcony of the temple which is 30ft high above the ground. People believe this would bless the infants with health and good luck.
Visa Temple, Hyderabad
This is actually Balaji Temple in Chilkur Village. The worshippers believe if they pray here then the deity grant their wish of travelling abroad. Before going for visa interview the people come here to worship. The story is in the 80’s a group of students from Chennai had problems with their US visa. They prayed here and their problem was solved. Since then the temple is known as Visa Temple.
Ravana Temple, Ravangram
The entire village located at Madhya Pradesh is dedicated to Ravana. It is believed that thousands of Kanyakubja Brahmins are descendents of Ravana and they worship a 10-foot-long reclining statue of the Lankan King. Here Ravana has been worshipped as a symbol of prosperity for over 600 years. But this is not the only Ravana temple; there are other Ravana temples across India.
Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Kerala
The temple is dedicated to goddess Bhadrakali. The strange thing is the goddess is abused by the devotees during the Bharani festival. In this seven day festival men and women wearing red clothes and carrying swords; running around the temple in a trance-like state. They hit their heads with the sword. They cry abusive words at her and singing lewd songs about the goddess. The devotees say these things are done to please the Devi.
Sonia Gandhi Temple, Mahbubnagar
Yes, there is also a temple where Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is worshipped. Congress leaders from Telangana constructed a temple to express their gratitude for creating Telangana state. The leaders set up a white marble statue of Sonia Gandhi and it has the portraits of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on its walls.
Poruvazhy Peruviruthy Malanada, Poruvazhy
Did you know in India there is a temple where Duryodhana is worshipped? This Duryodhana temple located at Poruvazhy village in Kollam district. The Kaurava prince is also worshipped in some parts of India.
Mehandipur Balaji Mandir, Mehandipur
Actually, the temple is dedicated to Hanuman. The weird part is the devotees come here to rid themselves of evil spirits. The spirit is believed to be captured in the locks which hung outside the temple. The treatment also includes people hanging upside down and banging their heads on the walls of the temple.
