A temple that worships dogs.
One where devotees pay their respects to an Enfield motorbike and one where rats roam free: these places of worship are far from your run-of-the-mill temples.
Get set to have your mind blown.
1. Karni Mata, Rajasthan
A list of unusual temples quite simply must begin with Karni Mata’s shrine.
The temple located in Deshnok, about 30 km south of Bikaner, Rajasthan is equally known for its rodent residents as it is for its presiding deity.
Some 20,000 black rats, locally known as kabbas, are revered and worshiped at the temple. So much so that eating food they’ve nibbled on is considered to be a great privilege.
So what’s the deal with rats in a temple, you ask?
Legend has it that an army of 20,000 men deserted a battle and sought shelter at Deshnoke.
The Goddess, Karni Mata, spared their lives but turned them into rats.
The army of rats has since then served the goddess by living in the temple.
Needless to say, if by chance you happen to kill one of them, be prepared to loosen your purse strings because you are obliged to replace the dead rat with one made of solid gold!
Ouch!
Address: Karni Mata Temple Road, Deshnoke, NH 89, 10kms from Palana Village, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334801, India
2. Chinese Kali Temple, Kolkata
Courtesy: http://www.ninefinestuff.com/
If Chinese food is stuff of your dreams, this Kali Temple in Kolkata is your heaven.
The Chinese Kali Temple of Kolkata is no different than any other Kali temple in West Bengal except for one small difference: the bhog here doesn’t include laddos and rasagullas but rather dishes from the Chinese cuisine.
Noodles, chop suey, fried rice… take your pick!
The history of this somewhat unusual practice can be traced back to the story of a 10-year-old severely ill boy belonging to the local Chinese community.
His parents, having lost all hope, lay him under a tree where the locals used to worship sindoor-smeared black stones.
Story goes that they prayed for several nights and miraculously the boy recovered fully.
And so, the local residents—mostly people of Hakka Chinese origin—got together and constructed the temple in the honour of the goddess.
Address: Matheswartala Road, Tangra, Kolkata, West Bengal 700046, India
3. Dog Temple, Karnataka
And then there is this temple whose presiding deity is the dog.
Located in the Ramanagar district of Karnataka, this temple is a relatively new phenomenon.
Constructed in 2009, the temple has two idols of the canine that are said to represent the two faces of the faithful-yet-fierce animal.
Locals believe that the dog wards away all evil and protects the innocent from being harmed.
Seems fair enough to worship such a creature, doesn’t it?
Address: District Ramanagar, Taluk Channapatna, Karnataka
4. Bullet Baba Shrine, Rajasthan
Bullet Baba ki jai ho !! #OmBanna #Chotila #Rajasthan #RoyalEnfield #Bulleteers #DreamRide
A photo posted by Navneet Jain (@bullet_rider) on
Jan 24, 2015 at 1:15am PST
Even by the standards of a country where politicians and animals are worshipped, this one is bizarre to say the least.
It is time to pay your respects to a 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet!
You read that one right!
Far from being the doing of some cheeky Enfield fanatic, this temple owes its origins to one Om Singh Rathore who lost control of his bike whilst traveling from Bandi near Pali to Chotila.
He died on the spot, the story goes, and the bike fell into a nearby ditch.
The locals took the bike to a nearby police station only to discover that it had mysteriously made its way back to the accident site the next morning.
When the police confiscated the bike again, they chained it and emptied the fuel tank… but found it at the very spot where Rathore had died the next morning.
After a while the cops gave up and the locals took over.
They put the bike in a glass case, constructed a temple around it and began worshipping it.
Passersby pay their respects to this unusual deity and pray for their safe journey before they proceed along the NH65.
The shrine hasn’t missed the attention of the good folks at Royal Enfield who’ve featured it in their ad campaign!
Address: NH65, Pali District, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 306421, India
5. Visa Temple, Hyderabad
Even though Balaji is its presiding deity, the temple itself has come to be known as the Visa Temple thanks to the belief that the god will fulfil their wish to be granted a visa.
Most devotees who come here are those who are about to appear for their visa interviews!
Address: Chilkur Balaji Temple Road, Chandanagar, Chilkur, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 501504, India
6. Shree Stambheshwar Mahadev, Gujarat
No other deity probably resides in as many difficult-to-access locations as Lord Shiva.
There’s Amarnath, which is shut for a part of the year and when it is open involves a gruelling trek in biting cold.
And then there’s the Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple in Gujarat.
With the Arabian Sea on one side and Bay of Cambay on the other, this 150-year-old shrine located in Kavi Kamboi, Gujarat submerges during the high tide and is rendered inaccessible.
Devotees flock its gates during the low tides to seek blessings of their now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t god.
Address: Kavi-Kamboi, Jambusar, Gujarat 392180, India
7. Kal Bhairavnath Temple, Ujjain
#VSCOcam #ahmedabad #india #Ujjain
A photo posted by Nishant Mehta (@i_nishant) on
Mar 18, 2015 at 6:03pm PDT
Believed to be constructed by King Bhadrasen the Kal Bhairavnath Temple stands on the banks of River Shipra in Ujjain and is probably best known for its alcohol-guzzling deity.
The priests will happily let you film the miraculous emptying of the alcohol bowl as they offer it to the lord.
Take it as a matter of faith or dismiss it as a sleight of hand by a smart priest. Watch this video and believe what you must.
The post #FindingGod: Top 7 unusual places of worship appeared first on Travel India.