Most Mysterious Places in India that You Must Visit

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India has always attracted tourists and visitors from around the world for its culture and diversity. While it is believed that India has been explored in many different ways by locals and international travelers around the world there are still many places that hold a sense of mystery that can still baffle your mind. In different pockets of India you will find places that are different and unusual and that stores secrets that are yet to be discovered and understood. Here we explore through 5 unusual, mysterious, strange and unheard destinations and places in India that not many know about because these places have never really been in the limelight like any other hill stations and forts.

Kalavantin Durg, Panvel

When you eventually climb up this 2,300 foot spire you don’t find anything that can take your breath away. On the summit of this rocky spire you will find a small cave that was used to keep close check of the surrounding Indian land. Not much is known about why this fort was created in the first place when it was not used for military purposes.

However, legend claims that the locals carved out steps that are locally known as Climb to Heaven to keep watch on the neighboring areas and this place was nothing more than a strategic lookout place, but there is no hardcore evidence to support this fact. The only way to access the summit of this fort is through those hand carved steps that rise at extremely steep angles which can be too much for a faint heart or acrophobics.

Samrat Yantra at Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

Did you know that the largest sundial ever built till date lies in the heart of Rajasthan? Well, it might not look like a regular sundial, but right in the Jantar Mantar complex visitors can find Samrat Yantra which is a 73 foot tall sundial that still holds the record of being the largest sundial ever built.

It all started in 1728 when Sawai Jai Singh that ruled the city then ordered his emissaries to travel around the globe and fetch the most accurate astronomical data possible. It was then that Samrat Yantra was built with its gnomon that rises over 73 feet and the arc that reaches 45 feet in height. It is said that the two-second interval markings on Samrat Yantra are more precise than de la Hire’s table. Now that is what I call a passion for perfection on a grand scale.

Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan

We all know about the Great Wall of China, don’t we? but Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajasthan has a secret that remains among the most protected secrets of India. The fort also has a huge wall that runs around the perimeter of the fort and covers a distance of 36 kilometers. It is the second longest continuous wall on Earth right after the Great Wall of China, but did we ever took notice of it?

It is believed that the wall was built to protect 300 ancient temples that were built inside the fort. The wall is 15 meters thick at its widest sections and is decorative on the top making it one of the unusual tourist destinations in India.

Roopkund Lake, Uttarakhand

This place is not for the faint hearted, but the mysteries associated with this lake attract thousands of tourists from India and from abroad. The Roopkund Lake is among the rarest lakes in India where you will come across ancient skeletons. The unusual thing about it is that no one really knows how they were killed or how these skeletons appeared here, no historical evidence or accurate conclusions.

Initially, it was believed that it could be skeletons of Japanese soldiers that would have killed during Japanese land invasion but the examination of skeletons proved that these are not Japanese skeletons. There are more than 200 skeletons here in the valley and they are almost 1,200 years old. These skeletons are often associated with many theories of an epidemic, ritual sacrifice and landslide and the wrath of Gods.

The Great Banyan Tree, Kolkata

What if you enter an area that looks like a forest, but in reality it is just one single banyan tree? Sounds thrilling, isn’t it? The Great Banyan Tree located in Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanical Garden near Howrah has the widest banyan tree that you can find in the world which is also around 250 years old.

The original trunk was affected by fungal attack and therefore was removed in the year 1925, but the 3,300 aerial roots make it look like a forest rather than a tree and they are still healthy and living. The tree occupies 14,500 square meters area which is almost around 1.5 hectares and 4 acres while the aerial roots rise up in the air around 25 meters above the ground, strange, isn’t it?