India might be a strange and mystical land for tourists, but for those of us who were raised here and live here, it’s just home. We don’t think of it as being a place where cases defy all scientific explanation and stubbornly refuse to get solved. However, that is exactly what happened with the following cases:
1. Kongka La Pass UFO Base
In a disputed territory (Aksai Chin) between India and China, lies a low ridge pass called Kongka La; due to its location in the Himalayas and it being a disputed area, it is one of the most un-visited parts of the world. By humans that is. Locals of the region from both countries, monks, soldiers and even pilgrims to Mount Kailash have reported seeing strange crafts in the area.
According to some, the site has an underground UFO base that Chinese and Indian authorities are aware of. Despite permits, researchers are not allowed into the area. People have reported seeing triangular crafts that rise straight upwards into the sky. Though disputed, neither country shows any urgency in exploring the area so far.
2. Emperor Asoka’s Secret Society
In 273 BC, Asoka conquered Kalinga and became overwhelmed by the bloodshed he saw, which led to his conversion to Buddhism. In his search for the truth, Asoka is said to have come across knowledge so powerful that if it fell into the wrong hands, it would destroy humanity. To guard this knowledge, he found nine men, each of who was entrusted with one book.
The men (supposedly including Pope Sylvester II) were said to have belonged to different lands and races, so that the information remained spread out across the world. Over the years, this story has faded into myth, but there are some people who believe that those nine men formed the first secret society of the world that that their descendants have used the knowledge in those books to become powerful men.
3. The Kuldhara Mystery
Kuldhara was a village established in 1291 in western Rajasthan by Paliwali Brahmins. It became a very prosperous town and all seemed good. In 1825, however, all the people in Kuldhara and the nearby 83 villages just up and left. India is a land of traditions and the reason why these people abandoned a place where their families had lived for 7 centuries has never been explained.
There was some talk of an evil minister of the kingdom who wanted to marry the daughter of a chief so all the villagers went away…but that seems a little far-fetched. Anyhow, the village still stands, though time is constantly taking a toll on it, in eerie silence, uninhabited since the time it was suddenly abandoned.
4. Jodhpur’s Sonic Boom
December 2012 was a weird time as people were wondering if the world was going to end. It didn’t quite end but sure spooked the hell out of people when unexplained sonic booms were heard across the world. One place a deafening sonic boom was heard was the Indian city of Jodhpur on 18 December, 2012.
It was so loud that terrified people ran out of their homes. People thought it was an explosion in the army area, but the army denied it. Even the air force denied having anything to do with it. Locals tried hard to figure out what caused the loud sound but it has remained unexplained to this day.
5. Baba Harbhajan Singh
This is a tale of going way above and beyond the call of duty. Late Punjab Regiment sepoy, Harbhajan Singh, was stationed at the Nathula Pass on the Sino-Indian border. 1968 saw heavy rainfall and flooding in the region, and Singh was carried away by a fast-flowing stream on 4 October, 1968 while he was escorting a mule caravan. That should have been the end of it but soldiers started seeing Singh in their dreams; he told them where to find his body and to construct a samadhi there.
Soon soldiers from both sides of the border started seeing a lonely soldier on horseback patrolling the area. He appeared in dreams to more soldiers, telling them of how security could be improved and being accurate about it. The samadhi soon gained fame and brings in civilians and soldiers alike. Locals still swear by the ever-vigilant baba who serves his country even after death.
6. Yeti
Before Buddhism found its way into the Himalayan region, the Lepcha people worshipped a ‘Glacier Being’, who was the god of the hunt. Practitioners of the Bon religion believed the blood of mi rgod (wild man) had mystical properties. These creatures were described as bring tall, ape-like and making a whistling sound.
In 1832 in Nepal, James Prinsep and his guides spotted a tall bipedal creature with dark hair which fled on seeing them. Since then, sightings of the creatures and their footprints have been made time and again. Supposed yeti fecal matter was analyzed which contained unclassified parasites. Yet there has never been definite proof of the creatures’ existence.
7. Kodinhi Twins
Located in Malappuram, Kerala, Kodinhi is a village of around 2,000 families. The most remarkable thing about this small town is that it has around 250 pairs of twins; that’s more than 6 times the global average rate of twins, while India has one of the lowest twinning rates in the world.
Several studies have been conducted, but no one seems to know the cause of the many twin births. Studies show that even if Kodinhi women marry men from far-off places, they still give birth to twins. No dietary observation seems to be the cause of this, so some researchers suggest there’s something in the water that causes twin births. All of it is mere speculation though.
8. Jatinga Bird Suicides
Located in Dima Hasao, Assam, Jatinga is a small village that became famous because birds seem to flock there to commit suicide. Scientists are now showing an interest in this ‘annual event’, which occurs between September and November during the monsoons usually between 7 to 10 PM. In the misty conditions, many species of birds seem to just give up on life.
This phenomenon doesn’t affect the long-distance migratory birds but the ones that come from the adjacent areas. As the sun starts to set, several birds fly into trees and buildings in a 1.5 km strip of the village. They either die or injure themselves in the act. There has been no accepted explanation of this odd behavior of the birds.
9. Roop Kund Skeleton Lake
Located in the Himalayas, Roop Kund Lake gained fame for the hundreds of human skeletons found on the edges of the lake. When the snow melts, one can see skeletons at the bottom of the shallow 2-meter-deep lake. The skeletons date back to the 9th Century BC. DNA tests of 30 of the skeletons by National Geographic revealed that 70% were linked to Iran while the rest belonged to local Indians.
Recent researchers have suggested that the mass death of over 200 people occurred due to a massive hailstorm. While that may be true, no one knows who these people were and what they were doing in the area. The route was not a trading route so why were so many people trekking on it at an obviously dangerous time?
10. Indus Valley Civilization Puzzles
Around 5,300 years ago, during the early Bronze Age, an advanced civilization flourished in the Indus and Punjab regions. When unearthed by archeologists, this civilization showed a great detail for cleanliness with proper sewage systems and indoor bathrooms. The inhabitants of this region were prosperous and scientific.
Unlike other civilizations of the era though, these people did not seem to have temples or palaces, which makes them harder to assess. Even their language has not been deciphered so far. They didn’t seem to be a warring people. Even more mysterious is what caused the collapse of the civilization. Flooding, radiation explosion, an invasion and aliens have all been suggested as possible answers.
