Natural Wonders Not To Be Missed In India

The Aleya Ghost Lights

Appearing in the swamps of West Bengal, the very name Aleya Ghost Lights does evoke up some scary images. The mysterious lights here do have many speculations surrounding it, some say these lights are caused by the paranormal activities. The locals believe that these lights are the souls of the dead fishermen.

On the contrary, scientists disagree with what the locals have to say and they say that the lights are gases which are created by the decaying organic matter in the swamps here.

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Borra Caves

The Borra caves are one amongst the deepest in the country, which is located at a depth of over 260 feet in the Anathagiri Hills of the Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh.

There is a great arrangement of some of the most stunning speleothems, which are basically limestone deposits that vary from small to big along with the unevenly shaped roof and floor of the caves.

The caves have mineral-rich water spill, which forms from the roof that makes a small ring of minerals. When the water drips on the floor, it forms yet another mineral deposit.

As the time passed by, these mineral deposits formed the cone-like structures from the ceiling and other structures on the floor.

PC: Rajib Ghosh

Magnetic Hill Of Ladakh

Visualize the picture of a hill where your vehicle appears to break the concepts of gravity and moves up instead of coming down when put it in Neutral, well this creates an interesting optical illusion and gives the place the name of Magnetic Hill, which is located in Ladakh.

The roads, mountains and the hill are located in such a way that it looks like an uphill terrain. Though the truth is the hill is actually a bit downhill. This might be one of the reasons as to why vehicles tend to roll uphill.

PC: Fulvio Spada

Hidden And Seek Beach

It may or may not be there, when one would decide to visit the Chandipur beach in Orissa. One can get to see the water and sometimes the same place would have nothing other than the Casuarina trees and the sand dunes.

Wondering why? Well, the sea water tends to rescind around 5 km during the low tides and later reappears during the high tides, and this happens every day. This is a rare phenomenon which is not seen by many till date.

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Krishna's Butter Ball

Many come here and leave with their head scratching about how this massive rock stands on the tiny and slippery edge of a hill, but has not lost its balance till date.

This balancing rock is found in the heritage destination of Mahabalipuram, and is locally known as Krishna's butterball, owing to the large amounts of butter he stole and ate.

PC: Leon Yaakov

Sambhar Lake

The Sambhar Salt lake is the largest inland salt lake, which lies in the Thar Desert. Desert areas are meant to be barren and desolate lands; but here is an exception. This bowl-shaped lake is located in the historical town of Sambhar near the city of Jaipur.

According to the local legends, Shakambhari Devi, the family deity of the Chauhan Rajputs, had turned a dense forest into a plain of silver as a reward for the services done by her, while the locals feared that greed would overcome the people, she later converted the place into a lake.

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Hogenakkal Falls

Hogenakkal translates to smoke rock from Kannada. The waterfall in its full force would have an appearance of smoke emitting from the rocks.

A sight of extreme splendor, the falls is formed by the river Cauvery cascading herself down through the carbonite rocks, which are said to be the oldest in South Asia and it is also one amongst the oldest in the world. The waterfall is also known as the Niagara of India.

PC: Sankara Subramanian

Living Root Bridges

An unbelievable sight that awaits at Cherrapunji is the living root bridge, which extends up to the height of 3000 feet. The bridge is formed by the roots of the rubber tree and would give you the feeling of being part of a fantasy tale.

As time passed by, the roots grew and spread across the slopes. The trees here stand on the upper areas of the riverbank and have their roots at the riverbed and humans have molded these roots into a natural bridge, which connects between the rivers.

PC: Ashwin Kumar

The Mysterious Dancing Lights Of Banni Grasslands Reserve

UFOs? Ghosts? Since a long time, the locals here have alleged that they are witnessing some mysterious dancing lights at the Banni Grassland Reserve in the Rann of Kutch.

Known as Chir Batti, they have an appearance to be a brightly lit mercury lamp and change their colours into blue, red and yellow.

These lights at times remain still and at times move at a really quick speed. However, scientists say that it is due to the oxidation of methane from the marshes.

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The Marble Rocks Of Bhedaghat

Bhedaghat is known for its Marble rocks that display an out-of-the-world beauty and a stunning sight to watch, especially on the full moon nights.

The rocks soar to about a hundred feet on the banks of the river Narmada and are home to the beautiful gorge of soft marble. When the sun hits on the white marble, leaving behind the shadows on water, it is truly a magical sight to see.

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Belum Caves

Head to the majestic Belum Caves which have many surprises awaiting you in its dark corners. The caves are well known for its stalactite and stalagmite formations, which also makes it the second largest cave in the country and also one amongst the longest caves located at the plains in India.

The cave has lengthy passages, chambers, fresh water galleries and siphons. The cave is a natural formation, which occurred due to the continuous flow of underground water. So far, 3.5 km of this beautiful cave has to be discovered; however, only 1.5 km is open to the visitors.

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Needle Hole Point

To get a rare view of nature, head to the Mahabaleshwar's Needle Hole Point or Elephant point. The place displays beautiful sights of the Deccan traps, which resemble an elephant's trunk.

The natural rock formation, which resembles the animal tends to be a mystery. The place is known as Needle hole, as you can see the natural rock formation with a hole in between like how a needle would look like.

PC: Dinesh Valke

Lonar Crater

Set at the outskirts of the Lonar town in Maharashtra, one would come across an interesting formation, which appears to have been hit by a massive ball that was thrown here from the outer space.

The place is said to be the third largest crater in the world and the formation dates back to being at least 50,000 years before.

The round structure which is surrounded by a dash of greenery in the middle of nowhere is a sight worth visiting.

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Gurudongmar Lake

Tucked away amidst the snow-clad mountains and barren land, the lake is a gorgeous sight to be seen. At its banks is a Gurudwara, in honour of Guru Nanak's visit to this place.

The lake is situated in Sikkim and is seen as one amongst the highest lakes in the world, which is present at an altitude of 17,100 feet. The lake is also one of the sources for the river Teesta.

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Volcanic Formations Of St. Mary's Island

When you come to the sea at St. Mary's Island in Karnataka, one cannot miss the sight of the rocks by the sea, but these are no ordinary rocks, they are nothing but columnar basaltic lava.

When a volcano explodes dense basaltic lava, which is spat out, these tend to cool down really quick and contract like a spider web. These rocks take the shape of hexagons and polygons, giving it an appearance of a man-made structure.

PC: Arun Prabhu