5. Jatinga, famous for the phenomenon of birds “committing suicide”, is located on a spur of the Haflong ridge, the head quarter of the
district. It itself is an offshoot of the main ridge of the Borail range. It is centrally located at the junction of the roads leading to
Haflong, Lumding and Silchar. Here the mist & fog lie like a veil around the beautiful face of the damsel from September to November.
During these late monsoon months, mysterious behaviour of birds takes place. However, some other conditions are also necessary for
the phenomenon to occur. The air must be foggy, cloudy or misty. If there is slight rain, it would be even better. The wind must be
from south to north. It should be moonless dark nights. And the best time is between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Curiously, most of the doomed birds do not attempt to fly away after they land near the lights. They look dazed and disheveled, perhaps
due to the trauma of the whole shocking experience. Such birds fall easy prey to the villagers. Some of the birds hovering around the
light sources are brought down by a vigorous swing of the bamboo poles. Catapults are also used to bring down the birds in flight as
well as those perching on the trees and bushes near the light sources. However, contrary to the popular belief, birds do not commit
suicide. Under circumstances not yet fully explained, these birds get caught in the fog and wind, get disoriented and seek solace of the
light sources put out by the villagers. They hit against trees or other objects and get injured in their flight towards the light source. The
villagers hit the hovering birds with bamboo poles or catapults to bring them down
Various studies have been conducted to unravel the causes behind this phenomenon. The record maintained show that 44 species have
been attracted to the light sources. It has been established that the birds are not attracted to the entire Jatinga Ridge but only to a well-
defined strip, 1.5 km long and 200 metres wide. Invariably the birds come in only from the north and attempts at placing the lights on
the southern side of the ridge to attract the birds have failed. Another interesting fact has been brought out is that no long distance
migratory bird gets attracted to the light traps. The victims are resident birds of the adjacent valleys and hill slopes.
The unusual behaviour of the birds seems to occur due to the peculiar weather conditions at Jatinga. There also appears to be a
correlation between the breeding period of the birds and the Jatinga phenomenon. Studies also reveal that the flight of water birds to
Jatinga may be attributed to heavy rains and floods and submergence of their natural habitat in the surrounding areas. It has been
observed that there was a high congregation of birds at Jatinga during 1988 which happened to be a year of high floods. Renowned
ornithologists Dr. Salim Ali, Dr. S.Sengupta, A. Rauf etc have carried out researches on this subject. However, no single hypothesis
comprehensively explains the Jatinga mystery till date. The problem deserves deeper scientific study from various angles.
8. Story Behind This Levitating Stone:
Qamar Ali was a famous Sufi Saint and was renowned for his miracles. Qamar Ali was born into a
family of middle-class Muslims whose men folk prided themselves on their muscular prowess.
When he was scarcely six, he became a disciple of a Sufi Pir (great teacher) who lived nearby, and spent
his days in meditation and fasting.
Before long, throngs of devotees began to flock to his doorstep drawn by the young Sufi mystic's
compassion and miraculous powers of healing.
It is believed that some eight hundred years ago a gymnasium existed on the spot where the shrine now
stands.
Two large stones were used by the wrestlers for exercise purposes. Being not interested in these
activities Qamar Ali was always targeted by the other boys. It is said that this stone has been laid by
him to prove that spiritual power is greater than brute strength.
Qamar Ali died in his late teens but as he lay on his deathbed, he requested that a circular stone
weighing 200 pounds, be placed near his tomb.
According to the legend, he said: "If eleven men place their right index fingers under the stone and then
jointly call my name, I will cause it to rise higher than their heads."
“Otherwise, neither singly nor together will they be able to move it more than two feet off the ground.”
From that day on-wards the stones could be raised in the prescribed manner only by applying that
formula.
Marble steps lead up to the Dargarh (shrine). Qamar Ali Darvesh was a celibate and in deference to his
chastity, women are not allowed inside the mausoleum.
Stories state that over the years many people have tried to remove these stones from the shrine but they
have to bear dare consequences. It is not yet scientifically proved.
10. The Great Banyan Tree is over two hundred and fifty years old and covers about 14,500 square
meters of land (3.5 acres) in the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden near Kolkata (Calcutta),
making it the widest tree in the world.
From a distance, the tree has the appearance of a forest, but what appear to be individual trees are actually
aerial roots- around 3,600 of them.
After two cyclones in the 19th century that led to a fungal attack, the tree’s main 15.7-meter-wide (51-foot)
trunk had to be removed. Fortunately, the “clonal colony” of tree itself remains healthy.
A 330-meter-long road was constructed around the tree so that visitors could drive around the
circumference, but the Great Banyan continues to spread beyond, growing wider with each passing year.
Currently it is already over 450-meters.
12. Rama' bridge:
To begin our assessment as to the validity of the claim that Adam's Bridge is the same one talked about
in myth, let us first look at the bridge itself. Dr. Badrinarayanan, the former director of the Geological
Survey of India performed a survey of this structure and concluded that it was man-made. Dr.
Badrinarayanan and his team drilled 10 bore holes along the alignment of Adam's Bridge. What he
discovered was startling. About 6 meters below the surface he found a consistent layer of calcareous
sand stone, corals and boulder like materials. His team was surprised when they discovered a layer of
loose sand, some 4-5 meters further down and then hard rock formations below that.
A team of divers went down to physically examine the bridge. The boulders that they observed were
not composed of a typical marine formation. They were identified as having come from either side of
the causeway. Dr. Badrinarayanan also indicates that there is evidence of ancient quarrying in these
areas. His team concluded that materials from either shore were placed upon the sandy bottom of the
water to form the causeway.
With the creation of this engineering marvel revealed, we will turn our attention to additional
evidence that supports its connection to the Ramayana, in particular its claim to have been constructed
during the Treta Yuga. Earlier we asked you to suspend your belief about the nature of the individuals
portrayed in the Ramayana. And it is not to the gods, the monster nor the main character Rama that
we would like to draw your attention, but instead to the Vanara, the ape men, who constructed the
bridge for Rama.
15. Krishna's butter ball:
Forever (hopefully) perched on a steep rock slope in the historic town of Mahabalipuram, India, the massive
round boulder known as Krishna’s Butter Ball refuses to give in to gravity or the shoves of tourists.
The giant boulder appears to be frozen in its roll down the hill it sits on, and no one is quite sure why. The
huge boulder is likely a glacial erratic that got stranded in a serendipitous position on the hill, but local
legend has another version of the story. According to Hindu mythology, when the great god Krishna was
just a baby, he was fond of stealing butter. Following this tradition, the big orange stone has been likened to a
giant dollop of purloined butter that the god dropped.
The actual name of the stone is “Vaan Irai Kal,” which translates to “Sky God’s Stone,” and according to
one source, the more playful name was given to the rock by a local tour guide. However it got its sort of silly
name, it stuck.
Reinforcing the stone’s strangely balanced position, the slippery stone slope is used by local children as a
slide. Today Krishna’s Butter Ball is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors to the site love to try to get behind
the stone and try to push it down the hill. So far no human power has been able to budge the buttery boulder.
Best of all, sometimes the local goats climb on top of it. It’s adorable.
17. Bullet baba Temple:
Bullet Baba' is a temple located near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. It is devoted to a 350cc Royal Enfield 'deity'.
This temple is known as the Bullet Baba's temple and is dedicated to a person, Om Banna, who died in an
accident 20 years ago while driving his 'bullet'. According to the people who come here to worship the odd
god, when Om's bike was taken to the local police station after the accident, it kept disappearing from the
police station only to be found at another site each time. The news about this miracle spread like wildfire and
the bike is now the idol in the temple.
Here, the offering to Om Banna is beer, of the 'Bullet' brand. People say that if you are travelling through the
Pali-Jodhpur highway without stopping and worshiping the Bullet Baba, you might not reach your
destination with all your body parts intact. The vehicles passing by, refrains from honking, as an offering to
the 'baba'.
