Bengal Swamps ( Ghost Light ) — West Bengal

If you happen to be roaming the marshes and swamps of Bengal and are lucky—or unlucky, depending on your appetite for the paranormal—you might witness a hair-raising display of shimmering colourful lights in the distance. According to local beliefs, these lights emanate from the stranded spirits of dead fishermen who lost their lives accidentally in these areas. Those who have tried to approach these ghost lights or “Aleya” have either lost their lives or their sanities.

Interestingly, similar phenomena have been observed elsewhere in the world. For instance, the will-o’-the-wisp is popular folklore in the UK, whereas people of Latvia, Estonia, Finland, etc., believed that these lights marked the location of hidden treasures. Similar legends exist in South America, North America, and Australia.

But perhaps the most interesting question is: what exactly is the source of this ghostly radiance?

The earliest attempt at explanation was by the Italian scientist Alessandro Volta, who also discovered the methane gas. The clue lay in the location of these lights, he reasoned, which was always in swamps. He surmised that the colours were due to the ionisation of methane found in swamps and bogs, caused due to phenomenon like atmospheric lightning.

However, it wasn’t until recently that the most accurate explanation surfaced. It is now known that decaying organic matter produces certain gases such as phosphine, diphosphane and methane, which oxidize when they come in contact with the oxygen found in the air. Upon ionization, the molecules of these gases emit packets of lights, more correctly known as “photons” to the scientific community, which cause the illumination. Because different gases emit photons of different wavelengths, the result is lights of different colour.

While the rational explanation does take the steam out of the intriguing, long-cherished beliefs about ghost lights, there’s nothing stopping you—if you ever come across this mesmerising sight—from feigning ignorance and enjoying the adrenaline rush. But don’t try to get too close, as the ground will be swampy and unsafe.

Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur (Tanjore) - Its Shadow Disappears at Noon

The Brihadeeswara Temple or the Peruvudaiyar Kovil is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. This temple is one of the most beautiful architectural sites in India. Raja Raja Chola I had this temple constructed in 1010 AD. The Brihadeeswara Temple was built for royal ceremonies and to display the emperor’s power and vision. The Cholas had a splendid eye for art and architecture, which shows in their temples, which have been constructed in a Dravadian style. Also, the entire temple is built on the rules of axial and symmetrical geometry, displaying an engineering marvel of that time. Almost all the structures are aligned axially. The Brihadeeswara Temple is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the list “Great Living Chola Temples”.

Brihadeeswara Temple Facts:

Only granite was used to make the entire temple structure. It is believed that about 130,000 tons of granite was used to construct the Brihadeeswara Temple. The height of the temple tower (vimana) is 216 ft and among such kinds of structures, this is the tallest in the world.
Just at the entrance of the temple, there is a large statute of Nandi (sacred bull) measuring about 16 feet in length and 13 feet in height. This statute of Nandi facing the inner sanctum is carved out of a single stone.
The topmost structure of the temple known as “Kumbam” is also carved out of a single granite stone, weighing about 60 tons.
There are two gateways, known as “Gopuras” on the eastern side of the temple to enter.
Hundreds of sculptures adorn the exterior of the temple, whereas inside the temple there is a huge idol of Lord Shiva with three eyes. The third eye is closed. The entire compound of the temple has 250 lingams (representative of Lord Shiva).
108 dance poses, known as “karmas” performed by Lord Shiva have been sculpted on the inner walls of the sanctum sanctorum.
The Brihadeeswara temple consists of a pillared hall and an assembly hall known as mandapas and many sub-shrines. The inner Mandapas are the most significant part of the temple. The mandapas are divided into different levels with the help of sculptures and pilasters.
Idols of “Ashta-dikpaalakas” or guardians of directions, are found in the Brihadeeswara Temple making it one of the rarest temples in India. Six feet tall statues of Agni, Varuna, Indra, Yama, Vayu, Isana, Kubera and Nirriti have been placed in a separate temple.
It is believed that the shadow of the tower over the gateway of the temple never falls on the ground, especially in the premises of the temple.

Yeti sightings in Himalayas

The creature which almost dragged the Sherpa girl, Lakhpa Domini, into a stream was ape-like. An ape with large eyes and black and brown hair. She had been at watch over her yaks near a stream near Machherma village when the thing seized her. Only after she gave a scream did the beast let go. Then it set about her yaks. The police were alerted. They found footprints to corroborate the tale.

Such episodes are quite common to the people who inhabit the Nepalese mountains, the Sherpas. This case is only known to the West because it was recounted by a Peace Corps volunteer called William Weber in the early Eighties (Welfare and Fairley, p-19-20).

The Abominable Snowman is a sensational legend – made all the more exotic as it issues from an out-of-the-way territory. What could be more romantic than the Himalayas: the land of the Dalai Lama, Shangri La, Tibetan monks and heroic endurance? What follows, though, is my attempt to show that there is more to the yeti than an escapist fable.

The Bear hypothesis.

Last November the internet, TV and newspapers thrummed with `final exposes` of the yeti enigma. A geneticist called Professor Bryan Sykes, who is attached to Oxford University, had unmasked the culprit. After having scanned two bits of hard evidence –hair samples from Bhutan and western Himalayas – he concluded that the yeti is...a bear.

`So that’s that one put in a box`, says Joe Public with a clap of the hand. `Pass me a pot noodle while I play a Scooby Doo video game`. As much as we `all-like-a-good-mystery`, we all like a good mystery wrapped up even more.

Read the small print, however, and you will see that Professor Sykes’s claim is neither simple nor unproblematic. He has just substituted one unknown animal for another – a new species of prehistoric bear. This may be a subspecies of brown bear that descended from a polar bear, or a cross-breed between a polar bear and a brown bear. Either way, its behaviour differs from that of a standard bear, thus accounting for yeti tales.

The broadsheet columnist Anunja Ahuga could therefore announce `a dazzling discovery` of a `beast unknown to science` that even exists outside of `the fevered imagination of the locals` (Telegraph Online, November 21st, 2013). So, the Yeti is Dead...Long Live the Yeti...sort of!

The West and the Yeti.

Towering with dizzying height over verdant pastures like vast crystals, the Himalayan Mountain range encompasses Tibet, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Sikkim. From time immemorial, the locals have spoken of a man-like beast that belongs to these heights.

The West first came to hear of this from the hill-walker B.H.Hodgson who related some tales from Northern Nepal in 1825. Then the military Major Lawrence Waddell recorded the first footprints in 1899. By 1921 journalists were already dashing out copy about the `Abominable Snowman`.

Then followed the craze of attempts to scale Mount Everest. The mountaineers brought with them the oxygen of publicity, and back with them stories of yeti encounters. The Second World War put a stop to the party for a while until 1951. This was when Eric Shipton reignited speculation with his dramatic snapshots of enormous foot tracks in the snow.

Witness transcriptions reveal some agreement. Our snowman averages six feet in height and is thick set with a weight between 200 and 400 pounds. The hair is shaggy grey or red brown and the face pale and hairless. The yeti stoops, sometimes on four legs, sometimes two, and its toes point backwards. The beast lives in mountain forests and caves and prefers to come out at night. There are times when the yeti attacks humans, hence the fear with which it is sometimes spoken of.

An early western conjecture was that what is being described is nothing more than an orang utan. This monkey, however, is too small to fit the profile. Besides how and why would this monkey stray so far from its native Borneo and Sumatra?

Bears though are known to inhabit the locality. They do match the yeti’s size. Furthermore, they can sometimes assume an upright posture. John Napier, the eminent British primatologist, considered a glorified bear to be behind the legend. Likewise, the Italian alpinist, Reinhold Messner,who had his own glimpse of the yeti, decided in the end that the elusive Tibetan blue bear might be the smoking gun. So if we look at Professor Sykes’s findings and arm ourselves with Occam’s razor then the bear hypothesis looks quite solid. Take a bear seen at a distance, add a dash of superstition, sauté on a low heat of tourism – and serve with journalistic hyperbole. Voila! A monster myth sprouts legs!

Ghost Soldier On duty in Sikkim

We have all seen Smart , young people of their country doing duty in their country's Army. But have anyone seen a Ghost doing duty in the Army of any country.......Yes it happens & happens only in India. Yes, in Indian Army the Ghost of "Baba" Harbhajan Singh who died during the 1962 China - India War still does his duty on Nathula Pass in eastern Sikkim, India. The story goes like this......

"Baba" Harbhajan Singh was a soldier in the Indian Army & worked in the Dogra Regiment during 1962 China-India War. This soldier died near the Nathula Pass in eastern Sikkim - India while on duty. Mr. Harbhajan Singh got drowned in a glacier during the 1962 China-India War. He was searched for everywhere & he was found three days later and was cremated with full military honours. Legend goes like this that Harbhajan Singh led the Search Party to his body, and later, through a dream, instructed one of his colleagues to build and maintain a Temple/Shrine after him. A shrine was built at his Samadhi in the hills. Army folklore holds Baba is a stickler for discipline and is known to admonish those who do not tow this line.

In the camp at Nathula Pass, a camp bed is kept for him and his boots are polished and uniform is kept ready every night. The sheets are reportedly crumpled every morning and boots muddy by evening. The Ghost soldier continues to draw a salary and takes his annual leave also. Legend also has it that in the event of a war between India and China, Baba would warn the Indian and Chinese soldiers three days in advance.

Chinese do also worship him & during the flag meetings between the two nations at Nathula Post, the Chinese Soldiers have also set a chair aside for the saint. Every year on September 14, a jeep departs with his personal belongings to the nearest railway station, New Jalpaiguri, where it is then sent by train to the village of Kuka, his hometown in Kapurthala district in Punjab.
A small sum is also sent to the mother of this Ghost Soldier each month. Ghost Soldier's name still continues in the army's payrolls, his mother has still been getting his salary cheques and he has also been given all due time bound promotions. Though it may look weird but it is true & Indian Army still honours this soldier like that.

After post death promotions, late soldier is treated as honorary captain. Ghost Soldier gets two months annual leave every year & a First Class berth is booked in the train in his name and his portrait, uniform and other belongings are brought by army officials to his native village Kuka in Kapurthala district for availing of his leave.

This year also under this annual drill, belongings of "Baba" Harbhajan Singh were brought to Jalandhar from New Jalpaigudi by Dibrugarh Express on Thursday night.
A JCO, a Subedar and an Orderly accompanied the belongings. The family of the late soldier received the belongings at the railway station and later proceeded for their native village. On completion of the leave the same team of the army personnel will escort back the belongings to the Nathu La region.

Now what you call of this weird but true story happening in Indian Army. Interestingly, one of his old colleague Mr. Pyara Singh of Jallandhar District of Punjab has put a Court Case against Indian Army & Ministry of Defense for allowing such weird Dead worship of a person who was dead long long ago.

Indus Valley Civilization of Harappa

The earliest traces of civilization in the Indian subcontinent are to be found in places along, or close, to the Indus river. Excavations first conducted in 1921-22, in the ancient cities of Harappa andMohenjodaro, both now in Pakistan, pointed to a highly complex civilization that first developed some 4,500-5,000 years ago, and subsequent archaeological and historical research has now furnished us with a more detailed picture of the Indus Valley Civilization and its inhabitants. The Indus Valley people were most likely Dravidians, who may have been pushed down into south India when the Aryans, with their more advanced military technology, commenced their migrations to India around 2,000 BCE. Though the Indus Valley script remains undeciphered down to the present day, the numerous seals discovered during the excavations, as well as statuary and pottery, not to mention the ruins of numerous Indus Valley cities, have enabled scholars to construct a reasonably plausible account of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Some kind of centralized state, and certainly fairly extensive town planning, is suggested by the layout of the great cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The same kind of burnt brick appears to have been used in the construction of buildings in cities that were as much as several hundred miles apart. The weights and measures show a very considerable regularity. The Indus Valley people domesticated animals, and harvested various crops, such as cotton, sesame, peas, barley, and cotton. They may also have been a sea-faring people, and it is rather interesting that Indus Valley seals have been dug up in such places as Sumer. In most respects, the Indus Valley Civilization appears to have been urban, defying both the predominant idea of India as an eternally and essentially agricultural civilization, as well as the notion that the change from ‘rural’ to ‘urban’ represents something of a logical progression. The Indus Valley people had a merchant class that, evidence suggests, engaged in extensive trading.

Neither Harappa nor Mohenjodaro show any evidence of fire altars, and consequently one can reasonably conjecture that the various rituals around the fire which are so critical in Hinduism were introduced later by the Aryans. The Indus Valley people do not appear to have been in possession of the horse: there is no osteological evidence of horse remains in the Indian sub-continent before 2,000 BCE, when the Aryans first came to India, and on Harappan seals and terracotta figures, horses do not appear. Other than the archaeological ruins of Harappa and Mohenjodaro, these seals provide the most detailed clues about the character of the Indus Valley people. Bulls and elephants do appear on these seals, but the horned bull, most scholars are agreed, should not be taken to be congruent with Nandi, or Shiva’s bull. The horned bull appears in numerous Central Asian figures as well; it is also important to note that Shiva is not one of the gods invoked in the Rig Veda. The revered cow of the Hindus also does not appear on the seals. The women portrayed on the seals are shown with elaborate coiffures, sporting heavy jewelry, suggesting that the Indus Valley people were an urbane people with cultivated tastes and a refined aesthetic sensibility. A few thousand seals have been discovered in Indus Valley cities, showing some 400 pictographs: too few in number for the language to have been ideographic, and too many for the language to have been phonetic.

The Indus Valley civilization raises a great many, largely unresolved, questions. Why did this civilization, considering its sophistication, not spread beyond the Indus Valley? In general, the area where the Indus valley cities developed is arid, and one can surmise that urban development took place along a river that flew through a virtual desert. The Indus Valley people did not develop agriculture on any large scale, and consequently did not have to clear away a heavy growth of forest. Nor did they have the technology for that, since they were confined to using bronze or stone implements. They did not practice canal irrigation and did not have the heavy plough. Most significantly, under what circumstances did the Indus Valley cities undergo a decline? The first attacks on outlying villages by Aryans appear to have taken place around 2,000 BCE near Baluchistan, and of the major cities, at least Harappa was quite likely over-run by the Aryans. In the Rig Veda there is mention of a Vedic war god, Indra, destroying some forts and citadels, which could have included Harappa and some other Indus Valley cities. The conventional historical narrative speaks of a cataclysmic blow that struck the Indus Valley Civilization around 1,600 BCE, but that would not explain why settlements at a distance of several hundred miles from each other were all eradicated. The most compelling historical narrative still suggests that the demise and eventual disappearance of the Indus Valley Civilization, which owed something to internal decline, nonetheless was facilitated by the arrival in India of the Aryans.

Dow Hills, West Bengal

Kurseong, a small hill station located at a distance of merely 30 kms from Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal has Dow Hill, one of the most haunted places in India. Tourist activity in this town has increased tremendously over the last few years and along with it has increased the frequency of the stories about the place being haunted.

It is often reported to be a centre of paranormal activities and several accidents have taken place in the vicinity of the town, say local residents. The Victoria Boys High School is believed to be the place where the spirits reside. Local residents say, sound of footsteps emanating from the school can be heard even when the school is closed for the three long months from December to March.

Locals claim that there is one stretch often called the Death Road where some woodcutters have reported seeing a headless boy following them. He apparently walks down towards the road and then disappears into the woods. The locals say that anyone having seen him is not spared by his apparition even in his dreams. Several people have reportedly committed suicide because they were depressed of being followed everywhere by the apparition.

These might just be fables or there may be some element of truth to it but one fact that has been established even more strongly through the suicide stories of Kurseong is that once a place is known for being haunted, the residents are deprived of their mental peace and balance. They start living in a make believe world even when there is nothing supernatural happening around them. Some start enjoying the myths and frightening other people while some others become targets on their own.