A divine land of the mighty snow clad Himalayas and the pious water bodies pouring through it. A land of the far spread desert and its beautiful dunes delivering a breathtaking view. A land of lush green grasslands blessed with evergreen landscapes of nature’s glory. Not to forget its lengthy coastline held in the womb of three great seas inhabiting exotic beaches of black, golden and grey. India, a land truly incredible!
But what if I tell you that there is so much more to its beauty and awe that is still not known to many! Apart from all the spectacular landscapes that one can witness in India, it also supports loads of overwhelmingly impressive natural phenomenons! Hold your breath, here it goes! (Some of them look like locations straight out of Disney movies!)
FLOATING STARS
Imagine walking on the beach under the light of hundreds of stars, soft breeze playing with your hair and accompanying you, the soothing sound of waves breaking on the beach and ebbing away. Beautiful, isn’t it! Adding further details, what if I say, ‘radiant’ and ‘glimmering’waves breaking on the beach? No, I am not describing a dream but an actual location! (Yes, Hell lot of dreamy!) You’ll find this ‘glowing’ beach in Lakshadweep. Also called as Bioluminescent Beach, it is inhabited by light emitting planktons which give it the ‘glow’ and it so appears as if the stars are floating in the sea!
MAGNETIC HILL
In front of you stands an uphill slope, you are driving at a speed of 20 km/hr and then it strikes you that your car’s engine is off! This doesn’t come as a surprise to people who have been to the ‘Magnetic Hill’ (near Leh).
This gravity-defying phenomenon led people to believe that the hill has magnetic properties and hence it pulls the vehicles up. But, so is not the case. Basically, the slope is downhill and only due to some optical illusion it appears that the slope is uphill!
You really want to try it out, don’t you? Well, your wish, our command! Watch this video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpe3QFoiWRo
GLITTERING FORESTS
Much like the glowing island in Lakshadweep, these glittering forests In the Western Ghats light up in the dark after heavy rains, all thanks to bioluminescent fungus! (Or maybe they have a secret party at night, who knows!)
WILL-O’-THE-WISPS
We all know how Princess Merida followed the will-o’-the-wisps to change her destiny! (Come on! Saw the movie ‘Brave’? If no then watch it as soon as you are done with this article!) Well seems that the floating orbs were not fictional after all! They do exist in Bengal and Gujarat. These floating lights which glow dark in the marshland and swampy areas look mesmerizing (and spooky) at the same time! The locals believe that these shimmering lights wandering in the forests are ghosts of fishermen who lost their lives in the marshland. While, the truth is that when the gases produced by decaying matter comes in contact with oxygen, it leads to ionization which results in these beautiful colorful orbs! But do these lead to the witch’s cottage? Still remains a mystery!
BREATHING BRIDGES
Recognized as one of the wettest places on Earth, Cherrapunji is probably the first place to have green, breathing, living bridges! Well it is not as weird as it sounds.The roots of rubber trees at Khasi and Jaintia Hills grow exceptionally lengthy! (Over 3,000 feet long) So the people there molded and interconnected the roots to form bridges over rivers!
Top notch idea!
So, off to the natural wonders’ trip?
