MYSTERY OF MYSTERY

Sliding stones
Even NASA cannot explain it. It’s best to gaze in wonder at the sliding rocks on this dry lake bed in Death Valley National Park. Racetrack Playa is almost completely flat, 2.5 miles from north to south and 1.25 miles from east to west, and covered with cracked mud.

The rocks, some weighing hundreds of pounds, slide across the sediment, leaving furrows in their wakes, but no one has actually witnessed it.

9. Kuldhara — Rajasthan (Ghost Town) village of Kuldhara is a ghost village that has been abandoned since 1800s. It is said to carry a curse of the villagers who migrated to other places. Kuldhara lies about 15 Km west of Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan. The village now lies in ruins. The village was established in 1291 by the Paliwal Brahmins, who were a very prosperous clan and were known for their business acumen and agricultural knowledge. But one night in 1825 all the people in Kuldhara and nearby 83 villages vanished in dark. According to folklore, Salim Singh, the minister of the state, once visiting this village fell for the beautiful daughter of chieftain (Paliwal Brahmin) and wanted to marry her. The minister threatened the villagers that if they did not marry the girl to him, he would levy huge taxes. The chief of the village with those of other 83 adjoining villages decided to abandon and migrate elsewhere as against marrying the girl to Salim Singh. Nobody saw them leave nor did anyone figure where they went, they simply vanished. 3. Roopkund Lake — Uttarrakhand (Skeleton Lake)
Roopkund Lake is a glacial lake located at about 5000 meters in the Himalayan ranges of Uttarakhand. In 1942, a forest guard stumbled upon hundreds of human skeletons on the banks of Roopkund. Over the years a number of expeditions by Indian and European scientists were attempted to resolve the mystery of their death. There were several theories suggested to explain these well preserved bones and skulls. One theory suggested them of being the remains of Japanese soldiers from World War II. Some theorized them of being General Zorawar Singh of Kashmir and his men, while others proposed them to be Mohammad Tughlak’s unsuccessful attempts to capture Garhwal Himalaya. Carbon dating of the corpses puts them between 12thand 15th century. The fact that intrigued the investigators was that there was no historical account of trade route to Tibet in this area. One well-established theory speculates them to be the entourage of king Jasdhawal of Kanauj. They are believed to have been on their pilgrimage to the Nanda-Devi Mountain and were caught in a terrible hailstorm with no shelter in the open mountains in which every single one of them perished 1. Jatinga — Assam (Mass Bird Suicides)
The village of Jatinga in the Dima Hasao district of Assam has a population of around 2500. The village is world famous for its phenomenon of bird suicides. Most of the migratory birds visiting the area never leave the village and just drop to their death on the streets. The case gets even inscrutable in the sense that these birds plummet to their death precisely between 06:00 p.m. to 09:30 p.m. on the moonless nights of September and October. These mass suicides only occur on a specific 1 mile by 600 feet strip of land and this phenomenon is said to have occurred year after year without a break for more than a century. Many theories have been offered by scientists to explain this phenomenon, the most popular one being that these birds are attracted towards village lights that confuse them. Another theory that makes more sense is the presence of excessive magnetic field in the area that disorients them. Though more theories continue to arise, no one has yet been able to prove the exact explanation behind this phenomenon.