India Trail – A Treat for the Sceptics

Magnetic Hill - Ladakh

Can a car in neutral gear move uphill? Yes, it can! The spectacle occurs en route to a hill in Ladakh, aptly called the Magnetic Hill. The place, located close to a charming chilly desert town in Leh-Ladakh, would let you witness the car moving up a steep mountain road at a steady speed of 10km/h! And sometimes even more, depending on the type of vehicle. To highlight the phenomenon to the tourists, local administration has put up a billboard and demarcated the place. In the billboard, you can read what the magnetic hill does to your vehicle.

Personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have claimed the hill holds the same magnetic impact for aircrafts and helicopters also. The pilots have to move at a faster speed to avoid the captivating force of the hill. Or else, they have to experience some annoying turbulence.

You can reach the destination via Leh-Kargil-Baltic National Highway. The hill, 14000 feet above sea level, is nearly 30 km away from Leh. Sindhu river, which originates from Tibet, can be found in the eastern side of the hill.

While moving from Jaipur to Alwar city in Rajasthan, you will come across a place called Bhangarh. The place is buried in ruins and looks like a set from some old movies. The place looks decent still nobody likes to stay in the ruins after sunset. Why, you may ask? The locals say that a curse caused the whole town to be vacated overnight. According to the curse, even if the township is found or rediscovered, only the temples would show up and nothing else. The story seems to be holding true as one can only see the shrines of the temples and locals state that anybody who has dared to visit the place after dark hasn’t returned yet.

According to the Government of India rules there should be an office of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) beside every historical structure in the country. However, the lone office of ASI that can be found here is one kilometre away from the Bhangarh ruins. A signboard beside the ruin states "Staying after sunset is strictly prohibited in this area."

Tourists who have visited the place have admitted of a strange feeling once inside the ruins. The reason might well be the history or the present. Villagers say that anyone who has tried to build a house near the ruins has experienced a strange problem. The solid concrete roof has always collapsed for no apparent reasons. Consequently the roofs of all the houses in the place were built of straw and not bricks.

Levitating according to the dictionary is – "to rise or float in the air, esp. as a result of a supernatural power." The weight of the stone in the picture is around 70 kg / 140 lb and needs a very strong man to lift it. However, this particular stone at Shivapur can be lifted with almost no effort by few men using only their index finger. What's more, it can even be thrown up!

The story behind the phenomenon is that Qamar Ali, renowned for his miraculous power, on his death bed requested to keep a circular stone near his tomb. 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. Let it be a symbol."

Visitors of the place have found out that the stone levitates only when certain parameters are met, or else it sticks to the ground. The stone can be found in Shivapur (in Akola district, Maharastra) around 180 km away from the city of Mumbai.