This Ancient Leaning Temple is India’s Answer to The Leaning Tower of Pisa!
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most iconic buildings of the world, stumping engineers and historians for centuries with its iconic tilt. Tourists often take funny photos with the building, looking quite stupid in the process.
But what if we told you, India has its own answer to the Leaning Tower of Pisa; The ancient and mysterious Leaning Temple of Huma.
This Leaning Temple Is Situated in Huma, a small village on the banks of River Mahanadi in Odisha
It is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It has many other temples surrounding it, and is part of a temple complex.
This Temple leans, and No One Knows why
It is unknown whether the leaning is by design or some shift in the foundation. But it is pretty evident.
Residents of the surrounding areas say that the tilt of the Leaning Temple has not increased in the past fifty years. I seems that whatever be the reason of the leaning, the temple is now stable.
Emperor Anangabhima Deva-III of the Ganga Dynasty Built The Leaning Temple of Huma Around 1200 AD
King Baliar Singh, a king of the Chauhan dynasty, later renovated The Leaning Temple of Huma in around 1660 AD. Chauhan kings were skillful temple builders, so it is difficult to say that there was a design flaw. But then what is the real reason of the lean?
One Explanation Is Shifting Rocky Bed
Some people blame the shifting of the rocky bed on which it stands for the lean of the Leaning Temple. This could either be due to the flow of river Mahanadi or due to an earthquake. This might have affected the original posture.
Surprisingly, even though the building itself is leaning, the pinnacle (the top most part of the structure) is perpendicular to the ground!
Legend behind The Leaning Temple of Huma
A milkman started the worship of Shiva in the temple. He came daily to a place on the bank where the rock cropped out. Here he offered his milk to the rock, which immediately consumed the milk. This miraculous circumstance came to the notice of other people, and after a while the temple was built.
A Annual Fair is organised every year near the temple. Huge crowd visits the fair, including many foreigners.
So this was the weird and mysterious Leaning Temple of Huma. Do you think this is a befitting response to the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
Tell us in the comments, and also share this article to spread the word of our very own Leaning Temple!
Here is the Wikipedia article for the Leaning Temple of Huma
Also Read Here about The Unexplored Places in Delhi
