Taxmann's Mysterious Temples of India—Coffee-table Book
Where the Sun Performs Shiva’s ‘Abhishekam’ with its rays on Makar Sankranti
The Mystery of the Temple Vault that Cannot be Opened
Where Dogs are Considered Sacred and first offering of Prasad is to a dog
Temple Where a Plate Filled with Liquor and placed near the deity’s face becomes Empty in An Instant
A Temple that is an Unparalleled Example of Architecture and Design
27. Temple Where a Lamp is lit with Water not with oil
The Temple Where the Soil is believed to be Miraculous and heals wounds caused by poisonous creatures
A Temple Carved from a Single Rock
A Temple Built by the Pandavas in One Night
(Ujjain)
31. A Massive Temple Resting on a Single Pillar
32. A Temple Representing the Movement of Time
33. Flag waves in the opposite direction of the wind
34. The Temple of Rats
Karni Mata Temple
35. Temple which could not be damaged by Pakistan’s bombs in 1965 war
36. The Temple with an 80-Ton Heavy Stone on Its Summit
/ Rajarajeswara Temple
37. The Temple with Musical Steps
38. The Temple with 33,000 Statues
39. Temple which heals both body and mind
40. Miraculous Rahu Temple, Where Milk Changes Colour
41. Mysterious spider-shaped temple whose fifth prahar was built by Mahadev himself
Temple
42. The Temple Where Bricks Float, and Music Comes from Pillars
43. The Only Vishwanath Temple in the World Where Shiva Resides with Shakti Kashi Vishwanath Temple
44. The Leaning Temple
45. The Mysterious Temple, Where the Idol of the Goddess Changes Its Form Three Times a Day
Devi Temple
46. A Sacred Haven of Lord Narasimha
Narasimha Swamy Temple
(Tiruchirapalli)
(Mulugu)
(Srinagar)
(Warangal)
Somnath Temple Gujarat (Saurashtra)
Somnath Temple is a significant Hindu temple and is considered the first among the 12 Jyotirlingas.
Located in the Veraval Port of the Saurashtra region in Gujarat, this temple is said to have been constructed by the Moon God (Chandra Dev) himself. It is even mentioned in the Rigveda. This place is considered one of the most mysterious and sacred. It was a major site for the Yaduvanshis. The temple has been destroyed 17 times over history and rebuilt each time.
Somnath Temple is situated at Prabhas Patan, near the Veraval Port on the western coast of Gujarat, in the
Saurashtra region. It is considered the first of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in India. These relics eventually came into the care of the family ofAgnihotri Brahmin Pandit Sitaram Shastri who took them to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji on the advice of Kanchi Shankaracharya HH Vijayendra Saraswati ji.
Originally, the temple was also known as Prabhas Kshetra, and it is believed to be the place where Lord Krishna gave up his mortal form.
It is said that the gates of the temple, now kept in Agra, were looted by Mahmud of Ghazni and taken away.
“Somnath” means “Lord of the Moon” – referring to the fact that Chandra dev (Moon God) married the 27 daughters of Daksha Prajapati, but loved only Rohini. The other 26 wives complained to their father Daksha, who cursed Chandra Dev to lose his shine. Through the worship of Lord Shiva, Chandra Dev regained his shine.
The Somnath Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located at a place where there is no land between it and Antarctica along a straight line through the sea.
In ancient times, the Shivling in the temple hung in mid-air, but it was destroyed by invaders. It is believed that 24 Shivlings were installed, with Somnath’s Shivling placed in the center. Some of these Shivlings are located under the Tropic of Cancer in the sky.
To the south of the temple, on the shore of the sea, stands a pillar called the Banasthambha. At the top of this pillar, an arrow is placed, symbolizing that there is no land between Somnath Temple and the South Pole.
Here, at the confluence of three rivers – Hiranya, Kapila and Saraswati – people come to bathe in this Triveni Sangam. The temple complex spreads over an area of 10 kilometers and contains 42 temples.
The Kalash (a sacred water vessel) at the summit of the temple weighs 10 tons, and its flag stands 27 feet tall.
The Kalash at the Temple’s Summit Weighs 10 Tons
T C
Shri Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple
Gujarat (Bharuch)
There is a temple that submerges in water and emerges twice a day. This is the famous Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple, located near Vadodara, also known as the submerged Shiva temple. Situated a little away from the coastline, the temple becomes fully submerged during high tide, leaving only its peak visible. However, as the tide recedes, it reappears, and devotees can enter the temple to pray.
The Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is one of the most unique temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in India.
It is about 150 years old and is steeped in numerous legends.
To understand this, we need to know the temple’s location. The Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is situated in Kavi Kamboi, Gujarat, around 70 km from Vadodara.
The transition from low tide to high tide is spectacular. It seems as if the water itself is offering its prayers to the four-foot-long Shivling found in the temple by performing ‘abhishek’ of the shivling.
The temple, in the middle of the sea, appears thrilling even just in its visual appeal. Inside the temple, devotees can perform regular worship and rituals. However, the temple’s most fascinating ritual is performed by the sea itself, morning and evening. When the sea waves rise fiercely in the morning and evening, it appears as though the waves are performing the Abhishekam of Mahadev. The peak of the temple is visible, but the Shivling is submerged in the waves. This divine play of Lord Shiva’s “appearance” and “disappearance” has been going on for thousands of years.
At this temple, Lord Shiva disappears for 6 hours a day. This remarkable sight occurs in the morning and again in the evening when the high tide arrives. Thus, Lord Shiva meditates under water daily for 12 hours. Devotees patiently wait with folded hands until Lord Shiva reappears.
The temple is located about 85 km from the district headquarters, on the seashore of Jambusar, about 1 km inside the sea, and is accessed via a platform. The mystery of this temple lies in its sanctum, where the Shivling is visible only twice a day. Despite being submerged for centuries, the sanctum and Shivling remain unharmed. The Shivling is believed to be thousands of years old and was discovered in the same location where the Stambheshwar Temple stands today.
Once the tide rises, the sanctum gets filled with about 1 foot of sea sand, which takes about 1 to 1.5 hours and thousands of liters of clean water to clear. The process of waves cleansing the sanctum is entirely natural. However, the biggest mystery remains: how was the Shivling installed in such a difficult location, and what technique was used to build the temple that has withstood the waves for thousands of years?
MYSTERIOUS TEMPLES OF INDIA—COFFEETABLE BOOK
AUTHORS : Taxmann’s Editorial Board
PUBLISHER : Taxmann
DATE OF PUBLICATION : October 2025
EDITION : 2025 Edition
ISBN NO : 9789371268417
NO. OF PAGES : 96
BINDING TYPE : Hardbound Rs. 3,000/-
DESCRIPTION
Mysterious Temples of India is a refined 96-page coffee-table compendium that spans 17 states and 46 living shrines, where faith, craft, and wonder converge. With full-bleed four- photography and crisp, research-led essays, each temple is set in its architectural, geographic, and devotional context. Designed for both browsing and close reading, every spread balances legend with observable cues—an elegant weave of faith, folklore, ritual, geology, and engineering. A clear contents section opens the book; unforgettable images close it—making this both a pan-India visual atlas and a collector-worthy artefact.
This coffee-table book is intended for the following audience:
• Connoisseurs of Art Books & Collectors
• Travellers, Photographers & Cultural Historians
• Educators, Librarians & Students
• Devotees & Spiritual Seekers
The Present Publication is printed on premium art paper with hybrid-UV embossing, and the hardbound volume is presented in a four-colour gift box, making it as much a collectable as a visual atlas.
