Unexpected Offerings To Dieties In Temples

India is one of the wonderland one might step in. The religious nature of worshipping more than 3000 dieties makes it unusual and offbeat. But what's more interesting is the offerings of the devotees in the temples towards the presiding God/Goddess that are quite unbelievable.

We all know that the tribal community of Juangs, dwelling in the outskirts of Orissa offered rice, fowls and other animals to their Goddess Lakshmi. But have anyone heard of offering clocks and watches towards deity as token of gratitude? Well, don't get surprise because there's lot more. Prasad (a material substance of vegetarian food ) is something so pure and a divine gift from God that we all accept it by our heart. Ever imagined a prasad laced with rat saliva in it! Weird huh! Nevertheless these age-old tradition of religious beliefs are not questionable as they are considered holy and sacred.

Munch to Munch Murugan

In the Chemmoth Sree Subramaniya Swami Temple in Kerala, devotees offer Munch chocolates to the deity, Munch Murugan. It is believed that the deity developed a sweet tooth for chocolates since a Muslim boy offered a Munch to him.The deity, the son of Lord Shiva, receive loads of Munch from children who visit the temple to pray for good marks in examinations.

Chinese dishes to Goddess Kali

The Chinese people residingat Chinatown incentral Kolkata worship Goddess Kali in their own way. They offer different Chinese dishes like noodles, dim sum and chopsuey, not traditional Indian sweets to the deity. This shows the religious diversity that are tolerated by each and every community in India.

Toy planes to Gurudwara for visa approval

Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara in Jalandhar is called Airplane Gurudwara or Hawai Jahaj Gurudwara. Here devotees buy small toy aircrafts from outside the gurudwara and offer it to the deity with the hope of fulfiling their dreams of going abroad.

Dosas to Lord Vishnu

The deity in this Alagar Temple in Madurai is offered with different types of dosas (a South Indian delicacy) which are later distributed as prasad among devotees. Devotees on visit to the temple bring grains which are used to make crispy dosas.

Liquor to the saint

The Khabees Baba Temple at 80 km distance from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh is one of the most offbeat places to visit in India. Surprisingly, there is neither any idol nor any priest at this temple, except a pair of two slipper-shaped structures on an elevated platform that seems to be an altar. Visitors offer liquor to the altar out of devotion to a mystic saint who is believed to have lived there 150 years back.