Other Famous Tilting Temples of India

Ratneshwar temple near Manikarnika Ghat  in  Varanasi, is also called Kashi Karvat which leans (karvat) to one side. There is a legend surrounding the origin of this temple, which states that it was built by a certain servant of Raja Man Singh for his mother, named Ratna Bai. Once the temple was built, the man proudly declared that he had paid the debt to his mother.

Much to his shock, as soon as these words escaped his lips, the temple started tilting backwards (north-west) to show that the debt to one’s mother can never be paid. The sanctum sanctorum of this shrine remains under Ganga water for most of

the year. 

Leaning Temple of Huma Odisha: The Leaning Shiva Temple of Huma in Odisha is one of only a very few leaning temples in the  country.  It  is not known if this structure on the banks of  Mahanadi is leaning by design or for another reason. Peculiarly, although the edifice leans,  the  pinnacle of the temple is perpendicular to the ground.

The reason for the leaning cannot be assumed to have been   technical flaws at the time of construction. It is also not an easily acceptable idea that a weak foundation might have caused the leaning of the temple. There may   perhaps have been interior displacement of the rocky bed on which it stands, either due to flood currents in the river Mahanadi, or earthquakes.

The  plinth  of the temple has deviated slightly from its original arrangement, and as a result, the body of the temple has tilted. This tilt has fascinated historians, sculptors and other researchers. The surprising thing is that the main temple is tilted in one direction, whereas the other small temples are tilted in other directions. Within the temple complex everything is in a tilted condition, including the boundaries.

According to the villagers and priests the angle of inclination has not changed over last 50 years. The tilt may be due to a geological reason; the underlying rock may be uneven in structure. The angle of inclination of the tilt is 13.8 degrees.