The Most Mysterious Ancient Temples Ever Built

Ancient temples are structures that served spiritual or religious purposes for our ancestors who practiced certain old religions like Hinduism or Buddhism. Countless of these ancient temples, which have been built centuries and even thousands of years ago, can be found in different parts of the globe. While these structures are highly-regarded today for their stunning beauty and their cultural significance, there are those among us who see these temples mainly as an enigma.

Some experts in history and archaeology are impressed at the obvious complexity required to build these ancient temples. And considering that they were made at a time when people did not have the luxury, efficiency and precision of modern technology, it is a wonder how our ancestors achieved such a feat that some consider being next to impossible. 

However, aside from the glaring question of how these ancient temples were built, these structures are also a subject of several other mysteries involving their origins, the real and unknown purpose of their construction, and so much more.

And so for this video, let’s talk about five (5) of the most mysterious ancient temples ever built on Earth. 

#1 — The Konark Sun Temple in India

Situated in Orissa, India, this 13th-century Sun Temple is said to have been built by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty back in 1255 C.E. What’s interesting about this temple complex is that it is constructed to emulate the shape of a massive chariot, and the temple’s 24 elaborately carved wheels which are pulled by seven horses are some of its most distinctive features. These wheels are believed to function as sundials, which can be utilized in the precise and accurate calculation of time through the shadows cast by the wheels’ spokes. 

The majority of the Konark Sun Temple is now in ruins, and local legend asserts that the collapse of the main sanctum was caused by the extraction of the 52-ton magnetized rod located at its center. They also say that this large magnet allowed for the mid-air levitation of the sun temple’s main statue.

#2 — The Temple of the Feathered Serpent Temple in Mexico

This is the third largest pyramid in Teotihuacan, a pre-Columbian cultural complex located in central Mexico. The temple’s construction dates back to 200 AD, and its six-level step pyramid is made from hundreds of sculpted stone blocks and largely features the earliest-known representations of a Mesoamerican “feathered serpent” deity, often associated with the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. 
 
The Temple of the Feathered Serpent Temple is filled with many mysteries, the most notable of which is the discovery of more than a hundred sacrificial burials at the site. It is believed that these victims were sacrificed as a dedication of the temple, and the way the bodies were grouped and buried has been the subject of much speculation. In 2011, researchers from the National University of Mexico also found a tunnel network under the temple, some of which lead to sealed funeral chambers believed to contain the remains of the early rulers of Teotihuacan. Then in 2013, a team of archaeologists found hundreds of gold metallic spheres in two of the chambers beneath the pyramid, but the meaning behind them remains unknown to this day. 

#3 — The Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in India

Situated in Thiruvananthapuram, India, this Hindu temple is dedicated to Vishnu, the “preserver” among the principal deities of Hinduism. It is considered to be the richest Hindu temple on the face of the earth as its underground vaults have been found to contain gold and jewels amounting to around $22 billion.

Out of several vaults, one special vault referred to as “Vault B” remains unopened and is probably the most mysterious chamber in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The entrance to the vault is sealed with an iron door with two large cobra-like structures guarding it. They say that beyond Vault B, there is a hidden inner chamber with walls made of solid gold and is believed to contain undiscovered treasure that could be worth at least $1 trillion. However, many are against opening this vault as doing so without saying the correct mystic chant would purportedly result to the descent of great misfortune upon mankind. 

#4 — The Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Also known as the “Capital Temple,” this temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia was built in dedication to the Hindu deity Vishnu by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century before it eventually transformed into a Buddhist temple. This site is regarded as the largest religious monument on the planet, spanning more than 400 acres and is filled with several buildings including a three-level pyramid with nine towers that exceed 60 meters in height. 

The pyramid is said to represent Mount Meru, a mythical mountain in Hindu mythology believed to be the “home of the gods.” Interestingly, myths about the site also say that the temple was strategically built to be in harmony with the universe, with some suggesting that the Angkor Wat served several astronomical purposes. Another fascinating feature of the Angkor Wat is its numerous depictions of apsaras - or female spirits - and devatas - or lesser deities, with more than 1,796 depictions of devatas found in different parts of the temple. 

These details about the temple complex are some of the reasons why some people cannot shake off the belief that the Angkor Wat is a replication or depiction of a distant world where powerful and enlightened beings that once roamed and ruled the Earth come from.

#5 — The Kailasa Temple in India

Also known as the Kailasanatha Temple, this ancient Hindu temple is one of the 32 structures of the famous Ellora Caves in Maharashtra, India. The temple is also one of the biggest ancient architectural monuments in the world that was carved out of a “megalith” or a single, massive rock. Its construction is generally believed to have been commissioned by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I sometime in the 8th century CE although other experts suggest that the Kailasa temple along with the other structures that make up the Ellora Caves are much older. 

What fascinates most people about the Kailasa Temple is the manner in which it was constructed. Referred to as “vertical excavation,” they say that to build this ancient structure, carvers of the time had to start at the top of the megalith and work their way downward, which is no easy feat, especially when you consider the complexity and scale of the structure. Thousands of tons of rock had to be excavated and carved out, so it is a wonder how this was achieved with the primitive tools available at the time such as hammers, picks and chisels. 

Even if we set aside the consideration that our ancestors may have possessed superior technology, or that these sites may have been built in honor of powerful ancient extraterrestrial beings that once visited the Earth and ruled humanity in the distant past, it cannot be denied these ancient temples are, more importantly, testament to the possibility that our ancestors are truly far more capable of doing amazing things than we give them credit for. 

The Kailasa Temple, the Angkor Wat, and many other ancient structures are immortalized demonstrations of what mankind can achieve when people put together their minds, hearts and hands in working towards the accomplishment of a goal or an ideal that is much bigger than themselves.

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SOURCES:
https://www.ancient-code.com/ancient-engineering-wonders-4-of-the-most-mysterious-ancient-temples-ever-built/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konark_Sun_Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_the_Feathered_Serpent,_Teotihuacan#Burials_at_the_pyramid
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-archaeology/hundreds-mysterious-spheres-discovered-beneath-temple-mexico-00400
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2015/11/13/a-one-trillion-dollar-hidden-treasure-chamber-is-discovered-at-indias-sree-padmanabhaswam-temple/#41a51b01ba6a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/mysteries-angkor-wat-00310
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kailasa_temple,_Ellora
https://www.ancient-code.com/10-mind-boggling-images-kailasa-temple-prove-ancient-advanced-technology/

Malta’s Cart Ruts - Proof of Ancient Advanced Civilizations?

The surface of the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Maltese archipelago is known for the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of parallel lines that appear to have been carved deep into the country’s stony ground. These ancient Maltese tracks – or what some refer to as “cart ruts” – have been found in obvious locations as well as the most unusual places – be it under the sea, off the coast, or at cliff edges. This has led many to believe that the grooves in Malta’s bedrock are of prehistoric origin. These cart tracks are also deemed to be unique, and they continue to be an enigma to this very day, as they have not been satisfactorily explained by those who have extensively studied them.

Brief Information on the Cart Ruts Found in Malta

Cart ruts are man-made dual channels or parallel tracks and grooves sunken in rock. The ruts themselves can vary greatly in their size – some can be very deep and narrow, others can be shallow and wide, and the rest could be anything in between. They are carved in both smooth and rough rocky surface. And like in the case of the cart ruts found on the surface of the islands of Malta, these parallel grooves can be etched into a limestone bedrock.

In Malta, the cart ruts appear to be in single pairs or in groups, and they are typically perfectly parallel. These ancient channels have an approximate depth of 8 to 15 centimeters, but in some places, they could be as deep as about 60 centimeters. The ruts have a standard gauge of around 1.4 meters, but this can also vary by several centimeters. Some of the tracks cross each other while others branch out to form junctions, which creates an illusion that resembles a large railway switching yard. These grooves run through the island’s valleys but they have also been found on the hills, while some have disappeared into the Mediterranean Sea.

While the cart ruts on Malta are impressive structures, they do not exclusively exist in this country. In fact, similar formations can also be found in Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, Greece, Southern France and Cyrenaica. However, not all of these dual channels in different parts of Europe are of the same origin, neither do they all fulfill the same purpose.

Examples of the Maltese Cart-Ruts

In Malta itself, there are potentially as many as 150 sites that have cart ruts, including the ones found in St. Paul’s Bay, Naxxar, San Gwann and Bidnija. However, the most well-known site in the archipelago is the Misrah Ghar il-Kbir, which is more popularly referred to as the “Clapham Junction.”

The Clapham Junction is located on the southern side of the Maltese island and features an enormous number of tracks, making it the largest concentration of cart ruts in the country. The site was given the nickname “Clapham Junction” because the network of overlapping cart tracks on the surface resembled the busy rail station of the same name in London. The sunken grooves at the site have varying gauges, depths and widths. They are also shaped differently, with some narrowing at the bottom, while others remain flat.

Possible Dates When the Cart Ruts in Malta Were Created

Some researchers have connected the mysterious tracks to the temple sites found in the islands of Malta and Gozo. More than 30 stone temple complexes as well as other ancient structures on the Maltese island were dated to have been built from 5500 to 2500 BC, making them some of the oldest free-standing monuments on the planet that we currently know about. It is even believed that the cart ruts might turn out to be the proof some experts have been looking for in answering the puzzle of how these ancient temples were built during what was supposed to be a primitive time.

It is also hypothesized that these manmade dual channels were created by settlers who arrived in Malta from Sicily sometime in the beginning of the country’s Bronze Age, or around 2000 B.C. However, Maltese archaeologist Anthony Bonanno has also presented an alternative theory about the date of the cart ruts on the island, suggesting that the tracks could be Phoenician constructions that were made more recently, possibly in the 7th century B.C.

How the Cart Ruts in Malta Were Created

How the Cart Ruts in Malta Were Created

As to how the ruts in Malta were made or created, some archaeologists assumed that they were inadvertently carved by using some form of vehicles that were possibly wheeled. These carts, sleds or skids could have carried heavy loads, and with people repeatedly using the same path or route for decades or even centuries, the island’s limestone ground was inevitably scarred over time as a consequence.

However, some have objected to the hypothesis that all of the ruts on Malta were caused by wheeled carts or sleds carrying heavy goods. They argued that some of the tracks appeared to be too perfectly formed as if they might have been carved by hand using special tools. One such individual is author and journalist Graham Hancock, and in his book, “Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization,” he said:

“It is certain, too, that they were not simply worn away in the tough limestone by the passage of cart-wheels over periods of centuries, as many have wrongly theorized; on the contrary, there is no proof whatsoever that cart-wheels ever ran in these ruts - which were initially carved out of the bedrock with the use of tools.”

The Purpose Behind the Cart Ruts in Malta

If the people residing on the island of Malta created and deliberately shaped these enigmatic ruts, then these channels obviously played a valuable purpose in the lives of these ancient people. However, what exactly that role is have been lost with the passage of time, and experts who have allotted much of their time and a significant portion of their lives to study these cart ruts have yet to universally agree on what their original purpose could be.  And because these experts have failed to come into an agreement on this matter, alternative theories have gained popularity in providing more out-of-this-world yet equally-fascinating answers to this mystery.

Theories on the Purpose of Malta’s Cart Ruts

Many different theories have been presented in attempt to provide the most plausible answers to the mysterious questions of when these car ruts on Malta were created, how they were created, and why they were created in the first place.

One of the wildest speculations of what the cart ruts’ intended purpose could be is that the they are the tracks of outer space landing craft. There also those who believe that the scars on Malta’s milestone bedrock might be coded messages to the gods. But a more popular yet also far-fetched theory is that archipelago of Malta is actually an existing part of the legendary lost city of Atlantis.

Of course, there are also other theories that have been presented over the years, which many people find to be a lot easier to consider and believe. One theory is that the cart ruts in Malta were constructed for the purpose of transporting agricultural produce, and that the tracks were designed in such a way that would have allowed cows pulling these carts to get back home on their own.

Australian archaeologist Claudia Sagona from Birmingham University has a different idea on what the ancient channels found in this country are for. Sagona argued that the cart ruts were actually irrigation ditches from the Stone Age. According to her, in ancient times, torrential rains had washed away the island’s topsoil, and so, the farmers of that time had no other choice but to invent new ways of tending to their crops. She suggested that the Maltese farmers carved this network of trenches into the island’s limestone bedrock to channel away and conserve rain water, and to protect the soil.

Another likely purpose of the cart ruts is that they transported stones from ancient quarries across the island. This theory was suggested by archaeologist Anthony Bonanno, and a few of those who conducted a detailed survey of the Clapham Junction agreed that many of the channels found on the Maltese island are associated with the nearby quarries of the time. Transportation of stones from these quarries via the cart ruts found in different parts of the island supposedly made the construction of the ancient temples in Malta possible. This network of tracks is also believed to have been utilized by people for the exportation of quarried stones to Africa.

Though some of these theories are undeniably appealing and quite popular, none of them are completely devoid of flaw in their line of reasoning. And so, until now, there is still no consensus on what the original purpose of the cart ruts on Malta could be, especially since experts supporting one theory have cleverly presented arguments casting doubt on the plausibility of another theory, and vice versa.

For now, there is no doubt that the enigmatic cart ruts found in Malta will continue to remain unsolved in the foreseeable future in terms of its true purpose, the exact means through which they were formed, or the accurate dates of when these tracks were created and how long they were regularly used by the ancient civilization that once lived there.

And while not many are willing to entertain the idea that the cart ruts on Malta are proof that a highly advanced ancient civilization once dominated the area, these ancient networks of parallel trenches and channels are, at the very least, a testament and reminder that perhaps our ancient ancestors are more advanced and enlightened than we give them credit for. Besides, even without insisting its archaeological merits, it remains undeniable that these ancient tracks are truly a fascinating as well as a puzzling sight to behold.

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Sources:

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/malta-cart-tracks
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/04/arts.artsnews
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http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/maltacartruts.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misra%C4%A7_G%C4%A7ar_il-Kbir
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/02/the-mysterious-cart-tracks-of-malta.html
http://www.messagetoeagle.com/unknown-highly-advanced-civilization-created-maltas-cart-ruts-with-sophisticated-machinery/
http://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/prehistoric-lines-across-malta-cart-ruts-misrah-ghar-il-kbir-020312?nopaging=1
http://www.cartrutsmalta.com/what-are-cart-ruts/
http://philipcoppens.com/cartruts.html
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/02/the-mysterious-cart-tracks-of-malta.html