The Karni Mata Hindu temple was built by Maharajah Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata and the most intriguing aspect of it, is that it’s home for over 20.000 worshiped rats.

The legend behind this temple is that Karni Mata, a matriarch from the 14th century was a reincarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. at one point one of her clansmen’s child died and she tried to bring it back to life only to be told by Yama, the god of death that he had already reincarnated as a rat. Karni Mata struck a deal with Tama, that all her dead clansmen would reincarnate as rats, until they were ready to be born again into the tribe.

It’s a nice story but I can’t stop thinking about how that place must smell…

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Ivrea is a small town, about 40 minutes north of Turin, Italy. It isn’t a very animated settlement, but once a year, during the Orange Battle Carnival, Ivrea comes to life. the battle is an allegoric representation of the medieval insurrection of 1194, against the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick of Swabia. Masked, armored men throw oranges at the crowd who in turn throw them back at them, until the streets are covered by a carpet of squashed oranges that is sometimes even 30 cm thick…

As much fun as I’m sure this carnival is I have to wonder if those oranges, like the bananas in the banana wall, would have been more appreciated by some starving children in a third world country. But hey, that’s just me…

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Situated in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, in Sweeden, the Icehotel is one of the most fantastic tourist locations on the face of the Earth. Using pure, clear ice from the frozen Torne River, artists from all around the world come to Jukkasjärvi every year, to sculpt beautiful ice and snow structures. We are not aware of how spicy the prices are ( you can check here) but we’re sure it’s a unique experience that’s gotta be worth every penny!

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The Stipa-Caproni prototype aircraft was basically a venturi tube fitted with 120hp de Havilland Gypsy III engine and a propeller at the front end of the tube. It was built by Caproni in 1932 but it never went into mass production because…well, it didn’t really fly; the original test report says the strange plane only flew for a distance of 500m at a height of 5/6 meters. A unique replica of the odd looking flying machine is owned by Lynette Zuccoli, from Brisbane, Australia.

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Tough Guy is a traditional English challenge, in which the participants have to use every ounce of their energy just to get to the finish line. to give you an idea of how tough this event is, the promoters say that the US S.E.A.L.S. “Grinder” Assault Course is the only thing that barely comes close in terms of difficulty.

Photo: A-punkt/Wikimedia Commons

 

If you’re ever in New Zealand, don’t miss out the chance to visit Waitomo cave, the only place on Earth where the stars shine underground. Well ok, they’re not really stars, but thousands of glow-worms radiating their unmistakable luminescent light.

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Albino moose are very rare but they do exist, scientists say that 1 in 100.000 moose inherit this genetic trait. This moose has been spotted last week near the town of Whitefish, Montana, searching for food, with two other normal moose:

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Look at these pictures and tell me if this looks like a normal 6 month old baby…He’s from Iran, and at the tender age of six months he already weighs over 20 kilograms. He weighed a normal 3 kilograms at birth, but the mother says since then he started gaining very fast, because he was asking for food every hour. They look happy in the pictures, but they should do something about the child’s eating disorder until it’s too late…

Arowana is a tropical fish, living in the quiet waters of lakes and rivers. It varies from 60 to 120cm in length, and still manages to leap up to 3 meters above the water. The most fascinating thing about the Arowana is that it is a mouth brooder, it is capable of carrying hundreds of eggs in its mouth and, even after they hatch, the little fish live in the mother’s mouth for a considerable time before they venture out on their own.

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Ashes is a 13 year old chimpanzee that has literally no hair on its body. When he was born, Ashes had a beautiful fur, but by the time he turned one, he was completely bald. Looking at his arms I can understand why a chimp could easily rip a human’s arms off if it wanted to, he’s just a huge pile of muscles.

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How many bananas does it take to make a work of art? According to graphic designer, Stefan Sagmeister, the answer is 7200. He has a wall of 7200 stacked bananas on display in New York City, at 76 Grand Street, along with many other of his masterpieces, but if you are considering going to see it live, I suggest you hurry, I don’t even want to imagine what it’s going to smell like on February 23rd, when the exhibition closes, those bananas look a little too ripe.

Here are some photos if you can’t go and see it live:

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A band of young Ukrainian students found an unusual way to commemorate the death of one of their countries most brilliant surgeons, a doctor Pirogov, who apparently, revolutionized national medicine. They organized a funeral commemorative dinner in one of Kiev’s subway trains inviting everyone to commemorate the carrier and accomplishments of their hero.

As you can see from these photos, the food was pretty scarce but vodka and carton-box wine were abundant. Now that’s good eating!

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No matter how much you love swimming I’m willing to bet the farm you wouldn’t dare do it here…unless you have a death wish!

This is the Citarum river, in Indonesia, possibly the most polluted river in the world, due to mankind’s greed and insensibility regarding environment. Once one of the most beautiful waters in Asia, now the Citarum is a graveyard of debris, where locals, who can no longer fish, risk their lives scavenging for bottles and anything else they might sell for a small profit.

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Officials have decided! According to a report, Indonesian commuters riding on the roofs of trains will be sprayed with colored liquid so that security officers can identify and arrest them.

Rush hours are the most stressful. Electric trains that link Indonesian capital to the towns nearby are full of passengers during rush hours, with many sitting on the roofs due to a lack of space inside or to avoid paying.

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If you’re ever in Zimbabwe, don’t miss the chance to take a swim in The Devil’s Pool, a small lagoon, enclosed by rocks, on the edge of one of the biggest, most beautiful waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls. Set on Livingstone Island, at a height of 103 meters, Devil’s Pool is definitely one of the most surreal locations on Earth.

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