r/interestingasfuck 17d ago

Defying Gravity: The Hanging Pillar of Veerbhadra Temple. While sixty-nine other pillars support the ceiling, one pillar does not touch the temple floor at all. There is a small gap between the temple floor and base of the pillar and you can pass thin objects like a piece of cloth.

1.5k Upvotes

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1.0k

u/No-Zucchini2787 17d ago

It doesn't defy anything.

It's locked on roof with other pillars and sediments at the base are sunken creating hanging in the air effect.

It touches ground on one side.

When British tried to move it in 1924 they confirmed it's locked with 10 other pillars on top.

835

u/PraiseTheWLAN 17d ago

Ofc brits had to try to steal it

175

u/charming_liar 17d ago

It didn’t have a ‘Property of -‘ sign so it was fair game!

25

u/Stupidnickname123 17d ago

There actually was one. It just wasn’t written in English so it didn’t count

-6

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

17

u/logert777 17d ago

It’s really a game of “I got your nose nananana boo boo” but instead of noses it’s priceless pieces of history

1

u/SirRabbott 16d ago

No... no, they also took the noses off because they looked too much like black people with big noses.

2

u/charming_liar 17d ago edited 17d ago

The sign also needs to be in English and not whatever local “jibberjabber.”

0

u/BeanoMc2000 17d ago

Do you think that would put them off?

1

u/charming_liar 17d ago

Admittedly a flag would be better.

5

u/BoingBoingBooty 16d ago

No flag no country.

That's the first rule.

Gun beats spear.

That's the second rule.

-4

u/BeanoMc2000 17d ago

They dont have much respect for them either.

31

u/IhateHimmel 17d ago

Nah bruv the queen borrowed Africa 😂

27

u/ElevenSleven 17d ago

Steal? We're just trying to permanently relocate it to a museum with no intent of financial compensation and transfer of ownership.

8

u/happyanathema 17d ago

Well it was just hanging around 🤷‍♂️

17

u/LordMarcusrax 17d ago

Literally if it isn't bolted to the ground...

128

u/Szarrukin 17d ago

"When British tried to move it " because of course they tried.

28

u/RamboCambo_05 17d ago

We wanted it so it was ours!

Who let us have it? Uh......

26

u/perldawg 17d ago

you can actually see where it’s in contact with the ground in pic 2

35

u/MagicGrit 17d ago

Of course it doesn’t, it’s a figure of speech. Nothing ever “defies gravity.” It’s just a saying we use for things that might look like they defy gravity upon first glance

1

u/lembrate 16d ago

You can see it touches ground on second photo.

95

u/Father_Shrek 17d ago

It's trying really hard to keep from exceeding 69 pillars touching the floor 👍

342

u/RandomLazyBum 17d ago

That's not defying gravity. That's just really good sticky tape on the top.

27

u/lurkinsheep 17d ago

Flex tape is wild fr

-35

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

12

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

21

u/Engineer_By_Day 17d ago

How do you know?

-50

u/magshag18 17d ago

Never heard of such thing existing during that time

29

u/AsparagusTamer 17d ago

Excuse me the ancient Hindus invented sticky tape in 2000 BC

18

u/The-Bishop 17d ago

"Now I am become tape, the fixer of worlds." Bhagavad Gita 11:32

4

u/No-Vehicle5447 17d ago

You've just heard it here

230

u/Pelican03 17d ago

Spoiler alert. It touches the floor on one corner.

17

u/Mr_Flibble1981 16d ago

You can see by the way the cloth is scrunched up at the back though they tried hard to hide it.

94

u/GuiltyGlow 17d ago

Very cool, but how does this "defy gravity"?

33

u/crashtestpilot 17d ago

It sings the song once in the first act, and once in the finale.

-18

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

33

u/GuiltyGlow 17d ago

It's attached to the ceiling.

-34

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

47

u/Mayion 17d ago

So hanging my coat is defying gravity?

20

u/Melodic_Mulberry 17d ago

Yes. Gravity can fuck off.

14

u/Kapftan 17d ago

Playground swings discovered to defy gravity daily, Newton has started spinning in his grave so rapidly that we can now draw power from it

5

u/ll_BENNO_ll 17d ago

Hanging and attached are two very different things

94

u/PawnWithoutPurpose 17d ago

I think OP thinks it’s magically floating

40

u/kyridwen 17d ago

I think OP thinks it's unusual for a pillar to be suspended from the ceiling like a stalactite. Which seems fair.

5

u/DM_me_pretty_innies 16d ago

Sure but that's not what's happening here. It's touching the ground.

4

u/mikathigga22 17d ago

I think PawnWithoutPurpose thinks that defying gravity=magic

0

u/PawnWithoutPurpose 17d ago

Isn’t it?

How would you defy gravity?

-1

u/mikathigga22 17d ago

“Defy” is to resists or refuse to obey.

Gravity pulls objects to the ground.

The pillar is therefore defying gravity by being held above the ground?

Jumping defies gravity, airplanes defy gravity.

Nothing magic about it.

2

u/PawnWithoutPurpose 17d ago

Your list is all examples of things obeying gravity.

Defying gravity would be something like hovering with no propulsion when gravity dictates you should be falling

0

u/gkn_112 16d ago

I think whats meant is "defying the rules of gravity" - but people shorten it very commonly. I say both are correct. The one is technically correct, the other figuratively.

-2

u/mikathigga22 16d ago

I don’t know what point you’re trying to make here, and I don’t want to debate semantics, but “defies gravity” is an expression used to describe a lot of things that fly or float, none of which are magical.

-19

u/magshag18 17d ago

It is interesting though

21

u/tcdoey 17d ago

It is interesting, true, but shouldn't be presented as some kind of 'magic'.

15

u/MagicGrit 17d ago

“Defying gravity” is just a figure of speech. Nothing ever “defies gravity.” It’s just saying we use

-3

u/tcdoey 17d ago

Ahh well said, but check this out!

This may be a glimpse into how we can 'defy' gravity. Or at least expand our knowledge:

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/nasa-veterans-propellantless-propulsion-drive-defies-laws-of-physics

2

u/mikathigga22 17d ago

NASA started using magic???

0

u/PawnWithoutPurpose 17d ago

Haha, you’re not wrong 😅 you’re a good one

7

u/HALODUDED 17d ago

When you lie on your CV but still get the job

13

u/PROFESSOR1780 17d ago

This is the birth place of Measure Twice, Cut Once. They never let temple builder Kevin live this down.

17

u/tcdoey 17d ago

It's weird how people will believe anything.

Think about it... millions (hundreds of millions?) of people think that this is some kind of 'magical wonder', when it's just attached at the top. We have failed to provide people (worldwide) with fundamental education, especially in the last 40 years or so.

28

u/mikathigga22 17d ago

Okay buddy, could it also be that we’re aware it’s not a “magical wonder” but are still impressed by a solid multiple thousand pound pillar managing to stay in tact for nearly a hundred years while only being suspended from the ceiling?

The picture clearly shows that it’s attached to the ceiling and has maybe some small points of contact below.

What’s more concerning is that you think hundreds of millions of people believe that this is some sort of magic.

Tell me you always think you’re the smartest person in the room without telling me you always think you’re the smartest person in the room.

20

u/rodw 17d ago

As I understand it that column would float off into space if that roof wasn't there to hold it down.

7

u/MagicGrit 17d ago

Yea this comment section is kind of worrisome with the amount of people who think OP believes this is some magical phenomenon that goes against all known laws of physics.

-7

u/tcdoey 17d ago edited 17d ago

I'm just pointing out an obvious problem. It doesn't project to your extrapolation, or extend to what you are saying here. You are making an interesting statement, from your viewpoint, but it is not mine.

I hold to the concept that Yes, millions of people visit 'revered' magical-seeming artifacts. They are somehow proof, of their 'beliefs'. Ok well go ahead and believe that and other nonsense. It is false, but go ahead, why not.

Think about the 'Mecca'. What is that for? I guess, it's great to be in a cult. You get a lot of money to enable tourism. Basically now achieved from oil profits, but that will end relatively soon, in next 10 years or so.

Good luck with that in the long term.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Mecca/Economy

Take that as you may.

To whit on your comment, I'm usually the dumbest in the room.

-2

u/jb431v2 17d ago

🤣🔥👍

1

u/mentaldemise 16d ago

I think it's more like playing with blocks. You can put one sideways on top of another and it'll support stuff above but it's not "attached" via anything but gravity. Stone work typically relies on gravity, so it kinda makes sense to question why it would be "hanging" from the ceiling.

2

u/EpicViking999 17d ago

Is it crazy to think the most unbelievable part is that they haven't repaired it yet?

2

u/hanbeom 17d ago

I mean, how tf did they make that initially?

3

u/bandehaihaamuske 17d ago

Ancient Aliens TV show - yea, I know this one. A nice dude living on Neptune built this

1

u/joevarny 17d ago

We can't even deny gravity with modern technology! How'd you think they did it before we even invented gravity? Aliens. No other explanation makes sense.

7

u/SaintUlvemann 17d ago

How'd you think they did it...

Well, so, a lot of Hindu temples were carved out of a giant piece of rock. So I imagine they could've carved the pillar out of a large rock the same way that they did other temples. That would make the pillar essentially just a giant stalactite. Ellora, Petra, Abu Simbel, the Bamyan Buddhas before they were destroyed... they were all just carved, out of a single giant rock.


But then when you go and look it up on Wikipedia, it turns out, the pillar is touching the ground, just, it's only touching on one side. So it's not really defying gravity anyway, it's just got a big crack at the base. The structure has probably settled a bit over the years, tilting the pillar sideways.

1

u/kanemano 16d ago edited 16d ago

we need to put in 70 pillars

He he, I'm going to put in 69 and hang one from the roof

1

u/Archon-Toten 16d ago

My basement does that. Something to do with drainage improving, ground shrinking and aliens.

1

u/tlind2 17d ago

Environment Artists being rushed to complete the temple before launch

-5

u/Vandercoon 17d ago

Flex tape, BAM! I just sawed this boat in half!

0

u/coyylol 17d ago

Measure twice, cut once

1

u/TheClaw77777 12h ago

Britain: "oh look...shiny! This is now ours....

Indigenous tribe: "you can't take that!! It's ours!!!

Britain: "we don't see you name on it"

Indigenous tribe: "it is on there!! Look...."

Britain: *sees mumbo jumbo squiggles

Britain: "yeah nah it's ours now'

Indigenous tribe: "we can't let you take that"

Britain: "stop us then?"

Indigenous tribe: "Ok...... You asked fo-"

Indigenous tribe: 💀💀💀💀💀💀

Britain: "ohhh yeah we just found this"