Ever Seen Water Flowing In ‘Reverse Gravity’? This Video Is For You

It goes without saying that as per laws of gravity, water flows downwards instead of upwards, which is why we see rivers starting from high up mountains and then flowing downwards. However, a small village in Chhattisgarh has now gone viral for having a stream that flows upwards, or at least appears so. On Tuesday, content creator Rajat Jethi shared a video of this very stream located in Mainpar village. In the clip, Jethi demonstrates the flow of water by putting a leaf in the water which floats with the water upwards.

Jethi shared this clip on April 23, and so far, it has garnered more than 3.7 lakh likes. An Instagram user commented, “India is not for Newton.” Many people, however, argued that the phenomenon could be a natural optical illusion created by the surrounding hills. Making this point, a person said, “Its illusion due to mountains nearby.. and topography.” Another individual noted, “That’s not possible. It’s an optical illusion and it happens in multiple locations.”

A user also drew similarities to Ladakh’s famous magnetic hill located on the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar National Highway and wrote, “It’s an illusion bro just like Ladakh magnetic hill.” The magnetic hill gives one an illusion that their car or vehicle is being pulled upwards automatically, even if one stops driving. However, this “upward pull” effect is just an optical illusion caused by the layout of the hills that make a small stretch of hills appear uphill, even though it is actually downhill. Since the road on this “magnetic hill” is downwards, the vehicles automatically get pulled down, even as it gives an impression that they are moving upwards.

It is highly possible that Ulta Pani is also an optical illusion. So far, there has been no clear answer about what causes the stream to move upwards. Perhaps in the coming years, geologists will come up with an explanation. Until then, it will remain a mystery. After being a relatively unknown location, in recent years, Ulta Pani has become a thriving local attraction with people trekking to the stream to see the “gravity-defying” water.