Mysterious golden chariot washes ashore in Indian beach

The residents of Srikakulam district in India's Andhra Pradesh state woke up to a pleasant surprise after a gold-coloured chariot washed ashore at Sunnapalli Sea Harbour on Tuesday.

The chariot, which is in the shape of a monastery, likely made its way to Indian shores from countries like Indonesia, Myanmar or Thailand, according to local reports. It has inscriptions in a foreign language dated 16-01-22.

The sea has been rough for the last couple of days due to cyclonic storm Asani, which will likely come near the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha before weakening into a cyclonic storm eventually.

The authorities claim that the massive chariot may have been washed up to the coast due to the high tidal waves created by the cyclone's impact.

The video of the chariot floating along the shores of Srikakulam has gone viral on social media. The authorities had to take the help of local fishermen to pull it out of the sea.

"It is made of tin sheet and given a gold coloured coating. It looked like a puja mandir (temple) on wheels," a police officer told Outlook.

The video shows a large number of people gathered around the shore to witness the spectacle and get a glimpse of the golden chariot.

"We suspect that the chariot was used for some movie shooting somewhere on the Indian coast and the high tidal activity may have brought it to Srikakulam shore," a local official told The Times of India. The police have registered a case to further investigate where the structure came from.

Meanwhile, the state has issued a 'red' warning for the coast due to Cyclone Asani, which has already triggered heavy rains in several parts of the state. The capital city of Visakhapatnam received heavy rain on Wednesday as the storm approached the Andhra coast.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the severe cyclonic storm "Asani" is likely to become a depression by Thursday.