INDIA: Japanese woman seeking salvation meditates inside a pit in India for 72 hours

Record ID: 1377137

  • Title: INDIA: Japanese woman seeking salvation meditates inside a pit in India for 72 hours
  • Date: 19th January 2007
  • Summary: (L!3) ALLAHBAD, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA (JANUARY 18, 2007) (ANI) MAKESHIFT TENT ERECTED IN NORTHERN ALLAHABAD FOR THE SALVATION PROCEDURE UNDERTAKEN BY JAPANESE WOMAN, KEIKO AJKAWA PHOTOGRAPH OF AJKAWA MORE OF MAKESHIFT TENT CUSHION LYING INSIDE THE NINE BY NINE PIT DUG OUT FOR THE SALVATION PROCEDURE AJKAWA PROCEDING FOR HER SALAVATION PROCESS FOLLOWED BY PILOT BABA, HER GURU MORE OF AJKAWA GATHERING OF THE FOLLOWERS AJKAWA GOING DOWN TO THE NINE BY NINE FEET PIT AJKAWA SITTING INSIDE THE PIT THE PIT BEING COVERED WITH A TIN SHEET SOIL BEING PUT OVER THE CLOTH LAID OVER THE TIN SHEET FOLLOWERS (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PILOT BABA, KEIKO AJKAWA'S GURU, SAYING (PARTLY IN ENGLISH): "In this process one has to turn inwards. The breathing process needs to be controlled by changing it from exhalation to inhalation only. She has half an hour to get total control of herself. After that we close the pit." FOLLOWERS CHANTING
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2007 12:38
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVADSTV0Q0MWEPIDKCRO89JRVK79
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A Japanese woman undergoes intense meditation inside a pit for three days in India's northern Allahabad in a bid to achieve enlightenment.
    A Hindu festival on the banks of the sacred river Ganges is drawing all sorts of crowds from naked holymen to foreigners seeking salvation. Keiko Ajkawa, a Japanese woman in her mid-forties is undertaking a three-day penance inside a pit to attain salvation. Under the guidance of her Guru Pilot Baba, Ajkawa would sit inside a nine-by-nine feet pit and meditate to achieve enlightenment, as prescribed in Hindu holy texts. Baba said Ajkawa would get half an hour to take total control of her breathing before the pit got covered. "In this process one has to turn inwards. The breathing process needs to be controlled by changing it from exhalation to inhalation only. She has half an hour to get total control of herself. After that we close the pit," he said. Ajkawa would remain without food and water for 72 hours. Tourists from all over the world have flocked to India to witness the "Ardh Kumbh Mela" or Half Pitcher Festival during which at least 70 million brave near-freezing temperatures to wash away their sins in the icy waters of the Ganges River in northern India. The festival takes place at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythical Saraswati river.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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