INDIA: An Indian hermit claims to have survived sans food and water for over seven decades

Record ID: 1380958

  • Title: INDIA: An Indian hermit claims to have survived sans food and water for over seven decades
  • Date: 25th May 2010
  • Summary: DEVOTEES SITTING DEVOTEES SEEKING BLESSINGS FROM JANI JANI SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) HARIBHAI CHAUDHARY, A DEVOTEE OF PRAHLAD JANI ALIAS MATAJI, THE HERMIT, SAYING: "My father was an ardent devotee of Mataji (Prahlad Jani) since long; our entire family is his devotee. When Mataji was young, goddess Ambe (Hindu Goddess of power) appeared before him and touched his tong
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2010 03:18
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3352UKGQLVGAHPIBP8SJ8X2AM
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: An octogenarian Indian hermit in India's western city of Ahmedabad, who claims not to have eaten or drunk anything for seventy years and is still in perfect health has astonished the medical fraternity and physiologists in particular.
    Prahlad Jani alias Mataji (Mother Goddess), an 82 year old hermit, has become a reason of amazement in doctors and scientists after an observational study was conducted on him recently to verify his claims.
    Mataji claims, Hindu goddess Amba blessed him when he was just eight.
    He grew up in Charod village in Mehsana district of Gujarat state. He said that ever since he was blessed, he has meditated in the jungles and lived in caves of several places.
    Devotees of Mataji ascribe his extraordinary powers to the divinity he imbibed from Goddess Amba.
    "My father was an ardent devotee of Mataji (Prahlad Jani) since long; our entire family is his devotee. When Mataji was young, goddess Ambe (Hindu Goddess of power) appeared before him and touched his tongue with her finger after which he has never felt the need to either eat or drink. He has stayed and meditated for many years in forests in various parts of the country," said Haribhai Chaudhary, a devotee.
    Clad in a red robe and sporting a nose ring, bangles and crimson flowers in his hair Jani blesses his hundreds of devotees, sitting on a swing at his residence every day.
    Like many married Hindu women in the country, he also wears the vermilion mark on his forehead.
    His devotes also claim that due to his divine powers Mataji has treated many people of various ailments and assorted problems.
    In the month of April, doctors and scientist from the New Delhi-based Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences of India (DIPAS) that functions under the Ministry of Defence conducted various tests on him during an observational study to unravel the mystery behind the his claims.
    The devotees of Mataji assert that after the study, their belief in him has been supplemented further.
    "Whatever research has been done on Mataji by Sterling Hospital and DIPAS (Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences) that has increased our belief and the devotion of the entire society has increased in him many folds," added Haribhai Chaudhary, a devotee.
    Jani was also kept under observation in hospital for over two weeks and a number of tests were conducted to determine how his body has endured without consuming any food and water.
    Neurologist Sudhir Shah of the Sterling hospital where the study was conducted on Jani claimed that his survival and biological processes are miraculous.
    "I want to tell you that we are all watching a miracle in the science, or biology so to say, because it is already 108 hours since Mataji's admission into this hospital and he has not eaten anything; he has not drunk a little drop of any kind of liquid but more importantly, he has not passed a drop of water or stool. That makes science a little difficult. A person can live without food and water for three or four days," said Dr. Sudhir Shah.
    Addressing a press conference on April 29, Dr. Shah had also mentioned that Jani also generates urine in his bladder even though he does not drink water.
    He further said that when some tests on his brain were conducted, it revealed his brain resembles that of a 25-year-old young man.
    Dr. Shah recalled that Jani has claimed that there is a hole in his palate and through his head a drop or two of nectar passes that helps him survive.
    Doctors also revealed that initial test reports confirmed Jani's body has undergone a biological transformation due to yogic exercises.
    A team of about 35 doctors had studied the case and two 24-hour video cameras have been set up in his room while another camera follows him whenever he steps outside.
    Doctors also noted that was no sign of fatigue or any other problem experienced by the hermit, and he preferred using stairs to the elevator.
    Meanwhile, it will take around two months before there are any conclusive results from the numerous tests conducted on Jani.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register