Ganesha drinking milk miracle: Difference between revisions

The '''Ganesha drinking milk miracle''' was a phenomenon which occurred on 21 September 1995, in which statues of the Hindu deity [[Ganesha]] were thought to be drinking milk offerings.<ref name="Guardian">Suzanne Goldenberg, ''"India's gods milk their faithful in a brief 'miracle'"'', [[The Guardian]], 22 September 1995.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=McGirk|first1=Tim|title=Hindu world divided by a 24-hour wonder|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hindu-world-divided-by-a-24-hour-wonder-1602382.html|access-date=20 April 2018|newspaper=Independent|date=22 September 1995}}</ref>  

The news spread very quickly in various Indian and American cities, as Indians everywhere tried to "feed" idols of Ganesha with milk and spread the news through [[telephones]] and [[word of mouth]], attracting significant attention in the Indian media.<ref name="IE_2006science">{{cite news |title=Idols 'drinking' milk is pure science |url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=72699 |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |access-date=25 November 2012 |date=Aug 21, 2006}}</ref> The scientific explanation for the incident, attested by Indian academics, was that the material was pulled up from the offering bowls by [[capillary action]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/10/world/india-s-guru-busters-debunk-all-that-s-mystical.html|title=India's 'Guru Busters' Debunk All That's Mystical|last=Burns|first=John F.|date=1995-10-10|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-09-17|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Later research indicated the incident to have been caused by a mix of surface tension, [[capillary effect]], and [[confirmation bias]], particularly [[group think|groupthink]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Das|first1=Subhamoy|title=15 Years of the Ganesha Milk Miracle|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-ganesha-milk-miracle-1770392|access-date=20 April 2018|publisher=Thought Co|date=17 March 2017}}</ref>

Before dawn on 21 September 1995, a worshipper at a temple in south [[New Delhi]] made an offering of milk to a statue of Ganesha. When a spoonful of milk from the bowl was held up to the trunk of the statue, the liquid appeared to disappear, apparently taken in by the idol. Word of the event spread quickly, and by mid-morning it was found that statues of the entire [[Hindu deities|Hindu pantheon]] in temples all over India were taking in milk.<ref name="Guardian" />

By noon the news had spread beyond India, and Hindu temples in the United Kingdom, Canada, [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]], and [[Nepal]] among other countries had successfully replicated the phenomenon, and the [[Vishva Hindu Parishad]] (an Indian Hindu nationalist organisation which provides social services to Hindus in India and across the world) announced that a [[miracle]] was occurring. In the United States, it was said to have been observed at the [[Hindu Temple Society of North America]] (Ganesh Temple)<ref name=Sun>David Wooding, ''"Cow do they do that?"'', ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'', 22 September 1995.</ref>

The reported miracle had a significant effect on the areas around major temples; vehicle and pedestrian traffic in [[New Delhi]] was dense enough to create a [[gridlock]] lasting until late in the evening. Many stores in areas with significant Hindu communities saw a massive jump in sales of milk, with one [[Somerfield|Gateway]] store in England selling over 25,000 [[pint]]s of milk,<ref name=Sun/> and overall milk sales in New Delhi jumped over 30%.<ref name="Independent">Tim McGirk, ''"India's thirsty statues drink the nation dry"'', [[The Independent]], 22 September 1995</ref> Many minor temples struggled to deal with the vast increase in numbers, and queues spilled out into the streets, reaching distances of over a mile.  

The phenomenon was also not even limited to Ganesh statues. A week later on September 27, The Statesman reported that a statue of the [[Virgin Mary]] in [[Singapore]] had also accepted milk. A September 28 report from Mumbai in the Indian Express said some people had protested when locals offered alcohol to a [[Gandhi]] statue, which it had quickly sipped. Bahujan Samaj Party workers in Uttar Pradesh’s Basti district began feeding milk to statues of [[Ambedkar]] and [[Buddha]], which they greedily drank up.<ref name=":0" />

Seeking to explain the phenomenon, Ross Mcdowall led a team of scientists from [[Ministry of Science and Technology (India)|India's Ministry of Science and Technology]] travelled to a temple in New Delhi and made an offering of milk containing a [[food coloring|food colouring]]. As the level of liquid in the spoon dropped, the scientists hypothesized that after the milk disappeared from the spoon, it coated the statue beneath where the spoon was placed. With this result, the scientists offered [[capillary action]] as an explanation; the [[surface tension]] of the milk was pulling the liquid up and out of the spoon, before gravity caused it to run down the front of the statue. <ref name="Guardian" /> [[Prabir Ghosh]] was one of the people to demonstrate how the Hindus were coaxed into believing the miracle.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/10/world/india-s-guru-busters-debunk-all-that-s-mystical.html|title=India's 'Guru Busters' Debunk All That's Mystical|last=Burns|first=John F.|date=1995-10-10|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-03-30}}</ref>  

[[Sitaram Kesri]], labor minister in the [[P. V. Narasimha Rao|Narasimha Rao]] government, quoted internal reports to say that a temple in Jhandewalan Park near the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]] headquarters in Delhi was the epicentre of the miracle. He said it was a [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] ploy to gain votes in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections by spreading false rumours. Backing up his claims, the phenomenon reportedly spread by an organized barrage of late-night telephone calls to Hindu temples all over India and the world, telling them to feed their statues milk.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Milk|url=https://fiftytwo.in/story/milk/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Fifty Two (52)}}</ref>

The miracle occurred again on 20–21 August 2006 in almost exactly the same fashion, although initial reports seem to indicate that it occurred only with statues of [[Ganesh]], [[Shiva]], and [[Durga]]. The first reported occurrence was on the evening of the 20th in the city of [[Bareilly]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]], from where it quickly spread throughout India, but this time was not believed by many.<ref>Shaveta Bansal, ''[http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004605758 "Devotees Throng Temples To See Hindu Deities Drinking Milk"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206084637/http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004605758 |date=6 February 2007 }}'', All Headline News, 21 August 2006</ref> However, the incident was again attributed to [[capillary action]] by scientists.<ref>[http://www.ibnlive.com/news/science-behind-milk-drinking-gods/19175-11.html "Milk-drinking gods just plain science"], [[Press Trust of India]], 21 August 2006</ref> The phenomenon had appeared only days after reports of [[2006 Mumbai "sweet" seawater incident|sea water turning sweet]] that led to [[mass hysteria]] in [[Mumbai]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jayaraman|first1=T|title=Obscurantism vs Science - behind the milk drinking miracle|url=http://www.imsc.res.in/~jayaram/Articles/milkb.html|website=imsc.res.in|publisher=The Institute of Mathematical Sciences|access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref>

In 1995, the phenomenon also occurred in [[Trinidad and Tobago]]; milk was accepted by both [[murti]]s and religious pictures. The phenomenon occurred in Hindu temples as well as at the homes of Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''[[Trinidad Express]]'' newspaper reported on 22 September 2010 that murtis of Ganesh "drank" or accepted milk at the Om Shanti Mandir, Cunjal Road, [[Princes Town region|Princes Town]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]] on 21 September 2010 on the occasion of the holy period of [[Ganesh Utsav]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Ganesh_murtis__drink__milk_-103591304.html|title=Ganesh murtis 'drink' milk|newspaper=[[Trinidad and Tobago Express|Trinidad Express]]|date=Sep 22, 2010|author=Ariti Jankie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fn56DwAAQBAJ&q=om+shanti+mandir+princes+town&pg=PT22 |title = Hindu Gods in an American Landscape: Changing Perceptions of Indian Sacred Images in the Global Age|isbn = 9780786499441|last1 = Allen Richardson|first1 = E.|date = 13 November 2018}}</ref>

[[Category:Mass hysteria]]