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On September 21, 1995, something strange started happening in India: statues of Hindu gods began to drink milk. One worshipper offered a spoonful of milk to a statue of Lord Ganesha, and the milk apparently disappeared as if the statue was drinking it. News spread across the nation (and then the world), with Hindus flocking to temples and feeding milk to statues. The event was widespread in temples around the world, but, oddly enough, seemed to end within a matter of hours — in most places, it stopped the same day that it started. Media attention was intense, including coverage at the New York Times and the BBC.
The phenomenon occurred again in August 2006, causing a fresh round of media attention — and a fresh round of skepticism.
During the original event, scientists tested the miracle by “feeding” milk containing food coloring to statues in a New Delhi temple. They hypothesized that the milk was being pulled from spoons via capillary action, and in fact was running down the front of the statue rather than disappearing. Video of the “miracle” seems to support this hypothesis, with many clear examples of milk running down the front of statues, and pools of milk around statues. See for yourself in this YouTube video:
Despite the scientific explanation, many believers still regard it as a miracle. See, for example, milkmiracle.com, which includes video, a guestbook, and an FAQ. Skeptics see the incident as an example of mass hysteria. See Wikipedia on the Hindu Milk Miracle for more information.
Comments (15)
Comment
I think Ben Stein may yet come out as pro-miracle.
posted by markus on 3-12-2008 at 7:26 pm
Wow. Is it even called “skepticism” when you SEE that something isn’t happening?? Sad, sad, sad hysterics.
posted by adrienne on 3-12-2008 at 7:46 pm
I was actually a kid back in India when this happened (1995) and yes, I did go to the temple with a spoonful of milk :D .. As the video shows, it was mass hysteria and it did look like the statue was drinking milk!! What added to the effect was that most statues were white and one couldn’t really see the milk going down the statue in the front.
posted by n00b on 3-12-2008 at 8:00 pm
I was wondering who the first person was that thought of feeding milk to a statue and then the wikipedia article handily answered that for me — “Before dawn, a Hindu worshipper at a temple in south New Delhi made an offering of milk to a statue of Lord Ganesha.” But it still makes me wonder – is spoon feeding idols a regular thing? For me it seems kind of like those baby dolls that you could “feed” milk or something in a bottle — not necessary, per se, but possibly very satisfying all the same?
posted by mary on 3-12-2008 at 9:07 pm
Mary — according to milkmiracle.com, “an otherwise ordinary man in New Delhi dreamt that Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God of Wisdom, craved a little milk. Upon awakening, he rushed in the dark before dawn to the nearest temple, where a skeptical priest allowed him to proffer a spoonful of milk to the small stone image. Both watched in astonishment as it disappeared, magically consumed by the God.”
posted by Higgins on 3-12-2008 at 9:15 pm
It’s not common to feed statues using spoons. The common thing is to fill up a glass and then slowly pour the milk out on the statues head. So using a spoon was not what anyone tries to do.
posted by n00b on 3-13-2008 at 8:26 am
I too remember going to the temple and even trying this on the idols at home. None of us really believed it, yet with everyone claiming that they saw it happen with their own eyes, one was left with a sense of doubt – maybe it does happen with some statues and not with others etc.
posted by septer on 3-13-2008 at 9:54 am
You know, I feel the same way about this as I do about people claiming to see the face of Jesus (Euro-Jesus, that is) on a cinnamon roll, or Mary in a sidewalk stain. So what? What is it supposed to prove? The Lord hath dominion over the pastries of the earth? The Blessed Virgin is seated by the Father interceding for the Department of Transportation? Ganesha just baked some killer cookies?
If stuff like this is the best miracles we can get, no wonder so many people are disappointed in God.
posted by Ira on 3-13-2008 at 12:53 pm
You know, I feel the same way about this as I do about people claiming to see the face of Jesus (Euro-Jesus, that is) on a cinnamon roll, or Mary in a sidewalk stain. So what? What is it supposed to prove? The Lord hath dominion over the pastries of the earth? The Blessed Virgin is seated by the Father interceding for the Department of Transportation? Ganesha just baked some killer cookies?
If stuff like this is the best miracles we can get, no wonder so many people are disappointed in God.
posted by Ira on 3-13-2008 at 12:54 pm
Did anyone else notice that the quote on the “Hindu Milk miracle” page is from St. Bernadette? Kind of odd, considering how she is a Catholic saint… Just saying.
posted by Mary on 3-13-2008 at 3:40 pm
You may all scoff with all the ‘capilliary effect’ tehories abounding about this event, but how does anyone explain this action when it was also occurring on ‘brass’ figures, and through glass!!! People are quick to blame and slow to understand when ‘real’ miracles do occur. Maybe because it’s a ‘Hindu’ miracle – some may feel it can’t be real…
posted by Kishor on 5-1-2008 at 12:08 pm
I remember in Malaysia, we does the same.. 100 and more people was lining up to feed Ganesha in a house. The Ganesha was small, but the milk that we offered to him is Alot.. I duno where does the milk gone?
posted by Siva on 1-15-2009 at 12:16 am
I am a rationalist by nature, have a scientific education (BSc and MSc) and am not one to believe in things through blind faith. I’ve been brought up in a far from religious Hindu family in the UK. When the 1995 “miracle” was first reported on BBC news, my grandma decided to try and feed milk to her 3″ bronze statue of Ganesh (which had been in the home for many years). To her amazement the statue started to soak up the milk and continued to do so for the following 5 days, drinking far in excess of the volume of the statue, being fed by different members of the family and family friends, many of who were not religious. The statue was sat on a small steel tray. By the end of the 5 days there was a small pool of milk in the tray, where there had been some spillage, no more than 30 ml in total, compared to the pints and pints of milk the statue had drunk. After the 5th day, the statue stopped drinking and didn’t do so again, even though several attempts were made to feed it in the following weeks. I have no idea why or how this happened. The capillary action explanation does not explain how any bronze object can soak up a liquid far in excess of its volume, or why the drinking stopped all of sudden without any dramatic changes in temperature or environment (it was a comfortable room temperature throughout). It also doesn’t explain why the same event was reported all over the world at the same time or why statues made of very different materials were exhibiting the same behaviour. BTW I was not part of any mass hysteria, I was surrounded by several initially sceptical but equally dumbfounded family members!
posted by unblinkered on 2-15-2009 at 4:49 pm
I just like to confirm the situation described by my predecessor writer. I’ve been in Nairobi/Kenya back that time. By coincidence I found myself at a privately hosted Ganesha statue made of bronze and placed on a shallow steel tray. I was not even sure what I would have to expect because of the language. When I fed it, it looked as if the milk not even reached the statue but disappeared right of the spoon. There was nothing like hysteria. The tray was moved and lifted up – no hidden catch tank or whatever. But litres of milk no more. I was very puzzled. Why would somebody make his private trick show for my companion (a bantu) and me (a german) and a bunch of indians? Not until several hours later I learned about this phenomena happening all over the world. Very disturbing for a scientifically oriented person like me! None of the explanations do really fit. We have different materials, different sizes, indoors-outdoors, different climate zones, and no masonic-like group of people could do the trick (except beeing in fact demigods). The idea of Ganesha (the Remover of Obstacles) taking oblations from mother earth (symbolized by the cow) sounds more reasonable than all those pseudo-scientific gossip. So what is this all about???
___
Maybe another coincidence:
Mofat, you have been with me that time, are you around?
posted by ente on 3-22-2009 at 3:21 am
When I first read this story, I immediately believed it, based on my gut reaction and happy feeling in my heart. Reading the skeptics’ opinions made me feel angry and tense. As I am not desperately trying to believe one way or the other, I will be going with my visceral responses on this one and say, yes, it happened and it was awesome!
posted by angel on 6-10-2009 at 10:44 pm