Ganesh - The Milk Miracle

by **Akindra** Sun May 25, 2008 2:07 am

This is a little long (I've had to post it in a couple of messages)- but you can get the gist from the first few paragraphs. It is also old news - but it's the first time I've heard about it.

How nice is it that God let this happen and I'm assuming, made alot of devotees stronger in their faith - and probably even changed the mind of some non-believers

I got this from http://www.shreeganesh.com/loving_ganesh/books/lg/lg_preface_milk-miracle.html - lots of great info on Ganesh.

Kshira
Chamatkaraha

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle 000xi_Ganesha

The
Milk
Miracle

On September 21, 1995, just days after I had completed the final editing of Loving Ganesha, something quite wonderful happened. Lord Ganesha began sipping milk, first in India, then in nearly every country where Hindus reside, as devotees rushed to temples and shrines to offer milk to the elephant-faced God. It was a great spiritual experience for us in Hawaii, where we publish the international monthly news journal, HINDUISM TODAY, to receive the many phone calls and fax messages with positive, uplifting testimony as to His drinking milk in so many places. As perhaps the most fitting preface to this benevolent Lord's 800-page book, we are pleased to present the story of the milk miracle -- kshira chamatkara -- from HINDUISM TODAY, November, 1995.

"It's a Miracle!" Rejoice Millions
As Lord Ganesha Receives Milk

The Supernatural Event of this Century
Is Experienced Simultaneously Worldwide

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle I

T ALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 21 WHEN AN OTHERWISE ORDINARY MAN IN NEW DELHI DREAMT THAT 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. What followed is unprecedented in modern Hindu history. Within hours, news spread like a brush fire across India that Ganesha was accepting milk offerings. Tens of millions of people of all ages flocked to the temples. The unworldly happening brought worldly New Delhi to a standstill, and its vast stocks of milk, more than a million liters, sold out within hours. Just as suddenly as it started in India, it stopped, in just 24 hours.But it was just beginning elsewhere, as Hindus in India called their relatives in other parts of the world. Soon our HINDUISM TODAY offices were flooded with reports from around the world. Everywhere the story was the same. A teaspoonful of milk offered by touching it to Ganesha's trunk, tusk or mouth would disappear in a few seconds to a few minutes -- not always, but with unprecedented frequency. Reuters news service quoted Anila Premji, "I held the spoon out level, and it just disappeared. To me it was just a miracle. It gave me a sense of feeling that there is a God, a sense of Spirit on this Earth." Not only Ganesha, but Siva, Parvati, Nandi and the Naga, Siva's snake, took milk.
This "milk miracle" may go down in history as the most important event shared by Hindus this century, if not in the last millennium. It has brought about an instantaneous religious revival among nearly one billion people. No other religion has ever done that before! It is as if every Hindu who had, say, "ten pounds of devotion," suddenly has twenty.
Miracles witnessed by many people happen from time to time in Hinduism as in other faiths, but they're rare. As a young boy, the tenth-century saint, Nambi Anbar Nambi, inspired Lord Ganesha to actually eat the offerings placed before Him. Saint Jnaneshvara of Maharashtra became famous 600 years ago for having a water buffalo recite the Vedas before a group of arrogant priests.
Naturally there are skeptics -- 10% of Hindus, according to our very unscientific poll, all of whom moved swiftly to distance themselves from the phenomenon. "Capillary action," coupled with "mass hysteria," is the correct explanation, concluded many scientists within a few hours. Aparna Chattopadhyay of New Delhi replied to these scoffers in a letter to the Hindustan Times: "I am a senior scientist of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi. I found my offerings of milk in a temple being mysteriously drunk by the Deities. How can the scientists explain the copper snake absorbing the milk I offered with a spoon kept at a good distance away from it?" Scientific or not, gallons of milk were disappearing with hardly a trace. A leading barrister in Malaysia was dumbfounded when he watched a metal Ganesha attached to an automobile dashboard absorb six teaspoons of milk. In Nepal King Birendra himself made offerings to the God. Deities in Kenya and other countries took gallons of milk while sitting in shallow metal trays with no drains.
The worldwide press coverage has been nearly as amazing as the miracle itself. Of course, the event dominated the news in India for days. But once it started outside India, local and leading national papers, such as the New York Times and Washington Post in America, and the Financial Times in UK, picked up the story. The international wire services, Reuters and Associated Press, carried a dozen articles a day on what had now been named the "Milk Miracle." Many in India are unaware of how warmly the Western press embraced the miracle. In many countries reporters came to the temples and personally offered milk. Of course, they too would put forward a "scientific explanation" in their report, but many, otherwise detached, Western journalists shared their own joyful experience as a fact.
Ironically, the reporting inside India was a completely different matter. The English-language press in India, with its Marxist-leaning political slant, has never been a friend of Hinduism. Headlines heralded the attitude: "People go Berserk at 'Milk Miracle;' " "Scientists Dismiss it as Mass Hysteria," and "Milk-Drinking Deities Unleash Mass Hysteria, Scientists Ridicule Miracle Theory." Not every Indian paper was so negative: Tunku Varadarajan of The Times expressed his concern that "Modern Hindus are often all too apologetic about the apparent angularities in the beliefs of their countrymen. In this, secular Indians are in danger of denying the very logic which has allowed India to be secular in the first place. If that tolerance is now under strain, the blame lies in part with those who would regard as dangers any celebrations of the country's underlying Hindu identity."
Hinduism has its own science to apply to this miracle, that of the interpretation of portents -- unusual or supernatural events. Portents are the specific domain of astrologers to interpret. The "milk miracle," under this analysis, is not the end in itself, but rather signals a future event of great import. Shri K.N. Rao, one of India's most noted astrologers, explained that the involvement of Ganesha means that harm will come to the "commanders of armies." The acceptance of milk, however, is an auspicious sign. Therefore the final result will be a greater good. The portent will take effect in eight months, just about the time of an eclipse in April, 1996.
H.H. Shri Tiruchi Mahaswamigal of Bangalore said incidents of Deities accepting offerings occur every 100 years, usually eight or nine days after Ganesha Chaturthi. Swamiji believes it is a very good omen, as do other swamis, astrologers and pandits we have contacted.
Joyous eye-witness reports of Ganesha's drinking milk were received at our editorial offices from over two dozen nations and a multitude of locations.

by **Akindra** Sun May 25, 2008 2:08 am

Testimony of the Milk Miracle Worldwide

INDIA: It was around 7:30AM that my father came back from his morning walk and told me, "Rajiv, go to the temple. A great miracle is taking place. Lord Ganesha is having milk. This is happening all over Delhi." I and my wife rushed to the Deepali temple which is next to our house. There were hundreds in a long queue waiting to offer milk. Inside the eight-by-ten-foot sanctum a dozen people at a time were offering milk in spoons to the small Ganesha. My wife offered milk twice. I could clearly see the milk disappearing in a few seconds. Many temple priests said they had dreams of Ganesha asking for milk, which they then offered in the early morning. The Deepali temple priest told me, "Somebody came and knocked on my door at 4:30 in the morning. He called, 'Ganesha is having milk! Ganesha is having milk!' The man was gone when I answered the door." Life in Delhi was almost at a standstill. The markets were deserted. Banks and official institutions had very thin attendance. In the last few days I have spoken to about 100 people. Ninety percent of them told me that they had experienced it, and the milk had really been accepted by the Deity.

Rajiv Malik, New Delhi, Journalist

NEW YORK: Even in cynical, hard-edged New York the miracle was happening. The milk was actually disappearing. Manisha Lund, a young college student, went to the Hindu temple in Queens and says it was a virtual stampede. When she offered milk to Lord Ganesha, "It was sucked up like someone was drinking it with a straw." Ganesha seemed to be in a whimsical mood: sometimes He refused the spoonfuls offered by devotees and slurped up that given by nonbelievers. At the Hindu temple in Flushing, a young African-American woman who is not a Hindu but loves Hindu philosophy wondered aloud whether Siva would accept her offering. She extended her spoon and before the eyes of many worshipers, the milk disappeared into Siva's mouth. Tales of faith and joy were repeated in many homes and offices where devotees offered milk to idols of stone, brass and silver. Young people seemed to have better luck, and delighted in the miracle: Pummy Singh, 14, called Indra, her mother, at work and gave her the exciting news: Ganesha had taken the milk three times from her and her friends. Such was the frenzy that it was hard to gain entrance into the crowded temples, even at 2:00 in the morning.

Lavina Melwani, New York, Journalist

LOS ANGELES: "One of the devotees received a phone call from India about the miracle," recalls Bharat Shastri, priest of the Hindu temple in Norwalk. By evening he had received 600 phone calls. There was a general air of skepticism here and at other temples in Los Angeles. Only a few devotees had their milk offerings taken by Ganesha at Norwalk. Nothing extraordinary happened at the Shri Venkateshwara Temple in Calabasas, where milk was offered only by the priests. At the Chatsworth temple, the miracle seemed to have happened big time. "On Thursday morning, temple president Dinesh Lakhanpal offered milk. It disappeared. Then I offered more, and that too disappeared," said Ravi Sharan, vice president of the temple. CNN and local TV channels came and the miracle reportedly happened for them. "One reporter, Sharon Tae of Channel 5, was so excited she hugged me with tears in her eyes," said Sharan.

Archana Dongre, Los Angeles, Journalist

This devotee is one of thousands to offer milk to Lord Ganesha at a temple in Edmonton. Unlike in India, the phenomenon continued here for days.

CANADA: The phenomenon began following the 7:30PM puja Friday and continued unabated until about 11:45PM Sunday, the 24th, at the Edmonton Ganesha temple. The atmosphere around the Ganesha murti was scintillating. Devotees approached, bowed and offered their prayers and a spoonful of milk. They ran the gamut from sari-clad pious elderly ladies supported on either side to gum-chewing teens in black leather jackets. I simply can't explain what happened to the milk. It would visibly "wick" up from the spoon to the surface of the stone of the trunk. Spoonful after spoonful was absorbed, sometimes as quickly as one could count to three, usually in 20 seconds. At the conservative rate of two teaspoons per minute for 51.5 hours (milk was offered continuously), some 7.7 gallons of milk were taken up. I could see no significant amount of milk around the Ganesha murti. Of course, with the number of devotees and dripping spoons, Ganesha's garments became wet on the same side as his trunk, but this didn't begin to account for the volume of milk offered. I was forced to conclude that we were all witnessing something that we could not logically explain.

Aran Veylan, Edmonton, Barrister

MAURITIUS: Today, September 25th, I've given milk to Ganesha. It is happening at a temple called Tulsi Sham Temple in Beau Bassin. I rushed there, leaving all my jobs behind. I took some milk and brought it close to the trunk without spilling any. The milk was absorbed very quickly. This is something great which is happening all around the world and making us better and better Hindus.

Parmesh Pallanee, Petite Riviere, Computer Systems Advisor

KENYA: It all started with a phone call from India to a relative in Nairobi that Lord Ganapati's marble statue was drinking milk. Pandit Narinder Kumar Shastri, head priest of Shree Sanatan Dharma Temple, recounts the experience with great emotion. According to him, an unlimited amount of milk was consumed by the two Deities in the temple. People from different religions and nationalities came and made the offering. Many nonbelievers came to test. When the offering was accepted, it changed people's thinking. The miracle had a special effect on the younger generation. Panditji believes a new generation of staunch Hindus has been born as a result. lt is extraordinary that the miracle occurred even on African soil, and it is equally remarkable that many African non-Hindus visited the temple and have become devotees. I stood inside the temple door for three hours and saw crowds coming and going. The atmosphere was charged and volatile, but peaceful. The people were mesmerized and were not prepared to leave the hall even after having made the offering.
In the private temple of Jyotin Arvind Bhai Patel in Nairobi, the miracle began in their temple at 4:30 pm on Thursday and continued till 9:30 am on Sunday. He and Minal tried with a spoonful of milk, which disappeared. The spoon was kept under the trunk of Shri Ganesha and the milk was sucked up. Minal recalls hearing the sucking sound. In four days, 15,000 people belonging to all castes and nationalities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Africans and Europeans -- made offerings. As the result of the personal experience of one non-Hindu, the Patels have been offered free land to build a Siva temple in a shopping complex.

Prabha Prabhakar Bhardwaj

by **Akindra** Sun May 25, 2008 2:10 am

My Luckiest Day
By Colonel P. C. Bhardwaj

It has taken many, many births for millions of us to witness and participate in such a miracle. I was one of the many lucky ones whom God gave the opportunity to feed Him. This miracle was needed to instill faith in people that the temple images do have powers, and to worship them is one path to reach Him. I am an engineer of long standing. The theory that capillary action caused the suction of hundreds of pints of milk by Deities of stone and metal as small as twelve by six inches is not possible. Most of the Deities are carved of solid stone or cast of metal. Lord Ganesha's trunk takes a bend and makes a twist at the tip. Its tip only has a small hole; the rest is solid mass. This tip is not capable of holding even one spoon of milk. In some of the murtis, the trunk falls straight and the tip does not have a hole. It sucked hundred of pints of milk in a few hours. No milk was seen flowing out of the body, and no mist was formed around the murtis. What shall we call it, other than Godly miracle?

We Are So Close To God
By Jay Dubashi, a columnist for New Delhi's
Organiser, in which this article first appeared

It was a small boy who first alerted me as to what was happening. "Come, come," he said, "Ganesh-ji is drinking milk." We went to the nearby temple together, he and I, and the crowd was thick. A small girl, not more than three or four, was raising a spoon to the lips of Ganesh-ji, and as we watched in awe the milk disappeared. "What did I tell you?" said the small boy. There was nothing to argue. A miracle is a miracle. Even if it was not a miracle, it is still a miracle in the eyes of those who see it. There are too many things in this world which cannot be explained by the simple theories of physics or chemistry, for the theories themselves are changing with the times.
Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Birla_3

Associated Press published this photo worldwide of Hindus in Delhi gathered around an image of Ganesha to offer milk outside the Birla temple.

But it is not milk that interests me. The miracle was seen not just in India, but almost all over the world, wherever Hindus congregate. And it did not take days, not even hours, probably a few minutes to spread. It shows how close the Hindu community is when it comes to things that affect its identity, even closer than the Internet. There were throngs of Hindus in temples in London and Leicester, New Jersey and Chicago, Denmark, Canada, Bangkok and Singapore. And the whole thing was breathtakingly spontaneous.
It also revealed how close Hindus are, not only to each other but also to their Gods. This is something nobody but a Hindu understands. To us, the Gods are not external to us, but very much a part of our being. The relationship is affectionate and intimate, as between members of a family. There is nothing in the world as close-knit as a Hindu family, and the Gods are as much a part of this family as anyone else.
When I grew up as a boy in Goa, we had, of course, temples and mathas, but what we liked best was the time when Ganesh-ji came home for the Ganesha Visarjana festival. We used to have made a serious-looking idol as befits a family of teachers and officials, but somehow we never thought of Ganesh-ji as a serious person. How can anybody be serious if He chooses a small mouse to carry His plump weight? But we never asked such questions. It was enough that He was in our house for a few days, and we treated Him like a king. He wore the finest silks and ate the finest food. He was bathed in enough milk and honey to wash a grown elephant and his family. We kept Him in the house only for a day or so, and then it was time to take Him to the river for immersion. That was the hardest time for all of us, particularly for my uncle, whose job it was to prepare Him for immersion. We children went to the river, shouting all the way, but overtaken by grief at the impending departure. After a brief puja on the bank of the river, the idol was slowly let into the swirling waters as we all wept, including my uncle, a grown man who actually ran the district. Our Gods do not ask for votes or for money. All they want is your love and affection, for that is the only bond between a Hindu and his God, like the bond between a father and son, or between brothers.
In no other religion is there such a deep and lasting bond between Gods and men as there is among Hindus. For we are, after all, descended from the Gods, and from the mountains and rivers where They stand guard and watch our holy land. And, if once in a while, they come down and sip a little milk from our spoons, why should it be a miracle? It's the most natural thing in the world.

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Hinduism_Today

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Hinduism_Today

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Rotterdam_Daily

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle The_Admonton_Journal

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle The_Daily_Post_Fiji

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Birla_clipping

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Evening_Standard_

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Clip_from_London

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Siva_and_Parvathi

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Hong_Kong_Ganesha

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle The_Daily_Post_Fiji_Inside

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Edmonton_Sunday

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle The_Daily_Telegraph_UK

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle India_Post_Sri_Lanka

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Italy,_Hong_Kong

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle The_statesman_Metro

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle The_statesman_sidebar

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Indian_Express_Delhi

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle India_mail_London

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Daily_Nation_Kenya

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Thailand,_Bangladesh

Ganesh - The Milk Miracle Evening_News_comic

by **Sarveswara** Sun May 25, 2008 2:43 am

All this time ... I never knew about this particular miracle. Many miracles happen, to do with Sai Baba, and I have become accustomed to hearing many many stories about these (leelas), even my own personal physical miracles have been sent to give me the strong faith I have today. Thank you so much for bringing this particular miracle to my attention darling hug

.

by **Akindra** Sun May 25, 2008 4:12 am

Oh, I'd love to hear any more if anyone knows any - I already have faith - but it's nice hearing these miracles - just shows the power and will of God.

Glenda

by **Sarveswara** Sun May 25, 2008 6:07 am

OM Miracle.

It's nice when we can have physical proof of any miracle that comes our way. Here is a story that belongs to both myself and my niece Lauren who is also a member here as (Lalita Sarasvati) ...

My niece came over for a holiday from New Zealand to stay with me, and while she was with me I was guided to give her a particular packet of vibuthi. (Vibuthi is a sacred holy ash that Baba manifests in thin air for all.

This packet was especially given to me by my ex-mother in-law Liba when she returned from a trip to visit Sathya Sai Baba in India. I had gone to her home to visit her (and soak up her fresh Divine Swami energy ... teehee Smile

) she always gives me gifts of sorts like calendars and other swami mementos, but this particular day after she had given me the mementos, she looked into thin air and said "oh yes, alright Swami", as if in conversation with Him, turned to me and said I will be back in a minute I have to get something special for you.

She came back and was holding this big packet of vibuthi as she handed it to me she said she took this packet into Darshan with her and it was blessed by Swami. Then she hesitated as she was holding this other
little packet of vibuthi that had been materialized while she was in the interview room with swami and he had given it to her, she brought it close to her heart and said, I am being guided to give you my special little packet of vibuthi, and to be honest I really don’t like to part with it, but I am getting it very strongly to give it to YOU!

I was delighted enough with the big packet of vibuthi, as I had just asked God to send me some more soon as I was running out, so for Liba to give me this was in itself a miracle to me. But then to receive this special packet also, well I was over the moon, and was on a divine high, lol. Obviously it was Swamis special recognition for me to know his divine omnipresence in that he not only heard my prayer for more vibuthi but also granting my prayer answered. (Thank You Swami) but the story continues.

I put the little packet of vibuthi on my alter at home, as I was not getting to use it. There it sat for months until the moment I was guided just like Liba to give the packet to my niece, with the intrusions to place a small amount in water and drink it 3 times a day for 3 days.

When I got this message to hand over the vibuthi I realized the anguish of letting it go as Liba had felt. Yet I was reminded what a blessing it is to be used as such an instrument to deliver this special packet of vibuthi to where it was destined to go. What Grace that is for me to realize.

So for the next three days as per the instructions Lauren drank her vibuthi. On the third day I noticed the teaspoon she had been using to stir in the vibuthi on the table where she had left it. And I saw what I class as a physical sign of confirmation our miracle. The teaspoon had dried from its use and the residue of the vibuthi had dried into the shape of an OM. I called Lauren and questioned her about the teaspoon asking her if this is the one she had used to stir her vibuthi ... she grabbed the spoon and went to wash it thinking I was telling her off for leaving a dirty spoon laying around. I stopped her and told her to look at the spoon and tell me what she sees. Then she noticed the OM and the joy was divine and absolute that we shared as a miracle for us both!

Below is the picture I took of the teaspoon and I gave her the spoon to take home to put on her alter.

by **Akindra** Sun May 25, 2008 6:42 am

Awesome! That's all I can say really. Just Awesome!! aum

by **Sarveswara** Sun May 25, 2008 10:11 am

I may as well tell you now about my most recent OM miracle ... Again it was when Lauren came to visit from New Zealand just this year. We decided to spend a day going out to a place called Crystal Castle, it's really an amazing place to visit for sure, if any one is up this way, don’t miss the opportunity. Cry stal Castle (Heres the link to take a look at this place) ... Well out at this amazing place they have an Aura Camera where we can have our Aura pictures taken.

This day ended up being a very OM auspicious for me. First of all we noticed that I was totally surrounded by the colour Gold, far different from my Aura Picture taken back in 2004 ...

As you can see in this picture I am sitting close to the camera and my aura is actually a lot shorter in circumference than the 2008 pic, as well as it being totally different colours.

The 2008 picture as it began to develop had an Om looking symbol appearing over my right hand ... after the picture developed more clearer we saw that it was indeed a bowl of crystals that had been sitting on the desk in front of me while my picture was being taken. Still having the light shine in a particular way so that the crystals glistened into a shape of an Om was more than mere coincidence that is of course if one believes on coincidences, which I do not.

After the picture was taken I went in search of a cd ... I was hoping to find one with Indian flutes or similar... they had a great selection there and I was allowed to listen to any I needed too. I selected 4 or 5 and took them up to the counter. They began to play them one after the other, it was about the third cd when I said ... oh that’s the one I want, although it wasn’t what I was looking for, it had heavenly sounds and I knew it was the cd I was to have. They put it in the cover and I paid for it. When I took it out of the bag and I read the Title it was 'OM' Deeksha ~ Maneesh de Moon.

This is the meaning I found once I looked up on the internet:

Deeksha: Hindu - Hinduism Dictionary on Deeksha

Solemn induction by which one is entered into a new realm of awareness and practice by a teacher or preceptor through the bestowing of blessings and the transmission of pranas. Denotes initial or deepened connection with the teacher and his lineage and is usually accompanied by ceremony. Initiation, revered as a moment of awakening, may be conferred by a touch, a word, a look or a thought.

Most Hindu schools, and especially Saivism, teach that only with initiation from a satguru is enlightenment attainable. Sought after by all Hindus is the diksha called shaktipata (shaktipat), "descent of grace," which, often coming unbidden, stirs and arouses the Mystic kundalini force. Central Saivite dikshas include samaya, vishesha, nirvana and abhisheka.

So it seems I had received this CD symbolic as meaning 'OM initiation'…

Now if this wasn’t enough to fill my heart and head with symbolic gestures of Gods ever omnipresence the following day I received a letter from my son Chayne in New Zealand. Below is the small note that was wrapped around a ring he had made me at his work, (as he has become a jeweler).

This is the ring ... the Om is done in my favorite, 'White Gold', and the shank had been done in Yellow Gold. It sits on my right hand ring (third) finger. I was in awe when I received this most special surprise in the mail, not only as it had come from my loving son, but that he was used as a Divine Instrument to make this symbol and send it to me.

God had shown me over and over again and again His almighty omnipresence; by letting me know by the Om symbol over my right hand in the aura pic that this ring was in process of coming to me ... and that it is no ordinary ring.

What else can I say, but what Grace!

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