NEW DELHI: After sea water turned" sweet" at Mumbai, thousands of devotees throng temples across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab to watch deities drink milk.
In a rerun of similar incidents that claimed to have happened across the country in 1995, a large number of people queued up outside temples in Mathura and holy cities of Vrindavan and Govardhan (UP), Vadodara (Gujarat) and Kurukshetra (Haryana) and Ludhiana (Punjab) following claims that the deities were ‘drinking’ milk offered to them.
"A cup of milk was offered to Durga in Rama Nand Ashram Goverdhan this evening and she was not only pleased but has drunk all. It is a good omen and the future of the country is bright", noted saint Mahamandaleshwar Krishna Das Kanchan Maharaj said in Mathura.
Residents claimed that milk was being accepted by Shiva in Radha Ballabh temple and Kanak Bhavan temples of Govardhan, Gopeshwar temple in Mandi Ramdas area in Mathura and Gopalji in the temples in Gautam Para, Radha Niwas and Gopi Nath Bazar of Vrindaban.
Besides, long queues of devotees, eager to offer milk at different temples were seen in Mathura, Vrindaban and Goverdhan, there are reports of deities accepting the offering at a few homes.
Hundreds of devotees rushed to Mata Sundri, an incarnation of Durga, temple in Kurukshetra and two to three Shiva temples in Ludhiana to watch deities taking milk there.
A Vadodara report said devotees turned at the temples in the town as also in Ahmedabad and several other parts of Gujarat following claims that Lord Ganesh and Krishna are drinking milk.
In Uttar Pradesh, it all started when a woman ran out of a Durga temple in Bareli claiming the Goddess has drank all the milk she offered at around 2000 hours.
The news spread like wildfire and soon hundreds of people thronged the temple.
Several temples were open till late into the night as devotees turned up in large number to watch the "miracle".
The Kalyani Devi temple in Allahabad was packed following claim that Durga deity there drank milk.
Similar reports came in from Kanpur, Jhansi, Fatehgarh and Moradabad.
Reports of deities taking milk also came in from Bhuj and Surat.
In Gujarat, devotees claimed that while clay idols of Ganesh and Krishna drank milk in some of the houses they are kept, deities made of metals, including copper, did not drink.
The country was flooded with reports from across the country on September 21, 1995, that idols of Ganesh drank milk.
A Patna report said several devotees turned up at a Durga temple there following claim that the idol was consuming milk.
However, scientists said that the phenomenon occurred was due to capillary action as the surface tension of milk pulled the liquid up and out of the spoon before gravity caused it to run down in front of the statue.
