"Fondling Udders", say the gods of sexual persuasion

Here's the news at Reuters that's reporting on the gods who shall not be denied the worldly pleasures. After drinking milk, it appears that the next logical step for gods would be fondling udders.

Thousands of people flocked to temples across India on Monday following reports that idols of Hindu gods were drinking milk given by devotees as sacred offerings, witnesses said.

Teenagers, adults and the aged stood in long lines with garlands and bowls of milk to feed the idols of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna and the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha, they said.

Hundreds chanted hymns in the northern city of Lucknow and the eastern city of Kolkata and went into hysterics when the milk held against the idols disappeared.

"It is amazing, Lord Ganesha drank milk from my hands. Now he will answer all my prayers," said Surama Dasgupta, a middle-aged woman in Kolkata.

The frenzy began late on Sunday in some northern cities and soon spread across the country, including the capital New Delhi, even as rationalists and non-believers called it mass hysteria.

What's happening? Mass Hyteria. Religious Madness. Gerin Oil. This madness is not harmless. It is but a small step to turn a crowd that feeds milk to idols to take arms and hack outsiders to death.

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I can see only one glimmer of redeeming value in such things: reports of miracles in other cultures can be used to combat gullible Christians in my own country who point to miracle claims in support of their own religious beliefs.

By somnilista, FCD (not verified) on 22 Aug 2006 #permalink

Didn't this just happen a few years ago? I seem to remember two explanations - porous ceramic statues and surface tension on recently-washed glazed surfaces. Funny how people fall for the same tricks over and over again.

It happened in 1995 if I remember correctly. I was a student then in Chennai and witnessed the 'miracles' in a roadside temple (these are very common in India) across the students hostel in which I stayed. The milk incidents are usually concocted by the priests who are in need of a quick buck. Pure exploitation.