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Reports of milk drinking tapered off after 21 September, though a few incidents were still reported. A small number of temples outside of India reported the effect continuing for several more days, but no further reports were made after the beginning of
October. The story was picked up, mostly as a
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lasting until late in the evening. Many stores in areas with significant Hindu communities saw a massive jump in sales of milk, leading to an increase in overall milk sales in New Delhi by over 30%. Many minor temples struggled to deal with the vast increase in numbers, and queues spilled out into
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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. Scientists have described the incident as occurring
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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 claimed that statues of the entire
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to gain votes in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections by spreading false rumours. 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.
150:. 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
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tried to feed milk to a Ganesh statue to no avail. The idol at the
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg shrine was claimed to drink fruit and sugarcane juice as easily as milk. The popular
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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
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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
80:(an Indian Hindu nationalist organisation which provides social services to Hindus in India and across the world) announced that a miracle was occurring.
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Many statues were reported to not be cooperative. At the famous South Mumbai
Ganapati temple the statues were described as not drinking milk. The
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had also accepted milk. A 28 September report from Mumbai in the Indian
Express said some people had protested when locals offered alcohol to a
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statue, which it had quickly sipped. Bahujan Samaj Party workers in Uttar
Pradesh's Basti district began trying to feed milk to statues of
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decided to close its gates after the statue allegedly stopped drinking milk at about 12:30 noon. The sadhus of these temples blamed local
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and religious pictures. The phenomenon occurred in Hindu temples as well as at the homes of Hindus in
Trinidad and Tobago. The
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newspaper reported on 22 September 2010 that murtis of Ganesh "drank" or accepted milk at the Om Shanti Mandir, Cunjal Road,
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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.
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The claims were not limited to Ganesh statues. A week later on 27 September, The
Statesman reported that a statue of the
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headquarters in Delhi was the epicentre of the miracle. He said it was a ploy by the Hindu nationalist
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Hindu Gods in an
American Landscape: Changing Perceptions of Indian Sacred Images in the Global Age
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By noon the news had spread beyond India, and Hindu temples in the United Kingdom, Canada, the
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was a phenomenon which occurred on 21 September 1995, in which statues of the Hindu deity
430:"How the Sangh Parivar Organised the 1995 Ganesh Milk Miracle and Why the Plan Flopped"
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government, quoted internal reports to say that a temple in Jhandewalan Park near the
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Seeking to explain the claims, Ross McDowall led a team of scientists from
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by scientists. The phenomenon had appeared only days after reports of
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Before dawn on 20 September 1995, a worshipper at a temple in southern
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BBC archive footage showing a believer feeding a statue of Ganesha
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519:"Obscurantism vs Science – behind the milk drinking miracle"
481:"Devotees Throng Temples To See Hindu Deities Drinking Milk"
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novelty piece, by news services around the world, including
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on 21 September 2010 on the occasion of the holy period of
297:"India's gods milk their faithful in a brief 'miracle'"
373:"India's 'Guru Busters' Debunk All That's Mystical"
601:A believers' website devoted to the "Milk Miracle"
116:s (disbelievers) for the idols not drinking milk.
613:BBC video interviewing eye witnesses of the event
88:the streets, reaching distances of over a mile.
65:in temples all over India were taking in milk.
406:"India's thirsty statues drink the nation dry"
40:were observed to be drinking milk offerings.
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144:India's Ministry of Science and Technology
565:Allen Richardson, E. (13 November 2018).
315:"Hindu world divided by a 24-hour wonder"
248:In 1995, the phenomenon also occurred in
633:Mass excitability in South Asian culture
525:. The Institute of Mathematical Sciences
501:"Milk-drinking gods just plain science"
340:"Idols 'drinking' milk is pure science"
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7:
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491:, All Headline News, 21 August 2006
544:Ariti Jankie (22 September 2010).
371:Burns, John F. (10 October 1995).
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313:McGirk, Tim (22 September 1995).
348:. 21 August 2006. Archived from
663:September 1995 events in India
16:1995 alleged miracle incidents
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34:Ganesha drinking milk miracle
546:"Ganesh murtis 'drink' milk"
252:; milk was accepted by both
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638:Mass psychogenic illness
164:, labor minister in the
486:6 February 2007 at the
235:sea water turning sweet
154:as an explanation; the
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606:15 April 2019 at the
78:Vishva Hindu Parishad
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653:Hinduism and science
505:Press Trust of India
303:, 22 September 1995.
295:Suzanne Goldenberg,
110:Siddhivinayak temple
106:Delhi Stock Exchange
412:, 22 September 1995
268:Trinidad and Tobago
250:Trinidad and Tobago
377:The New York Times
345:The Indian Express
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205:Similar incidents
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25:A statue of
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523:imsc.res.in
356:25 November
319:Independent
121:Virgin Mary
622:Categories
278:References
52:Phenomenon
385:0362-4331
125:Singapore
58:New Delhi
643:Miracles
604:Archived
529:20 April
484:Archived
464:17 April
439:17 April
434:The Wire
324:20 April
223:Bareilly
198:Guardian
195:and the
133:Ambedkar
92:Analysis
85:gridlock
44:through
648:Ganesha
104:at the
38:Ganesha
27:Ganesha
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455:"Milk"
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254:murtis
243:Mumbai
217:, and
211:Ganesh
189:, the
185:, the
137:Buddha
129:Gandhi
114:nastik
72:, and
219:Durga
215:Shiva
102:bears
98:bulls
74:Nepal
573:ISBN
531:2018
466:2021
441:2021
392:2017
381:ISSN
358:2012
326:2018
135:and
100:and
32:The
241:in
225:in
187:BBC
183:CNN
174:BJP
170:RSS
123:in
70:UAE
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