interesting ...

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By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov

23,10:52 AM ET

 

KATMANDU, Nepal - A teenage boy has been meditating in a Nepalese jungle for six

months, and thousands have flocked to see him, with some believing he is the

reincarnation, police and media said Wednesday.

 

Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, sits cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed among

the roots of a tree in the jungle of Bara, about 100 miles south of the capital,

Katmandu.

 

He's supposedly been that way since May 17 — but his followers have been

keeping him from public view at night.

 

A reporter for the Kantipur newspaper, Sujit Mahat, said he spent two days at

the site, and that about 10,000 people are believed to visit daily.

 

Soldiers have been posted in the area for crowd control, officials said.

 

A makeshift parking lot and cluster of food stalls have sprung up near Banjan's

retreat, an area not previously frequented by visitors.

 

Many visitors believe Banjan is a reincarnation of Gautama Siddhartha, who was

born not far away in southwestern Nepal around 500 B.C. and later became revered

as the Buddha, which means Enlightened One.

 

Others aren't so sure.

 

Police inspector Chitra Bahadur Gurung said officers have interviewed the boy's

associates about their claim that Banjan has gone six months without food or

drink.

 

Officers have not directly questioned the boy, who appears deep in meditation

and doesn't speak.

 

"We have a team ... investigating the claim on how anyone can survive for so

long without food and water," Gurung said.

 

Local officials have also asked the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and

Technology in Katmandu to send scientists to examine Banjan.

 

Mahat said visitors can catch a glimpse of Banjan from a roped-off area about 80

feet away from him between dawn and dusk.

 

Followers then place a screen in front of him, blocking the view and making it

impossible to know what he is doing at night, Mahat said.

 

"We could not say what happens after dark," Mahat said. "People only saw what

went on in the day, and many believed he was some kind of god."