Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 16, meditates under a peepal tree in the remote village of Ratanapuri village on March 8, 2006 in Bara district, Nepal. Pilgrims and followers have been visiting the boy after word spread that he has been meditating without drinking water for nine months and that he will carry on for another six years until he gains enlightenment. Pilgrims from as far as Korea and Japan worship him as the reincarnation of the Buddha. Relatives and neighbours said Bamjan undertook meditation when he returned from a tour of Lumbini, where Buddha was born, and monasteries in Pokhara in Nepal and Dehradun in India.
KATHMANDU (AFP) – A young man believed by followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha has returned to Nepal's jungles to meditate alone, police said Saturday, as scholars cast doubt on his supporters' claims.
Known as the "Buddha Boy," Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 18, became famous in 2005 after supporters said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep.
"Bomjam went back into the jungle late Friday and all the devotees have left," police officer Gobinda Kushwaha told AFP from Neejgad, a town in Bara District, 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) south of Kathmandu.
The "Buddha Boy" reappeared earlier this month after supporters said in March 2007 that he was going to meditate for three years in an underground bunker, although he was spotted on two occasions.
For the last 10 days, he has been blessing thousands of devotees who came daily to the site in dense jungle close to Neejgad.
The president of the Nepal Buddhist Council said claims by his supporters that he was a reincarnation of Siddartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, were not credible.
Update Jan 30, 2006:
Tens of thousands of people have visited the site, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Nepalese Buddha Boy - and a cottage industry selling pictures, CDs, etc. of Ram Bamjan has sprung up around this phenomenon (with proceeds going to rebel Maoist, said gov’t officials).
The screen that was erected to shield him from view has been taken down, but there is still no resolution to the claim that Ram has not eaten or drunk anything since he began his meditation 8 months ago.
(Does this matter? The 16-year old has been meditating for 8 months! I couldn’t sit still for 5 minutes when I was that age)
Nepalese eKantipur website’s got the latest news:
‘The biting cold has had no effect whatsoever on him so far," says priest Prem Lama…
…claims that the news of Bomjon’s "godly power" began to spread after two dumb people started speaking after visiting the meditation site.
Previously: Ram Bahadur Bamjan’s friends said that he has been meditating without drinking water for 6 months, and will carry on for another 6 years until he attains enlightments.
"Bamjan has spoken only a few times since he began the meditation, according to Prem Lama.
He said the first time Bamjan spoke was when a snake bit him around a month ago.
Bamjan took the incident as his second test, which he must overcome, Prem Lama said."
A 16-year-old boy who had been meditating and fasting in a Nepal forest for 10 months has been missing since Saturday morning, police say.
Locals and police searched the area in the southern district of Bara but have not been able to locate him so far.
Police have rejected reports that the young boy, popularly known as "Little Buddha", may have been abducted.
His followers say Ram Bomjan may have moved deep inside the forest looking for a quieter place to meditate.
Hundreds of people used to visit the area every day where the young boy was meditating.
Make-shift shops had been set up by the locals to cater to the visitors who came from different parts of Nepal and neighbouring India.
Buddhist flags were erected around the site where Bomjan was meditating.
Booklets carrying his photo and CDs sold like hotcakes in Kathmandu and other parts of the country.
'No food or water'
His followers claimed that Bomjan did not take food or even water throughout his t10 month-long meditation.
They refused, however, to allow any independent investigation about the health conditions of Bomjan saying that "it would disturb him."
The authorities also did not intervene to avoid hurting local feeling.
While critics accused Bomjan's followers of fooling people, the young boy continued to hog media headlines.
Tired from the decade-old armed conflict that has already claimed more than 13,000 lives, followers of Bomjan claimed that he was an incarnation of Lord Buddha who was born in Nepal more than 2,500 years ago.
They are still hoping that Bomjan will reappear somewhere deep in the forest and continue his meditation.
