After Japanese yogmata, Pagla Baba emerges from 216 hour samadhi

Ardh Kumbh Nagar, Jan 24 (UNI) After Japanses yogmata, it was time for Pagla Baba to emerge from a 216-hour samadhi here last night.

The Baba had undertaken samadhi on Makar Sakranti in a 12-foot deep pit to propagate 'gau raksha'. His followers opened the pit with fanfare here as the baba emerged from the samadhi.

Soon after Shyamanand Saraswat alias Pagla Baba emerged, his followers cheered him and distributed 'bhibhuti' and 'prasad' to people who had gathered to witness the event.

The Baba had undertaken the samadhi for the sake of cow protection. ''My aim is to set up a Gaushala at Vrindavan...I am mad about protecting cows, hence the name Pagla Baba,'' he said.

He was also conferred upon the title of 'yogeshwar' by his followers.

On January 21, Keiko Aj-kawa, a Japanese woman and a follower of 'Pilot Baba' completed her 72-hour-long Samadhi, which she undertook for world peace.

Dressed in light clothes, Keiko was pulled out of the tin box which was placed in a pit and covered with sand. Cheers by Indian and foreign followers of the Baba filled the atmosphere. Soon after her 72-hour penance, she was conferred with the title of 'Mahamandaleshwar' by the Baba. This was reportedly her 24th samadhi.

The Baba said Keiko underwent intense meditation inside a nine by nine feet pit for the last three days in her bid to achieve enlightenment.

The Yogmata, as she is popularly called, was given half an hour to control her breathing before being covered inside the pit.

In this process, one has to turn inwards. The breathing process needs to be controlled by changing it from exhalation to inhalation only, the Baba had said. In her mid-forties, she had spent the last 72 hours without food and water.

UNI