Tearful Hanuman attracts devouts

Varanasi, July 20 (UNI) Call it blind faith or superstition. A large crowd of devotees was witnessed at a miniature temple here today following claims that the idol of Lord Hanuman was shedding tears.

The temple located in a wall of an old house in the Misirpokhra locality turned into a makeshift pilgrimage as a motley crowd of devotees thronged it only to catch the glimpse of the Hanuman idol shedding tears.

''I went to the temple at 0930 hrs today to offer vermillion to the sandstone Hanuman idol, but was surprised to find drops of water trickling down the left eye of the saffron coloured idol. I immediately informed it to my neighbours who also were equally astonished to see tears from the eye of the idol,'' Kishore Kumar Sharma, the son of the owner of the 50-year-old house housing the temple claimed.

Soon the news of Hanuman idol shedding tears spread in the neighbouring localities and devout from other parts of the religious city started arriving with offerings of all kind.

Kishore, a sales executive at a jewellery showroom skipped his official duty to address the growing rush of devotees eager to catch a glimpse of the 'tearful Hanuman'. A special 'kirtan' was organised along with non-stop rendition of Hanuman Chalisa near the miniature temple.

While some people termed the bizarre happening a ''heavenly miracle'' in the modern era, other locales, including Shanti Devi said ''the god is weeping as he might have been touched by some female.'' The crowd continued to swell till 1215 hrs when the small drops of water vanished from the idol.

Making light of the incident, geo-physicist B R D Gupta said, ''it is no heavenly miracle, but solely due to scientific reasons. The idol is made from sandstone which has the property of perspiring after coming in contact with acute moisture. Excessive moisture in the old building during the rainy season might have condensed into drops of water and subsequently found an opening from the eye of the sandstone idol.'' ''It is a natural scientific process and no heavenly miracle as being claimed by vested interests to derive short term benefits,'' Prof Gupta, also an eminent meteorologist told UNI