Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal

47. Milk-Drinking Idols

~ Chapter 47 Milk-Dri~ki~gIdols Throughout the Hindu world on September 21,1995, statues of Indian deities sipped spoonfuls of milk in supposed fulfillment of a devotee's dream. As the phenomenon progressed, it spread from the deity Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed, multihanded, Hindu god, to other idols, including Nandi the Bull, and statues of Lord Shiva, who is often depicted in human form with a serpent around his neck. Spreading across India, the milk-sipping phenomenon soon extended to other parts of the Asian continent as well as to Europe and North America where it was duly noted on television and in newspapers. An Indian psychiatrist explained: "All people are vulnerable to such credulousness. Hindus were especially susceptible because this was the season ofpitr baksh, when the devout offered milk for the souls of their ancestors" (Nickell 1996). So many Hindus were caught up in the excitment that milk supplies were depleted and prices soared-even for canned and powdered milk, although only "Kachcha," unboiled milk, was supposed to be accepted by the deities. Skeptics pointed out that many ofthe statues were made ofbaked clay, which absorbs liquids prodigiously by capillary attraction. States Julia Higgins, professor of polymer chemistry at London's Imperial College, "Break a flowerpot, dip it in water, and the water disappears like mad." With glazed statues, only a bit ofthe glaze need be absent, say from a tooth (as indeed seemed the case in one statue), for capillary attraction to work. But what about relatively nonporous materials like marble or even nonporous ones such as brass and other metals? Some people noticed milk Milk-Drinking Idols pooling at the bottoms of such statues but could not explain how it was getting there. The secret was discovered by the federal Department ofScience and Technology in New Delhi. Researchers there offered a statue milk mixed with a red dye and observed that while the milk quicklydisappeared from the spoon, it soon coated the statue due to surface tension. Explained the secretary ofthe Indian Rationalists' Society, Sanal Edamaruku: When a spoonful of milk is offered to a "wet idol" (many of the idols had been ritually washed) the spoon is naturally tilted a bit and the milk imperceptibly drains over the idol. In such a thin layer it is virtually transparent, especially on marble or other white or light-colored surfaces. "The basic principle behind it;' says Edamaruku, "is that when two drops of a liquid are brought together it leads to the formation of one drop." Hoaxing was apparently responsible in a few cases. For example, India Abroad reported (September 29, 1995): ''At a temple in the Bengali Market area of the capital, canisters with pipes running into them were found in the backyard. The canisters had gathered the milk fed by the devotees." And at a temple in Toronto investigated by CSICOP Fellow Henry Gordon, a well-known magician and author in Canada, the attendants refused to allow him to lift the small, thirsty idol from its large base. (He was also refused the opportunity to give the idol water and thus test the claim that it drank only milk.) Although the widespread phenomenon reportedly ceased after one day, possibly due to official expectations, it continued in some homes in NewYork City for a time. Reported the Miami Herald, "It took'the miracle' exactly eight days to reach Miami from India." On the other hand, at certain sites, such as the Ganesh temple in Toronto's Richmond Hill suburb , nothing ever happened. Nature magazine (September 28,1995) reported that "science took a hammering from religion" over the affair, but it did so only on the propaganda level. Nature seemed heartened by the statement signed by prominent scientists in Madras. It called on educated Indians to help ensure "that primitive obscurantism and superstition did not hold sway over a society on the threshold of the 21st century." My own involvement with the phenomenon was initially to monitor developments and answer news queries, as well as write a short article about the events for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. At the end ofMay 2001, however, I had an opportunity to study the phenomenon with Indian skeptic Vikas Gora. He was visiting the Center for Inquiry, where I have 313 ~ 314 "1' Figure 47. 1. Indian skeptic Vikas Gora demonstrates the milkdrinking -idol effect in the author's lab. Milk-Orinking Idols rigure 47.2. Statue of...