Tens of thousands of people have crowded Hindu temples across India this month because of reports that gods and goddesses were “drinking” the milk that worshippers offered them.
The milk “miracle” first surfaced in 1995 when temples in India, Britain and Canada were crowded with believers who said that the portly god of good fortune, Lord Ganesha, was now choosing milk instead of the candy he usually prefers.
Belief and worship hold an important place in the lives of most Indians. But the Indian Rationalist Association says the latest milk-drinking “miracle” is just milk being sinking into the statues through tiny holes in the stone.
PHOTO: EPA
Even so, there was a reported 30-percent jump in the price of milk when the “miracle” was first reported.
“Forget deities. I fed a cup of coffee to a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru (India's first prime minister) right before television cameras,” Indian Rationalist Association president Sanal Edamaruku said in New Delhi.
“Even bricks are drinking milk,” he said.
His opinion came under fire from Hindu priest Mahant Surendra Nath.
“Why disbelieve when these things are happening right before our eyes?” said the priest.
The milk-drinking-deity craze came just days after many Muslims in the western Indian city of Mumbai drank “sweet” seawater.
Tens of thousands of Mumbai residents drank strangely colored seawater even though doctors said it was full of the city's waste water.
Scientists said that the seawater had become less salty because of heavy rains which caused nearby rivers to overflow.
“The mass hysteria was simply ridiculous — and lethal,” said Edamaruku.(AFP)
本月全印度成千上萬的民眾湧入印度廟，因為有報導指出，廟裡眾神明會「飲用」信徒供奉的牛奶。
牛奶「神蹟」首次出現於一九九五年，當時印度、英國和加拿大的廟宇擠滿了善男信女，聲稱胖嘟嘟的好運神─象鼻神甘那夏現在改喝牛奶，不吃平時偏好的糖果。
信仰和敬拜在多數印度民眾的生活中扮演重要的角色，但印度唯理協會指出，近來的「飲用牛奶奇蹟」，其實只是牛奶透過石頭的小洞孔滲入雕像中。
儘管如此，「奇蹟」初次被報導後，牛奶價格據報暴漲了三成。
印度唯理協會主席沙紐?伊達馬魯庫在新德里表示：「不要說是神明，我才在電視攝影機前餵尼赫魯（印度第一任總理）的雕像喝了一杯咖啡。」
他說：「連磚瓦都在喝牛奶。」
他的言論受到印度祭司馬翰蘇蘭卓?那特的抨擊。
他說：「為何不相信這些就發生在你眼前的事？」
在印度西部城市孟買許多穆斯林飲用「甜」海水之後，便出現了這波「神仙喝牛奶」的熱潮。
儘管醫師們指出海水充滿城市排放的廢水，成千上萬的孟買居民仍飲用著顏色詭異的海水。
科學家說附近河流因豪雨氾濫成災，導致海水鹹度降低。
伊達馬魯庫說：「大眾歇斯底里的現象簡直荒謬─而且危險。」
（法新社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀）
本文由生成式AI協作，本刊編輯編修。 The name of a dish often provides clues about what to expect. Names can paint a vivid picture, but they may also be misleading when they have little to do with what’s actually on the plate. Some people have shared their personal experiences of such dishes on social media. (A) Dolly I’ll never forget the sense of betrayal I felt when I first ate Taiwan’s pineapple cake because there was barely any pineapple inside! When I questioned the store clerk, she explained that early pineapple cakes blended winter melon with pineapple to reduce acidity. Many producers now eliminate the sour fruit entirely
A: According to the Ministry of Sports, 35.3 percent of the Taiwanese exercise regularly in line with the “7-3-3-3” principle. B: The “7-3-3-3” principle? A: It means exercising more than three times a week, for over 30 minutes each time – with a heart rate of 130bpm, sweating and breathing heavily during exercise. B: I go swimming at least three times a week. I’m even going to the 2025 Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival in Nantou next Sunday. A: Wow, you’re such a fitness enthusiast. I’ll go cheer you on, then. A: 根據運動部的「7-3-3-3」原則，台灣人規律運動比例達35.3％。 B: 什麼是「7-3-3-3」原則？
本文由生成式AI協作，本刊編輯編修。 Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang (D) Bonnie I was so confused when I was offered black pudding in the UK. I was expecting a sweet dessert, but it’s a type of blood sausage made mainly from pork blood, fat, and oatmeal, giving it a dark black color. The word “pudding” in its Latin meaning refers to sausage rather than dessert. (E) Lance When I saw the name Lion’s Head at a Chinese restaurant, I thought they served real lion meat and hesitated to order it. However, I learned from the waiter that the dish is composed of large meatballs surrounded by vegetables. Its name comes from
Day and night will get equal time for a brief moment on Tuesday as much of the world heads into fall. The autumnal equinox arrives Tuesday, marking the start of the fall season for the Northern Hemisphere and the spring in the Southern Hemisphere. On the equator, the sun will be directly overhead at noon. Equinoxes are the only times when both the north and south poles are lit by sunshine at the same time. In the Northern Hemisphere, sunlight will gradually diminish each day until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. Equinoxes have been marked and celebrated worldwide for centuries. The fall
RSS