Is This Boy the New Buddha? EXCLUSIVE THE FARMER'S SON WHO IS HAILED AS A GOD BY FOLLOWERS

Byline: By NICK WEBSTER

SITTING cross-legged in a jungle clearing in southern Nepal, his eyes tightly shut and his arms resting on his knees, the 16-year-old boy seems lost in silent meditation - and oblivious to the armed police surrounding the remote site.

They are there for a very good reason. Where Ram Bahadur Bomjan goes, tens of thousands of people tend to follow.

Many Buddhists and Hindus throughout Nepal and India think the farmer's son is Buddha reincarnate. They believe he existed for 10 months without food or water, survived the bite of a poisonous snake without treatment, and was left miraculously unscarred after being engulfed by holy fire.

But cynics call Bomjan a fake, whose only gift is in extracting cash from gullible pilgrims, which he passes on to rebel fighters.

The mystery deepened on Christmas Eve when, after a nine-month disappearance, the Boy Buddha suddenly reappeared.

On March 11 he had left his niche among the roots of a pipal …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Is This Boy the New Buddha? EXCLUSIVE THE FARMER'S SON WHO IS HAILED AS A GOD BY FOLLOWERS. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Mirror (London, England). Publication date: December 28, 2006. Page number: 24. © 2009 MGN LTD. COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.