Hindu Superstition debunked on Indan TV
David
www.rationalistinternational.net
Bulletin # 171
10 March 2008
The Great Tantra Challenge
On 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president of
Rationalist International, challenged India’s most “powerful” tantrik
(black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the
beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting of
mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik
decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the “ultimate destruction ceremony”
on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black
magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership rates.
Everything started, when Uma Bharati (former chief minister of the state
of Madhya Pradesh) accused her political opponents in a public statement
of using tantrik powers to inflict damage upon her. In fact, within a
few days, the unlucky lady had lost her favorite uncle, hit the door of
her car against her head and found her legs covered with wounds and
blisters.
India TV, one of India’s major Hindi channels with national outreach,
invited Sanal Edamaruku for a discussion on “Tantrik power versus
Science”. Pandit Surinder Sharma, who claims to be the tantrik of top
politicians and is well known from his TV shows, represented the other
side. During the discussion, the tantrik showed a small human shape of
wheat flour dough, laid a thread around it like a noose and tightened
it. He claimed that he was able to kill any person he wanted within
three minutes by using black magic. Sanal challenged him to try and kill
him.
The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): “Om
lingalingalinalinga, kilikili….” But his efforts did not show any impact
on Sanal – not after three minutes, and not after five. The time was
extended and extended again. The original discussion program should have
ended here, but the “breaking news” of the ongoing great tantra
challenge was overrunning all program schedules.
Now the tantrik changed his technique. He started sprinkling water on
Sanal and brandishing a knife in front of him. Sometimes he moved the
blade all over his body. Sanal did not flinch. Then he touched Sanal’s
head with his hand, rubbing and rumpling up his hair, pressing his
forehead, laying his hand over his eyes, pressing his fingers against
his temples. When he pressed harder and harder, Sanal reminded him that
he was supposed to use black magic only, not forceful attacks to bring
him down. The tantrik took a new run: water, knife, fingers, mantras.
But Sanal kept looking very healthy and even amused.
After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik’s failure. The
tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong
god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him. “No, I am
an atheist,” said Sanal Edamaruku. Finally, the disgraced tantrik tried
to save his face by claiming that there was a never-failing special
black magic for ultimate destruction, which could, however, only been
done at night. Bad luck again, he did not get away with this, but was
challenged to prove his claim this very night in another “breaking news”
live program.
During the next three hours, India TV ran announcements for The Great
Tantra Challenge that called several hundred million people to their TV
sets.
The encounter took place under the open night sky. The tantrik and his
two assistants were kindling a fire and staring into the flames. Sanal
was in good humour. Once the ultimate magic was invoked, there wouldn’t
be any way back, the tantrik warned. Within two minutes, Sanal would get
crazy, and one minute later he would scream in pain and die. Didn’t he
want to save his life before it was too late? Sanal laughed, and the
countdown begun. The tantriks chanted their “Om lingalingalingalinga,
kilikilikili….” followed by ever changing cascades of strange words and
sounds. The speed increased hysterically. They threw all kinds of magic
ingredients into the flames that produced changing colours, crackling
and fizzling sounds and white smoke. While chanting, the tantrik came
close to Sanal, moved his hands in front of him and touched him, but was
called back by the anchor. After the earlier covert attempts of the
tantrik to use force against Sanal, he was warned to keep distance and
avoid touching Sanal. But the tantrik “forgot” this rule again and again.
Now the tantrik wrote Sanal’s name on a sheet of paper, tore it into
small pieces, dipped them into a pot with boiling butter oil and threw
them dramatically into the flames. Nothing happened. Singing and
singing, he sprinkled water on Sanal, mopped a bunch of peacock feathers
over his head, threw mustard seed into the fire and other outlandish
things more. Sanal smiled, nothing happened, and time was running out.
Only seven more minutes before midnight, the tantrik decided to use his
ultimate weapon: the clod of wheat flour dough. He kneaded it and
powdered it with mysterious ingredients, then asked Sanal to touch it.
Sanal did so, and the grand magic finale begun. The tantrik pierced
blunt nails on the dough, then cut it wildly with a knife and threw
them into the fire. That moment, Sanal should have broken down. But he
did not. He laughed. Forty more seconds, counted the anchor, twenty,
ten, five… it’s over!
Millions of people must have uttered a sigh of relief in front their
TVs. Sanal was very much alive. Tantra power had miserably failed.
Tantriks are creating such a scaring atmosphere that even people, who
know that black magic has no base, can just break down out of fear,
commented a scientist during the program. It needs enormous courage and
confidence to challenge them by actually putting one’s life at risk, he
said. By doing so, Sanal Edamaruku has broken the spell, and has taken
away much of the fear of those who witnessed his triumph.
In this night, one of the most dangerous and wide spread superstitions
in India suffered a severe blow.
The whole program is video-recorded and is available. If you want a
copy, please contact: info...@rationalistinternational.net
Email: Click here for contacting Sanal Edamaruku by email.
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RATIONALIST INTERNATIONAL
President: Sanal Edamaruku
Honorary Associates
Dr. Pieter Admiraal (The Netherlands) , Prof. Mike Archer (Australia),
Katsuaki Asai (Japan), Jocelyn Bézecourt (France),
Prof. Colin Blakemore (UK), Dr. Bill Cooke (New Zealand), Dr. Helena
Cronin (UK), Prof. Richard Dawkins (UK), Jan Loeb Eisler (USA),
Pekka Elo (Finland), Prof. Antony Flew (UK), Tom Flynn (USA), Jim
Herrick (UK), Christopher Hitchens (USA),
Ellen Johnson (USA), Prof. Paul Kurtz (USA), Lavanam (India), Dr.
Richard Leakey (Kenya), Iain Middleton (New Zealand),
Dr. Henry Morgentaler (Canada), Maryam Namazie (Iran), Dr. Taslima
Nasreen (Bangladesh) , Steinar Nilsen (Norway),
Prof. Jean-Claude Pecker (France), James Randi (USA), Prof. Ajoy Roy
(Bangladesh) , Dr. Younus Shaikh (Pakistan),
Barbara Smoker (UK), Richard Stallman (USA), Prof. Rob Tielman (The
Netherlands) , David Tribe (Australia),
K Veeramani (India), Bary Williams (Australia), Prof. Richard Wiseman
(UK) and Prof. Lewis Wolpert (UK).
Deceased: Sir Hermann Bondi (UK), Prof. Vern Bullough (USA),
Joseph Edamaruku (India), Dr. G N Jyoti Shankar (USA)