Yogi to be buried alive at kumbha mela

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna.

 

ALLAHABAD, India (Reuters) - A Japanese yogi will bury herself for three

days at the giant Hindu festival in northern India to promote world peace

and harmony, a devotee of the sect to which she belongs said on Wednesday.

Yogi Mata Kaila Giri Ma will be buried about 10 feet deep during the

six-week Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival in Allahabad from 10

a.m. on January 20 until the same time on January 23, the devotee said.

 

The yogi, also known as Keiko Aikawa, performed the same feat for four days

at the last Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, another town on the holy river Ganges,

in 1998. She emerged apparently unharmed to greet a large crowd of

followers.

 

During her time underground, Aikawa will stay in a meditative trance known

as samadhi, during which yogis deprive themselves of the senses in order to

achieve unity with their inner selves.

 

Aikawa is an important member of the Pilot Baba Yogi Mata Camp. Pilot Baba,

a former pilot in the Indian Air Force, is a popular guru who has ashrams in

India, Switzerland and Japan.

 

He is performing rituals to become mahamadaleshar, or "great owner" of the

Juna akhara, an influential sect of holy men.

 

Hare Krishna --

 

ys, Balarama Dasa