Indians See Deity Shiva in Tree That Burst Into Flames

A 50-year-old tree that suddenly burst into flames in a municipal park in January and has become a Hindu shrine.

For believers, it is the home of the Hindu deity Shiva the Destroyer, who wears a cobra as a necklace.

The tree’s transformation to divine repository was sudden. It caught fire in January, and after the blaze was put out, bystanders were astonished to see through a split in the trunk that inside was a stone object resembling a lingam, the phallic symbol of Shiva.

It was too big to have been placed in the tree trunk through the aperture, and people believed it had materialized from within.

Harendra Nath Patra, a gardener who has lived for several years in a tiny house in the shadow of the tree, witnessed the fire and the tree’s seeming transformation into a Hindu shrine.

“It suddenly caught fire on Jan. 21. We called the fire brigade and it began spraying water to put out the fire. Then we saw a white snake come out of the crack. We looked inside and found the Shiva lingam,” Patra said.

As word spread about the lingam, worshipers of Shiva began to gather in the park.

“People began to say, ‘God has emerged’ and the prayers began. I also pray here,” Patra said.

Among the first were wealthy businessmen from the Marwari community, originally from the desert lands of Rajasthan. They came to pray that their ventures be blessed with success.

Women and children also began daily rituals of prayer.

They poured milk through the crack and offered coins in homage, much as they would have done in a temple.

The park’s security guard, Mahtab Alam, a Muslim, also saw the fire and the snake.

“The stone Shiva lingam was not inside the tree earlier. The strange thing was that when the fire brigade poured water to put out the fire, the tree swallowed all the water,” Alam said.

“Strangely, the fire did not destroy the leaves, which are still intact.”

Sheikh Munna, a jobless young man, said: “The Shiva lingam has come out of the tree. You can see it has not been planted inside. I believe it is a genuine Shiva lingam.”