Teenage ‘Buddha’ missing in Nepal

HUNDREDS of people scoured a jungle in southern Nepal yesterday for a missing teenager who many believe is the reincarnation of Buddha.

Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, disappeared on Saturday from a forest where he had meditated for the last 10 months, during which his associates said he consumed no food or water.

Police, followers and family members were looking for the boy in the jungles of Bara, about 160 kilometres south of the capital, Katmandu.

Police official Gautam Raj Kattel said some people claimed they saw Banjan walking south before dawn on Saturday. His clothes were found near where he had been meditating.

Banjan had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in a niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle since May 17, 2005. Thousands of followers flocked to see him every day.

The area is known to have substantial numbers of communist rebels who have been fighting government troops for a decade. But Mr Kattel said he doubted the boy was abducted by the rebels or by local criminals, adding he believed Banjan just wandered off.

Many followers believe Banjan is a reincarnation of Gautama Siddhartha, who was born in Nepal around 500BC and later became revered as the Buddha.

Visitors have only been allowed to view Banjan between dawn and dusk from a roped-off area about 25 metres away.