Crowds line up to worship skeleton found in village

A human skeleton,said to 250 years old,was found in a sitting posture in a small enclosure at an old gurdwara in Tarn Taran’s Sur Singh village today. The people of the area believe the skeleton is the remains of ascetic Sant Shyam Dass and have started worshiping it in the enclosure,which is built of ‘nanakshahi’ bricks.

Chanan Singh,manager of the gurdwara that belongs to the Udasin sect,said that they were carrying out repairs at the historical gurdwara built more than 300 years ago. “We have no doubt that the skeleton belongs to our revered Sant who had gone missing 250 years ago. He was sitting for a Samadhi and his end might have come there in communion with God,” said Chanan Singh.

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Village Sarpanch Banta Singh said tales about the Sant had been passed down the generations and he was renowned for his piety. “Thus the people have the belief that the skeleton belongs to that saint,” he said,adding that the gurdwara,with help from the local police,has started a community kitchen at the place. The district administration meanwhile expressed ignorance about any such discovery.