A 22-year-old self-styled swami jumped into a seven-ft pit and buried himself in sand, claiming he had the yogic powers to emerge alive after two days of penance. Forty-eight hours later, on Monday, his body was pulled out of the pit. Ananda Swami is said to have performed the “burial” feat twice before and emerged unscathed. However, this time round, frenzied devotees “mismanaged” the ritual, police said.In Tamil Nadu, where the ritual of “burying alive” devotees for a few seconds to propitiate the gods has been banned, Swami had decided to perform the penance in a sand-covered pit at his ashram in Kondayampatti village, 35 km from Madurai. He instructed his followers to cover the pit with a wooden plank and mud once he got in. His devotees went further — they lit a fire and raised a brick wall around the pit for a samadhi effect.Huge crowds waited for two days for the swami to emerge from the pit. But when there was no sign of him, devotees removed the wooden plank, and discovered he was dead. Inside the pit, the swami lay dead, his face covered in clotted blood. Police said eager devotees had packed the earth tightly over the samadhi, and the brick wall prevented circulation of air.
