The Levitation "Miracle" at Kamarali Durvesh Dargah

After we uploaded Premanand’s writing on the 'miracle' at Kamarali Durvesh Dargha, Shivapuri, Pune, we came across a very interesting article on the same ‘miracle’. It was published in Skeptical Inquirer in its Spring/Summer 1978 issue (Volume II, No.2). Since this article is not easy to come by, we post it here for the benefit of our readers.

The Leviation "Miracle" At Shivpuri

When Philip Morrison, the book editor of Scientific American magazine, heard about a remarkable demonstration that was said to take place in a temple courtyard near a small town in India, he was curious enough to ask questions of a firm of scientists and engineers located in Bombay. Their director, Mr. R.C.Globe, was familiar with the phenomenon, and replied fully to Morrison's inquiry.

We produce here Mr. Globe's reply to Morrison: 

I thank you for your letter....with reference to the stone lifting at Shivpuri. As requested, herewith details of this supposed and mysterious power which it is said and believed lifts the stone ball.

I give some of the details which you may find interesting.

The mausoleum contains the body of a saint, a Muslim named "Kamarali Darvesh" who died about 700 years ago. There is always a Muslim in attendance to satisfy the curiosity of visitors to witness the "unaccountable and mysterious" lifting of a round stone ball which stands the larger of two on the ground adjacent to the entrance of the "Durgah," the Urdu name for the word "mausoleum."

This ball of basalt (or sand-stone, which is lighter)is about 14 inches in diameter and thus weighs about 140 pounds. Visitors must not attempt to influence the "spirit" which is said to lift it unless there is an odd number of men, i.e., 5, 7, or 11, no women being allowed to join the solemn(?) proceedings. The men gathered round the ball are then instructed by the attendant to touch the ball with one finger and when he gives the signal by voice, the men must shout in a loud voice in unison, the name of the saint, i.e., "KAMARALI DARVESH," but in a drawling tone of voice, when the stone will lift of its own accord; mark you, with the forefinger of each man still touching it.

The mausoleum is outside a small village, Shivpuri, about 16 miles from Poona, in the State of Maharashtra, Western India. I visited the place purposely to see this lifting by a mysterious power which is attributed to a divine entity, but failed to connect it with the "spirit" of the dead saint.

By mathematical calculation the stone weighs about 140 pounds so that 9 men pushing with one finger exert a force of about 15.5 pounds each, sufficient to lift the stone without any exertion or apparent effort. This of course is not believed by any Indian; they insist that it is the Unknown Power which does the lifting. No amount of discussion will move this belief out of their minds.

I don't believe that the joining up of ectoplasm supplied by each member of the group is responsible for lifting up of the stone ball.

To add to Mr.Globe's account may seem superfluous, but some interesting physical facts should be made clear. When the ball is resting on the ground, any force applied as shown (F) will tend to make it roll, unless exactly countered by an opposite and equal force. With a number of persons crowded about the ball, such equal pressure all around seems unlikely. Therefore, the ball will tend to roll in one direction or another.

Now it is not clear from the account given just what instructions are provided by the attendant present to supervise the miracle. If he gives the men reason to believe that their forefingers must maintain firm contact with the ball, conditions for it to begin rolling are optimum. There is no doubt in the minds of the faithful at this manifestation that the ball is now moving by divine force. To keep in touch with the ball is now more difficult, and each pushes harder, so that the small push necessary is delivered readily, and up goes the ball.

As the ball rises, the angle at which each person applies pressure will change, and the ball should accelerate, since the individual pressures are resolved into a much more direct upward push. 

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Miracles in Islam: Kamarali Darvesh Dargah of Shivapuri

B Premanand

Islam is one of the few religions which state that no human being can perform miracles . But for a religion to survive, miracles are a must. If we visit some of the mosques and darghas we will find that many miracles are believed to occur there.

Though the Prophet Muhammad destroyed almost all idols and idol-wor­ship, he failed to completely wipe out idols. There remains one stone in Kaba worshipped by Muslims. This is because gullible people need something to hold on out of fear of the present and the future. Only true education can make people courageous and fearless to face the reality.

Kamarali Darvesh Dargah

Image Courtesy:
http://your-cityguide.blogspot.in

While in Maharashtra I came across a dargah in Shivpuri, where a stone of 70 kg was raised on the finger tips of eleven believers and this was considered a miracle. Kamarali Darvesh, a muslim saint who died 700 years ago is buried there. Eleven believers keep their index finger under the stone and singing in unison the name of Kamarali Darvesh, lift the boulder of sand stone on their fingers. We demonstrated that a similar stone of 70 kg could be lifted by four people on their index fingers.

(For a detailed scientific explanation of this "levitation miracle", see this article appeared in Skeptical Inquirer, Spring/Summer 1978)

Experiment: 39

Effect: Four volunteers lift a 70 kg. boulder on their index fingers without feeling its weight.

Props: A round stone weighing 70 kg.

Method: Stand on four sides of the stone with your index finger under the stone. When "one, two, three" is said, be ready and when "up" is said, raise the stone on the finger tips.

The stone rises up without the volunteers feeling any weight because the weight of 70 kg is distributed on four fingers and so the weight on each finger is only 17 kg. The timing of raising should be when you say "up" so that all the four exert force at the same time. Moreover, the momentum of the first force used to raise the stone reduces its weight on the finger tips.

Experiment: 40

Effect: Four volunteers lift a person weighing more than 70 kg to 150 kg. on their finger tips without feeling any weight. Uri Geller, the self­-professed psychic demonstrated this trick claiming it to be by his psychic power.

Props: A stool, a person weighing more than 70 kg. and four volunteers to lift him.

Method: The volunteer to be raised sits straight on the stool with his hands on his knees and his legs straight. The other four volunteers clasp both their hands, closing all the fingers except the index fingers kept straight touching each other. Two tall volunteers stand at the back with their index fingers under the arm pits of the person to be raised. The other two place their index fingers under the knee joints and prepare to lift. While saying ‘one, two, three’ they get ready and when "up" is said, they raise the person and lower him gently.

Youngsers demonstrating how the miracle works
 (at a Science Workshop held  in Port Blair in May 2013)

The timing of lifting the person at the same time makes the person go up.

Though there are hundreds of such miracles happening at the places of worship and narrated in the scriptures of every religion we shall go into those miracles at a later stage.

For a scientific explanation of the so-called miracle in Kamarali Durvesh Dargah, click here. The article appeared in Skeptical Inquirer in its Spring/Summer 1978 issue (Volume II, No.2)

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