"Indian patient Prahlad Jani (Mataji), who claims he has survived without food and water for more than seven decades. Photo: AFP" (caption from source)
Prahlad Jani is again being held in isolation and monitored by doctors in the Western India city of Ahmedabad. Here is a link to the article by Dean Nelson in New Delhi: "Man claims to have had no food or drink for 70 years."
In November 2003, the BBC News was among media outlets reporting about Jani. I found an Internet article given the flippant headline “Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians.” A more extensive case summery with data about the clinical investigations of Jani may be read at http://www.amazingabilities.com/amaze5a.html. A panel of more than twenty-one doctors studied him for ten days. The current observation is scheduled to last fifteen days.
There are also YouTube videos that may be viewed by searching for "Prahlad Jani."
2020 Update:
The Times of India reported on May 26:
Headline: Gujarat: Ascetic who claimed survival without food and water passes away at 91
AHMEDABAD: The ascetic, who claimed to have lived without food or water for eight decades of his life, passed away due to illness early on Tuesday. Prahlad Jani, 91, was known among devotees as Chunriwale Mataji.
Dharmendra Panchal, a sevak with Jani, confirmed his demise.
"Mataji was not keeping well since Chaitra Navratri (April). He had expressed wish to return to his native Charada near Mansa in Gandhinagar district after the lockdown was relaxed about five-six days ago. The cause of his death is not known," he said.
Panchal said that many believed Jani to be a yogi of breatharian school who could carry out daily activities without food or water.
"He was an ardent Mata Ambaji and Shakti sadhak (devotee) and will always be remembered by the followers in his full attire with vermilion on his parting, nose ring, bangles and bindi on forehead along with red sari (churi) that became his identity," he said.
Jani’s body would be taken to Ambaji – where he established and ran an ashram – and would be kept there for darshan for a day. His devotees said that Jani would be given a samadhi (burial) inside the ashram according to tradition on Thursday morning.
Jani’s life was part of a documentary and several scientific studies including a major study by DIPAS of Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) in 2010. During that experiment, Jani was kept under CCTV surveillance and his body temperature, vitals and biochemical processes were studied.
Dr. Sudhir Shah, a city-based neurologist, who was part of the initiative, mentioned on his website that Jani has some 'extreme form of adaptation to starvation and water restriction' as evident from serum Leptin and Ghrelin levels that have been estimated. "Cell biology studies have shown that the peripheral blood mononuclear cells exhibit more tolerance to stress," mentioned Dr. Shah's website.
Dr. Shah told TOI that Jani had accompanied him in a conference earlier this year to Bengaluru. "I was part of two scientific studies involving him and he gave a lot of insights into how the human body functions," he said.
Jani had left his home at a young age in search of spiritual experience and had started living in a cave near Ambaji temple in Banaskantha district of Gujarat, said his followers. He attained international fame as the person who survived without food or water for decades altogether even as a faction of scientific community doubted his claims.
Headline: Gujarat: Ascetic who claimed survival without food and water passes away at 91
Prahlad Jani
AHMEDABAD: The ascetic, who claimed to have lived without food or water for eight decades of his life, passed away due to illness early on Tuesday. Prahlad Jani, 91, was known among devotees as Chunriwale Mataji.
Dharmendra Panchal, a sevak with Jani, confirmed his demise.
"Mataji was not keeping well since Chaitra Navratri (April). He had expressed wish to return to his native Charada near Mansa in Gandhinagar district after the lockdown was relaxed about five-six days ago. The cause of his death is not known," he said.
Panchal said that many believed Jani to be a yogi of breatharian school who could carry out daily activities without food or water.
"He was an ardent Mata Ambaji and Shakti sadhak (devotee) and will always be remembered by the followers in his full attire with vermilion on his parting, nose ring, bangles and bindi on forehead along with red sari (churi) that became his identity," he said.
Jani’s body would be taken to Ambaji – where he established and ran an ashram – and would be kept there for darshan for a day. His devotees said that Jani would be given a samadhi (burial) inside the ashram according to tradition on Thursday morning.
Jani’s life was part of a documentary and several scientific studies including a major study by DIPAS of Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) in 2010. During that experiment, Jani was kept under CCTV surveillance and his body temperature, vitals and biochemical processes were studied.
Dr. Sudhir Shah, a city-based neurologist, who was part of the initiative, mentioned on his website that Jani has some 'extreme form of adaptation to starvation and water restriction' as evident from serum Leptin and Ghrelin levels that have been estimated. "Cell biology studies have shown that the peripheral blood mononuclear cells exhibit more tolerance to stress," mentioned Dr. Shah's website.
Dr. Shah told TOI that Jani had accompanied him in a conference earlier this year to Bengaluru. "I was part of two scientific studies involving him and he gave a lot of insights into how the human body functions," he said.
Jani had left his home at a young age in search of spiritual experience and had started living in a cave near Ambaji temple in Banaskantha district of Gujarat, said his followers. He attained international fame as the person who survived without food or water for decades altogether even as a faction of scientific community doubted his claims.
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