July 4
Ulan Ude, Russia - For the first time, scientists and theologians have gathered in Russia to try to solve the mystery of the so-called incorruptible body of Hambo Lama Itigilov.

Hambo Lama died in 1927 at age 75 while meditating and praying in the lotus position. He was buried still in the lotus position in a pine box filled with salt. When the tomb was reopened in 2002, Buddhist monks found their teacher's body had not decayed.

About 150 researchers and theologians are attending a conference at the official residence of the Buddhist traditional church of Russia, to try to find out why.

Buddhists believe Hambo Lama achieved Void, or Ultimate Reality, cleansing his body to such an extent it became incorruptible. Professor V. Zvyagin, who leads the department of personal identification at the Russian Health Ministry's forensic medicine center, said the body is no different from that of a person who died 12 hours ago.

Conference participants are calling Hambo Lama "the Buryat Nostradamus" and are trying to decipher coded messages or predictions they believe he inserted in a book he wrote in old Mongolian.
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kinda sounds like they put him in that position or he was killed in that position.but thats just me.btw whats incorruptible mean?

doesn't decay. Otherwise known as the Sleeping Beauty phenomena.

they are other incorruptible bodies out there. so far there's this girl's body somewhere, she died decades ago and yet her body is still succulent

thats awsome i wonder what they are going to do with the body and if thhey will get any anwsers from it

It's said that he announced that he would die, assumed the lotus position and off he went, that the burial salt only partly explains his apparent preservation and that he had a defective gene which affected decomposition of his corpse. Link



Catherine of Bologna, who died in 1463, is also believed to be uncorrupted. Link

This one, Saint Bernadette,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Soubirous

That's truly amazing. I never heard of anything like that before. I wonder how or why this happens?? I wonder how Bruce Lee's dead body looks now....

If you are really interested in this subject there are many more incorrupt bodies on this site!

Link- Incorrupt bodies of the saints...

Such a fascinating phenomena!

It is hard to work out exactly how it could happen

St. Catherine is a tad...moldy.

St. Bernadette is beautiful.

It would be so interestiing to find out the phenomena of these people...As a small child I saw the movie "Miracle of the Lady of Fatima, which was the story of St. Bernadette...A beautiful movie and a beautiful saint...

Thanks for the link Dragonwick...I didn't realize that there were so many incorrupt bodies of Saints...And the stories are all interesting...

I remember seeing a film based on St Bernadette (wish I could remember the name of it and who starred in it). Lovely story!

How bizarre!! Kind of freaky, really.

Is this similar to how Joan of Arcs heart wouldn't burn? Or something like that?

I have heard of this before, especially about St. Bernadette. Actually truth be told, thats why I took her name (for confirmation).

Ive always been a strange one.

FYI:

The story which involved St. Bernadette was in Lourdes, France. The movie was called, "The Song of Bernadette" and starred Jennifer Jones. (I love old movies.) It won several academy awards.

Fatima was a completely different occurrence. It involved three children in Portugal: Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. This is also a fascinating occurrence and a movie was made about it. I think it was called, "Our Lady of Fatima."

Hi HowdyDoo...It was "The Song of Bernadette" that I saw....But I did see "Our Lady of Fatima" also...I love the old movies too, and I was a kid when I saw both...Jennifer Jones was beautiful...So thanks for the reminder

Jennifer did pull off a wonderful performance. She did have a saintly air about her. I also loved her in "The Portrait of Jenny." Very spooky and sad but great!

Sorry to derail into Old Movie Land...back to the subject at hand....

I know a little of the case of St Bernadette.

When she died she was buried in a lead coffin (inside a wood one) and the lead (as well as the very tight seal) caused her body to be partially preserved and decay at an extremely slow rate. She was exhumed after 30 years as the Church required evidence for her beatification and there is a suspicion her body was treated while exhumed to prevent further decay (some slight decay had already taken place).

Later, when she was exhumed for the second time, her body showed the signs of mummification - darkened skin, sunken and shrivelled eyes, etc. A wax mask was taken of her face and hands and this mask made to look as she was when alive. This is what the public see now upon visiting the shrine.

The body has never been allowed to be independently tested. The 'evidence' of her incorruptibility lies purely in Church accounts and anecdote which cannot be assumed free from bias.