Treasure hunt sparked by holy man's dream

[Still Waters]

Archaeologists have begun digging for treasure beneath a 19th-century fort in northern India, after a Hindu holy man said a king had appeared to him in a dream and told him about the cache.

The treasure hunt began after Shobhan Sarkar, a Hindu swami, relayed his dream to a government minister who visited Sarkar's ashram last month.

http://www.theguardi...an-sarkar-dream

[freetoroam]

it appears that Rao Ram Baksh Singhm was not a king originaly, but a rich landlord and gold trader, there is not much news about him, but it appears he was known to the locals and the story / legend, seems has developed over time..to a point where they call him a king and this holy man has now insisted the treasure is really there.

==========================

As a boy, Ram Sagar listened to legends about untold riches that were said to lie beneath the very ground he was now clearing with a shovel.

They were just stories, of course, shimmering, fantastical tales passed down from one generation to the next.

http://www.independe...re-8887403.html

Now the story has really got going, and several government authorities have already come up to claim a stake in the treasure. One of the king's descendant, Navchandi Veer Pratap Singh have also expressed his right.

Edited October 19, 2013 by freetoroam

[pallidin]

Well, I hope they do find massive amounts of treasure. I would definitely help such a poor region, as long as greedy politicians, police, etc... don't cart it away without proper accounting.

[IBelieveWhatIWant]

Pallidin, in what world do you think that wouldn't happen

[xYlvax]

Quick, let's get a team of UM members and get it before they do.

[pallidin]

Pallidin, in what world do you think that wouldn't happen

True enough.

[dummy2b]

The gold mites ate all of the treasure .All that is left is

seven hundreds tons of gold dust.

Edited October 22, 2013 by dummy2b

[highdesert50]

I would be more impressed with a holy man's dream come true than with the 1,000-ton treasure.

[vikas bagla]

This fort lies in middle of an old trade route (road and river) between west and east India along River Gangaa. ( Never could understand why it is spelt "Ganges"). Locals say that around 5th A.D. there used to be seven big trading markets in this area ( called Lakh-takiya Bazar) where entry criteria was minimum One hundred thousand gold coins. Traders used to deposit their surplus gold currency with the king for fear of looters en-route. This was sort of a banking-locker system for which king used to charge certain percentage. If this is true, over time such system could certainly have amassed sizeable fortune.

[antarix]

This is a big joke being played there. Government agencies started digging there as one of the Central Ministers instructed them to do so after he met the saint. After some criticism, government said that the gold hunt was not based on the dream, but on the basis of a report of its agency. However, that agency, Geological Survey of India (GSI), has clearly mentioned in its report that they were instructed to hunt for gold after the Minister met the saint.

Till date, not one gram of gold has been found.

[libstaK]

I think these folk are about to learn alot about Gold Fever and not much else.

[antarix]

The hunt for gold was closed down after finding nothing there except some very small materials (made of iron) and after government making itself an object of jokes.