Amar Bharati - The Hand That Held For Almost 50 Years

Perhaps there might be among you that do not believe in this story, but what Amar Bharati did was based on a true story.

Bharati raised his right hand upwards and held it for the past 49 years. But you might also be wondering why such action would be taken? It all started when Bharati decided to become an Indian Sadhu nearly 4 decades ago.

This means that he chose to live a life far from the hedonistic world, materialistic and closer to holy activities. In other words, he chose to be a monk.

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What's interesting is the story behind the drastic change from a normal man into this new Bharati with the reasons behind this transformation. To understand it even further, we must see his life before it all happened.

The Life Before The Rising Hand

In the 1970s, Bharati worked in an Indian banking company where he lived a simple life together with his wife and three children. One day, he received a pearl of wisdom that told him to leave his family, career, and friends behind to answer the callings of his religion.

Bharati put what was left of him to devote himself to Shiva, the supreme god. According to BBC, the triumvirate belief or Trimūrti comprised three gods; Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.

The role of Shiva is to destroy the universe in order to recreate it again. From the start, he still had the desire to do what is forbidden by a monk. Due to this, Bharati felt he needed to do something drastic to truly strengthen his religious faith.

This is the moment he decided to raise up his hand in 1973 and kept on that pose for life to show his faith and gratitude towards Shiva. Not long after, Bharati quickly rises up in fame all over the world and his symbolic hand has become an inspiration to thousands of people.

When asked why he did such a thing, Bharati always answered that the hand signal represents his fight against war and his support towards world peace as well as a way to pay his respect to Shiva.

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At his first attempt, Bharati admitted to feeling pain in his hands. However, the pain endured by him is nothing compared to his dedication and faith in Shiva. After the first two years, the pain felt in Bharati's hands starts to ease up, and ultimately all sensations on his hand completely fade away.

Some believed this is due to the flow of blood on his right hand that has been cut off, therefore Bharati was not able to take it down. Others claimed that he has full control over it but chose not to ideologically.

To put into perspective his effort, perhaps you can try to imitate Bharati's action by lifting your hand up for a few minutes. You will soon realize the pain that sets in after 2 or 3 minutes.

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Rising Hand For Peace

In one interview that rarely occurs by the Indian media, Bharati said:

I don't ask much. Why do we fight between us, why is there so much hate and enmity between us? I want all Indians to live in peace. I want the whole world to live in peace.

His action has inspired many people around the world to fight for world peace in their own ways. Interestingly enough, the hand signal has made many Indians become Sadhu and raised their hand for a long time. But then again, none have succeeded to beat Bharati's record.

Bharati remained his hand upwards and did not plan to put it down for the time being. And even if Bharati did lower his hand, his hand muscles have undergone a bad atrophy. Putting them down might be worse for him as it will damage the nerves on his hand.

Because of this, it is perhaps best for Bharati to keep on inspiring the people out there by retaining his position throughout his life not only for the sake of his health but also for his spiritual state.

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