It started exactly eleven years ago, when someone in a place of worship made an offering to a zoomorphic idol. The "miracle" quickly spread all over a certain country and then abroad, causing traffic jams and a run on a common beverage. Scientists came up with a rational explanation, but the phenomenon supposedly recurred just last month. What am I talking about, and what did the scientists have to say about it?

smartie806

It's the Hindu Milk Miracle, when milk held up to the mouths of idols disappeared. "The apparent miracle had a significant effect on the areas around major temples; vehicle and pedestrian traffic in New Delhi was dense enough to create a gridlock lasting until late in the evening." "The miracle occurred again on 20-21 August 2006 in almost exactly the same fashion, although initial reports seem to indicate that it occurred only with statues of Ganesh, Shiva, and Durga. The first reported occurrance was on the evening of the 20th in the city of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, from where it spread throughout India like wildfire.[5] However, rationalists are heavily skeptical about the issue, attributing it to capillary action yet again.[6] The phenomenon had reappeared only days after reports of sea water turning sweet that led to mass hysteria in Mumbai." "Seeking to explain the phenomenon, scientists from India's Ministry of Science and Technology travelled to a temple in New Delhi and made an offering of milk containing a food colouring. As the level of liquid in the spoon dropped, it became obvious that after the milk disappeared from the spoon, it coated the statue beneath where the spoon was placed. With this result, the scientists offered capillary action as an explanation; the surface tension of the milk was pulling the liquid up and out of the spoon, before gravity caused it to run down the front of the statue.[1] This explanation did nothing to reduce the numbers of faithful rushing to the temples, however, and queues of people carrying pots, pans, and buckets of milk continued to gather." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_milk_miracle Sep 21 06, 4:31 PM

lanfranco

Quite nice, smartie, so a silver mace to you. This one wasn't too tough, I hope, since I included several easily "googleable" keyword clues. No coming up with synonyms and synonomous phrases required -- though, in my opinion, that's always the most enjoyable part of trying to answer a cryptic question. I'll be tougher next time. Be warned. Sep 21 06, 4:37 PM