AN INDIAN BETHESDA !

as published in “Theosophical Siftings” - Volume 4-

To match the now celebrated healing waters of the Catholic grotto at Lourdes, and other similar fountains, we offer the case of a well attached to the Mahommedan mosque at Kuttai, about six miles from Tirur, Madras Presidency. Its water is said to cure any disease not congenital, and thousands of sufferers frequent the place. The following is said to have been the origin of the well. A Mahommedan who had long been ill, went to the mosque and prayed to be cured, vowing that, on his recovery, he would sink a well for the benefit of the mosque. He recovered, but failed to carry out his promise. A considerable time after, he saw in a dream a man who beat him with a cane and reminded him of his unfulfilled vow. He immediately set to work digging the well, but a little below the surface the workmen came to a masonry grave in which was a body in perfect preservation as if it had just been buried. They at once ceased digging, and the hole was filled up. The Mahommedan the next night saw in a dream the same man who had appeared to him before, and he now told the sleeper to go on with the work, for the body was no longer there. Accordingly the digging was resumed at the same place; the masonry and the body It enclosed had disappeared, and water was found at the depth of 14 feet. The healing powers of the well were first shown in the case of a leper, who bathed in water taken from the well, and was cured in a week. The fame of the water soon spread; and the blind, the deaf, lepers, and people afflicted with all sorts of diseases, flocked to the well, and were in most cases cured. Here are a few cases that have been reported. A woman suffering for eight years from an enormous swelling in the stomach used the water for 20 days, and the swelling disappeared. A Mahommedan woman of Palghat became blind: about a year after her loss of sight she went to Kuttai, bathed in the water for seven days, and so thoroughly recovered her sight that she can now thread a needle. A dhobie crippled with pains in his limbs was cured in six days. Many instances are reported of the cure of people possessed with devils. In one case the devil cried out (we don't know in what language) " I am off! I will stay no longer!" However, he had to stay, for the priest of the mosque would not let him go till he had sworn not to come back. A rich Namburi, who had been cured of some complaint, endowed the mosque with land yielding 30 paras of paddy; and a native of Cochin who had derived benefit from the waters, presented the mosque with a horse and an elephant. A correspondent, who has seen and tasted the water, describes it as perfectly clear and tasting much like the lime water in common use as a medicine. We give the story as found in the Western Star, of Cochin, and, while unable from personal investigation to endorse the facts stated, we do say that they are no more improbable than those of the alleged curative powers of the Pool of Siloam in the Bible, the spring at Lourdes (France), or the parish church at Knock (Ireland).


Go to Top of this page
Back to our On Line Documents
Back to our Main Page


A free sample copy of our bilingual magazine can be sent to you. This offer is only good for a mailing to a Canadian address. You have to supply a mailing address.

The Canadian membership of $25.00 includes the receipt of four seasonal issues of our magazine "The Light Bearer" . If you are a resident of Canada send a note to enquirers@theosophical.ca requesting a packet of information and your free copy of our magazine

For membership outside of Canada send a message to the International Secretary in Adyar, India theossoc@satyam.net.in

For a problem viewing one of our documents — or to report an error in a document — send a note to the webmaster at webmaster@theosophical.ca

We will try to answer any other query — if you would send a note to
info@theosophical.ca


This document is a publication of the
Canadian Theosophical Association (a regional association of the Theosophical Society in Adyar)
website: http://www.theosophical.ca