An Unknown Treasure Hunt – Dreamed By Unknown Priest

In September 2013, a local priest named Shobhan Sarkar, who is also revered as a Mahant, claimed that a 19th-century king of Daundia Khera, Ram Baksh Singh, had come to him in a dream and told him that 1000 tons of gold treasure was buried under his palace. In an interview to Wall Street Journal, Sarkar said that the ghost of Singh is worried about the Indian economy and he wants the treasure to be used for the economic growth of the country. Sarkar called the dream "a divine intervention" but refused to tell how, when and why only he learned about the buried treasure. The British had hanged Singh during the 1857 rebellion and destroyed his palace. Sarkar wrote to the Prime Minister, President and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) about his dream but his letters went ignored. Some sources say that Sarkar then approached Charan Das Mahant, a Minister of State for agriculture and the food processing industry in the Government of India, while other sources say that the minister heard of the story from a pandit in Kanpur who regularly kept in touch with him.

Now, who actually was Raja Rao Ram Baksh Singh, sources say that he was a Hindu zamindar of Dundiakhera in Unnao district in erstwhile Oudh province of British India. He was one of the leaders of Revolt of 1857 and close associate of Nana Sahib. He was hanged by British on 28 December 1857 for taking part in revolt and being guilty of killing of British soldiers. In 1992, Government of India had built a memorial at the place, where he was hanged, to honour his martyrdom.

And then coming on to the so called pandit named Shobhan Sarkar. Actually Shobhan is a village in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh where the sadhu has his ashram. He is called Sarkar by his followers. But no one knows his real name. The name of Shobhan Sarkar ashram’s saint is mentioned as Bhaskaranand Dev.

Shobhan Sarkar's followers claim that he is not publicity hungry and does not come before the media. He does not like to be photographed and has asked his followers not to worship him. Interestingly, his guru was also called Sarkar. Shobhan Sarkar has asked his followers to worship his master like god. Shobhan Sarkar is a disciple of Swami Raghunandan Das who 90 years ago laid the founded Shivli Ashram near Kanpur. But when CM of Gujarat Mr. Narendra Modi exclaimed on the matter, news reports say; Sadhu Shobhan Sarkar has slammed Modi for saying that the Delhi government has started excavation after someone claimed that there is buried gold lowering the country's image globally. In the letter Sarkar said, "I want to tell you humbly that in a hurry to hit out at the Central government and Sonia Gandhi, you have disrespected a saint. The dream of Sri Swami Shobhan Sarkar is to make India the world's most powerful economic force. I had earlier sent a letter to the Central government, the state government and district administration asking them for a GSI investigation of an area in Dhondia village and requested them to caary out an excavation based on the GSI report. I request an influential leader like you (Modi) not to waste time on such talk."

This whole incident made me wonder with few of the questions, that we all must ponder over:

• If the Gold was actually buried under the palace of Raja Rao Ram Baksh Singh, then why did he not come in the dream of any one since more than 100 years? Was he not worried for the Indian economy during all this years? Or was Indian economy never faced crisis during those years?
• If the claim of Gold is so true and if at all Gold is found from the mentioned area, will it actually affect the Indian Economy and will it be used for a purpose it is meant to be?
• What if the mentioned treasure is not actually found after digging the whole place? Who would be punishable for the act, the saint who dreamed about it or ASI who believed in such a story with minimal proofs?
• And if there were adequate proof present of the story, with the maps and all, then why was the government not digging for treasure from all this years? Were they waiting for critical elections to come?

Questions are endless and answers are just hopes as of now. Let us see what this treasure hunts brings on the future of India, A Better Economy or Laugh From The World.