The Hindu has kept his hand raised for 49 years

An Indian sadhu has been known to keep his hand up for 45 years.

Sadhus in India are called ascetics and saints. Amar was once an ordinary clerk and lived in New Delhi. In his worldly life his name was Mahant Amar Bharti Ji and he had a family, but in the early 1970s he suddenly realized that none of that mattered.

Then Amar decided to give it all up and devote himself to the god Shiva, but three years later the man realized that he was still bound to worldly temptations, and then, to cut himself off from them, he raised his hand up. Since 1973 the sadhu has lived in this position.

Over 45 years, the hand has deformed and turned into bones covered in skin, which are crowned by spiral-twisted nails, for no one has cut them during that time. The hand is completely atrophied and frozen upright.

Some say that Amar Bharati was very worried about the wars on the planet and in the name of peace he raised his hand.

In the city of Haridwar, Amar Bharati is venerated during the Kumbha Mela pilgrimage rites (one of the largest mass religious events in the world).

Moreover, he inspired other sadhus to raise their hands for harmony and peace, some of them lasting seven, thirteen and even twenty-five years.