A Nepalese teenaged boy who was hailed as a reincarnation of the Buddha has reappeared after nine months of wandering through the jungles of eastern Nepal, police said. "A team of police found the Buddha Boy sitting under a tree in the Piluwa jungle after there were rumours that some locals had spotted the boy on Monday afternoon," said Rameshwor Yadav, a police officer in the Bara district, 170 kilometers (106 miles) east of Kathmandu.
Ram Bahadur Bomjan, 16, had disappeared in March after he reportedly shunned food and water for almost 10 months while he meditated under a pipal tree in Bara near a holy site in Nepal revered by Hindus and Buddhists.
The event had drawn hundreds of devotees daily who offered money and gifts for the "Buddha Boy," but were barred by Bomjan's supporters from reaching within 50 metres of his meditation spot.
Local officials however had expressed scepticism on the impossible fasting claims and said the boy was being used by supporters to fleece funds from villagers.
The Gautam, or Enlightned, Buddha was born a prince in Lumbini located in Nepal's low-land jungle around 500 B.C.
He shunned his life of privilege and wandered for many years before he obtained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Nepal's southern border.
Bomjan reportedly told local villagers that he disappeared from the previous meditation site because of noisy crowds, Yadav said.
