Re Sai Baba Lingam: Trick now star act on BBC

British TV-watchers were very surprised recently when a man appeared on the popular show “Britain’s Got Talent” and swallowed coins, which he could regurgitate at will, even bringing out any particular numbered coin a member of the audience chose. He then proceeded to swallow a full-sized billiard ball, and then regurgitate it. He did all this without drinking water or making grimaces of suffering for quarter of an hour (as Sathya Sai Baba used to do to increase the suspense, for he had a captive audience).
This act is now posted on YouTube here

The apparently miraculous materialization of objects like billiard balls, Shivalingams, and other large objects through the mouth has long been known to have been invented on stage by Harry Houdini. He experimented with smaller objects attached to a thread, but soon found he could regurgitate large objects – billiard balls – with ease. This trick has been done in India by wandering fakirs and, more recently, by self-proclaimed holy avatars – Sathya Sai Baba being the most prominent of them all. He claimed that the lingam materialised itself every Shivarathri day within his stomach and had to emerge. It was a major attraction in India until about 1968, when the crowds caused him to stop the act. He began it again in 2000 after a major scandal (sexual abuses alleged by many young men) which caused a large fall-off in visitors (and donations).

HARRY HOUDINI’S INVENTION OF THE LINGAM REGURGITATION TRICK

SHIVARATHRI ‘LINGAM PRODUCTION’ 2004 – FILMED BY THE BBC
SAI BABA’S  COLLAPSE AFTER THE STRAIN & HIS EXPLANATION AFTERWARDS
SAI BABA’S PROMISES OF ETERNAL LIBERATION FROM ‘THE WHEEL OF EXISTENCE’

Cheating with lingam 1

Baba cheating with lingam 2

Cheating with lingam 3