A judge in India has summoned two Hindu gods, Ram and Hanuman, to help resolve a property dispute.

Judge Sunil Kumar Singh in the eastern state of Jharkhand has issued adverts in newspapers asking the gods to "appear before the court personally".

The gods have been asked to appear before the court on Tuesday, after the judge said that letters addressed to them had gone unanswered.

Ram and Hanuman are among the most popular Indian Hindu gods.

Judge Singh presides in a "fast track" court - designed to resolve disputes quickly - in the city of Dhanbad.

The dispute is now 20 years old and revolves around the ownership of a 1.4 acre plot of land housing two temples.

The deities of Ram and Hanuman, the monkey god, are worshipped at the two temples on the land.

Temple priest Manmohan Pathak claims the land belongs to him. Locals say it belongs to the two deities.

The two sides first went to court in 1987.

A few years ago, the dispute was settled in favour of the locals. Then Mr Pathak challenged the verdict in a fast track court.

Gift

Judge Singh sent out two notices to the deities, but they were returned as the addresses were found to be "incomplete".

This prompted him to put out adverts in local newspapers summoning the gods.

"You failed to appear in court despite notices sent by a peon and later through registered post. You are herby directed to appear before the court personally", Judge Singh's notice said.

The two Hindu gods have been summoned as the defence claimed that they were owners of the disputed land.

"Since the land has been donated to the gods, it is necessary to make them a party to the case," local lawyer Bijan Rawani said.

Mr Pathak said the land was given to his grandfather by a former local king.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7132124.stm

The judge is an idiot. He need to be rational.

i think the judge is trying to make a point to the two men. hopefully they will "get it" because i got it.

I agree, I think the judge has attempted to make a point.

I have read the article properly. Now I have to take back my words. The judge seem to be wise I agree with you two.

^^right. the two men need to sit down and come to some sort of compromise about the land instead of dragging the gods (aka religion) into it.

just my thoughts....

The judge has a good sense of humour.

lol wht?

do hindus truly believe in all their deities or is it mainly symbolic now and they're not as superstitious anymore?

What? the deities have always been symbolic in how they're represented in pictures.

Deities have always been symbolic. They're all different forms of Bhagwaan (God) and each are representative of different things like education, fertility, wealth, health, etc. Obviously there are thousands of different things in this world so that's why there are thousands of different deities. You'll hear of the same few because usually things like education and health are the most popular.

yeah i got to read more into that. taking a religious studies class next semester. when i was younger i used to think that indians actually believed the gods looked like they were depicted lol

I suggest looking at this website..

http://www.iloveulove.com/spirituality/hindu/hindudeities

It provides some information about the symbolic meaning of how deities are depicted

Hindus do believe in their deities. But the depiction of deities be in the form of an idol or painting or someother form is meant to be symbolic. Some people are supertitious some others are not it all depends on person to person.

For example just have a look at this image. This image describes the meaning of the representations of Lord Ganesha, the God of good fortune.

Maybe the judge just wants publicity?

I don't think the judge was hungry for some kind of publicity. I suppose you should read the article properly. The judge seem to be wise, and he was going by the book.

i disagree.
even ramakrishna and ramana maharshi said behind each Hindu myth, there is the symbolic point of view and also the true taking place of the myth...

but it's true that we Hindus believe in One God.

you believe in one god????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

yeah we belive in one God!!!!
i believe in Shiva, Kali, Krishna etc... but i believe in ONE GOD.
that is one beautiful paradox of Hinduism...

u can quote me on that