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I recently watched a fascinating show on the National Geographic channel. I thought that I would share the story with you all. :)

In Rampur Kodar Katti, a village of nearly 500 inhabitants, a child was born with eight limbs, two functioning legs and arms. She was named Lakshmi (Tatma) after the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi who has been portrayed as having multiple limbs. She is known as the Goddess of fortune and prosperity. The child Lakshmi was born on the day of the festival celebrating the Goddess Lakshmi, adding fuel to the belief that she was indeed the Goddess. Visitors came from far away to see this child.

In this village, if a child was born disabled, they would be left out in the fields to die. However, because they believed her to be the Goddess Lakshmi, she was saved from this horrible fate.

Her mother and father, although they also shared the belief that she was a Goddess, felt that she would never have a normal life if she kept all her limbs. They sought medical help for her, even knowing that many in their village disapproved of such an action. They were turned away by a couple of hospitals. Finally, one day a doctor named, Dr. Sharan Patil, came to see them. He decided to take on the challenge.

Here is a picture of Lakshmi:



Here is a picture of her skeletal structure:



After hours of surgery, the ordeal was over and Lakshmi had only four limbs, two arms and two legs. While there still needs to be surgery to bring her pelvis closer together, she has crossed the first and hardest hurdle. She is in the process of learning to use her legs and is a happy child. Her family moved away from their village to another, bigger settlement where both Lakshmi and her brother can attend school.

At the end of the program her father said, "As long as she is alive, until my dying day, I will believe that she is a goddess."

What I'd like to open up for discussion is the possibility of whether or not this child could have really been the incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi. Perhaps she was. What if her story was meant to happen so that the world would become aware of her village and all the children that died because of their disabilities? What if she was born to bring her family out of poverty? Although they never made money from her condition, they did move away from their village to a better one because of it. Were her parents right for doing what they did?

*For more on Lakshmi, go here.

Wow. That's a really tough question.

My arguments:
-The parents did I really noble thing for their daughter, I think. However, they kind of robbed the villagers of their what would be hope(I'd guess).

You know what? Never mind. Her parents were right in doing what they did. With religion really on the downfall these days, and the prospect of her family moving up in the world to a more urban setting; they did her a favor. Regardless, I would have liked to know what she thought about it.

OMG

PS- I think her father put it best; she is both a little girl and a goddess.

wow that story is so much more intresting to me because im in the medical field.

However this is a tough case to argue due to the fact that a mutation of any gene can have drastic effects such as an extra set of limbs.

But....the whole "she was brought here to show people it was wrong to let those kids die" thing is very accurate too. It's subliminal if anything.

I think she is a little girl and goddess also with a great spirit to go through what she did.

the story also talked about another couple who had conjoined twin daughters that they decided not to get separation surgery for.
those two are celebrities of a sort in their village and it was hinted at in the program that they didn't get the surgery because they wanted to exploit their daughters.
when asked why they didn't seek help, they declined to comment.
that may or may not be true... just what i picked up from what they wanted me to see.

i think what her parents did was the right thing for their daughter. she may be a goddess incarnate but living in a human body with a parasite attached where hers was would be almost impossible
i believe her parents wanted her to have as normal life a life as she could, goddess or no
that's why they opted to have the risky surgery and moved to another town

I belive that she may have been a goodess incarnate. but the parents did the right thing and got her help, because she would have never been able to have a normal life. If she was a goddess, she had to be changed to survive.

I think that only those who would not understand the fact that Lakshmi's extra extremities (and other internal organs) were from the identical twin sister, might lead them to believe that Lakshmi was the incarnation of the Goddess.

Thankfully, her parents did the right thing......

i saw the program and iam a firm believer in where there is belief there is power and i kinda freaked asking what if? just what if she really is the Goddess Lakshmhi ooo it pained me to see her take on a tranformation to something she was not she was beutyful before and after for sure but the hopes that the villagers had all dashed she was special to all ... how could the parents deney her that right to be loved and worshiped ....then if on the other hand they did not chose the surgery i probly would be on the other side of the fence yelling why not let her be a normal child ...this is one to think about

It's lovely that her parents understand both sides. They have their faith, but they also have a lot of love for their daughter. They didn't allow their religion to perhaps handicap their daughter just so people could have an idol in flesh and blood.

Faith is important, taking care of your children is far more important in my eyes.

The goddess had full use of all her limbs; this child did not.

It's a hard choice for parents: a life of disability for their child, or a life of surgery with unknown prospects.

Faced with these daunting options, the choice to let the child die should not be discounted.

Quality of life is the issue.

This is a picture, it is hard to believe, but people are born with these sorts of disabilities. I do not know for sure if she is an ancient goddess. But if that is what her people believe, then let them have their hope.

I am sure this was simply the fact of a set of twin and then they merge into one being, it isa medically possible in the uterus before the 8th week, (I think it is the 6th but I got to double check)

So this is no goddess but if their beleif saved her life then I am ok with it.

I know sadly many will as it was mention leave the child to die.....so if they veiw her as a goddess then wout wout!! If it saves her life I wont even go and explin the medicla reasons for her to be with her twin merge with her.

correction I am thinking it was tripplets instead of twins.

3 ovaries who fused as one.

when their is 2 or 3 eggs combin as one, the body somehoe becomes canibal and featus will eat the other featus as the stronger one survived, it not intentional, the featus does this as a survival without will.

Sometime the results an extra bones other time a cancer, an extra member like a finger or in this case leggs.

But is it really a disability or is it an advantage. think about how much faster you could run if you had 6 functioning legs.

hey not killing her was a great start. i dont know about worshipping her but maybe letting other less than perfect children live long enough to get corrective surgery as a reslt of her birth would be a great gift to her people.

I do not think she was really a goddess, I think she had mutation was all. Cute little girl though..

HellHathWings, are you seriously posting crap like that?? I didn't ask if she was your goddess. I asked everyone's opinion on the matter. Whether her parents did right by her. If her condition was something meant to be in order to bring attention to her poor village. It's a display of disrespect for you to come into this thread and act so immature. Your last post was especially uncalled for. She couldn't move faster. She was inhibited by her parasitic dead twin. Sheesh...

Like my mother always said "If you have nothing good to say, then say nothing at all."

There were a few posts that really made me think about this more. I remember when watching the show, I was really torn. It wasn't just the villagers that believed she was the Goddess, but also her parents. Do you know what kind of strength they would have to have to go through all that they did? They turned their back on their family to do what they felt was right for her. They walked away from everything they knew for their daughter. They may believe she is a Goddess, but they showed true faith in themselves to make such a move.

Ive been following her story for quite some time, I find it fascinating that this little girl has had such an effect on a country -- on a religion! I see her as a little girl, not a goddess -- in many ways, I feel sad for her to have been placed on a pedestal by some and then medically analyzed by others. A child needs to be able to have their childhood -- even if it turns out she is the second coming.

What they did was definitely the right decision, obviously being in that country and the religion they believe in they would consider her an incarnation but medically thinking she isn't!

A child is a child. A child needs a childhood,to play , sing get dirty like all other children. Her parents were smart & got her the help she needed. There hopes & dreams for their daughter came first, village second.

I also seen this. In such a way I do believe she brought her parents good fortune. After the operation they now live in a house. Her Father works at a school where his son attends.

They were also blessed by having her surgery done for nothing.

Her parents did a good thing and it brought many blessings to her & the family.

Goddess recarnation I often wondered this myself.

I asked my husband what he thought about it and he thinks that maybe the mother was going to have triplets and her baby mutated. Genes,DNA, can be a wacky thing sometimes and I can see why if someone in the past was born with such a mutation would be looked at as a Goddess and such. I can agree with the scientific viewpoint as well with MysticWinds answer. She brought something good along the way of her birth, brought blessings to the family so why can't both viewpoints be embraced? :)

is documented fact that there indeed was a parisitic twin which means the blood supply goes to both her and the parasite ... i would say it would have been unhealthy to keep the twin ...this does not erase the way people looked upon her as a diety

No, I don't really think she was really a goddess. There have been thousands, if not millions of people born with birth defects. I don't believe they're gods or goddess' either. I think it's possible she was one of two eggs that didn't seperate correctly.

I think they did the right thing in the end.. She cab live a normal life and still have the stigma of being the goddess child maybe.

Wow. I think her paraents did the right thing in the end. Walking normally for her would be um...impossible.

That is very interesting and I think her parents did what they felt was needed to help her not be stared at by others. People would probably have stared at her everyday because of that.

well this story id facinating yes the medical ideal of genes mutatinga body like this is incredible but the parents also have to make sure their doughter grows up as normally as possible not to say that woudnt be normal but u know the workl and their view i wold have accepted her the way she is i beliove the she a little girl and a godess

Her parents did the right thing,and no,I do not feel she was a goddess.

I believe very much in reincarnation, and my argument is yes, it is very likely that this girl might have been a Goddess before. Just because she couldn't use all of her limbs, doesn't disprove the possibility. Reincarnation doesn't mean exact replica, as a matter of fact, she could have been born a goat and still be a Goddess in her past life.

Do I think her father did the right thing? That's hard to say. You would really have to ask the girl, I think anything she would agree to, even at such a young age, would be the right thing to do.

Great story.

Wow. I'm monotheistic, but that little girl definitely would have definitely looked like a goddess as she grew older, you can tell she would...probably still will.

I think the parents were right for doing what they did. While the child may have been treated like a goddess, she probably would have wanted something more out of life. I think it's really cool that they're willing to give her that chance.
I doubt she was just born by coincidence, I can see how her birth might affect the minds of those in the area...maybe they see now that they should love the children, defects and all..

In many cultures... birth defects have a Mixed opinion.

I'm guessing it can be chalked up to "Natural Selection" and how any deviance from the norm is viewed as unacceptable.... usually.....

However there are many instances where "abnormal" people were born and allowed to contribute to society.

the Amish and their "Extra finger/toe" bring a cultural individuality....

and with that being said, let me now discuss Lakshmi....

I believe in reincarnation....

but I'm unsure if she is a Returned Goddess....

but what if that's how the "Goddess Lakshmi" was created in the first place?

Whatever the case....

she is a very lucky little girl.... to be not only spared a horrible death.. and be viewed as a treasured icon to her people... and now to be helped by Medical people.....

Whatever she is.... she has a great future ahead of her.

Well if you believe in reincarnation it seems as if there would be a good case to think its true as even the birthday is the same. However I do not. I think the choice the parents made for their daughter is admirable as I can only imagine the pressure they may have felt from both their peers and villagers. Now she has a chance for a happy and fulfilling life.

Every child is wonderful in there own right.. I think she could have been the goddess but i think that her parents did the best thing for her and that her dad is right.

As a parent myself, all you want is to make the best possible life for your children. I would of done the same thing as they did.

It would have been criminal in my opinion if the parents had not sought help to let this child have the best life possible.

As far as her being the goddess perhaps it's more accurate to say she's a message from the goddess to end the practice of abandoning children to die for being less than perfect.

I don't believe that she was actually the Goddess, maybe she was born with the extra limbs to bring hope to the villagers, or maybe she was born as a symbol. A symbol meaning that children born with disabilities, or birth defects are not meant to die.
I do believe that the parents did the right thing by having the extra limbs amputated, and since they were able to move it will be easier for the little girl to start over. To go to school and not be stared at, or to be worshiped as some kind of idol.

i belive she could of been the goddess but i am glade her parents did what was best for her.

what a cute little name she has.her life would not have been very good if they went on believing she was a goddess.

its a hards thing, who knowes, she may be a reincarnation, or she may be a lucky girl with birth defect. either way she will now have a normal life,

children are the gods and goddess' in their parents eyes and visa versa.

most definatley, if she isn't already she will be the most lover little girl in the world if ony by here parence

Brandon Lee said it best in the Crow movie. " Mother is the word for Goddess on the lips of children"

you mean : mother is god on the lips and eyes of all children", but what i was getting at was she will be loved in that way buy her parents, who could not love such a special child

Like her father said she is a goddess to him. Granted the village is missing out, but then again they were also missing out on a lot of wonderful & beautiful children they tossed aside because of deformities. I think the young girls parents did the right thing for their daughter.


To the person that made the smart remark about having 6 extra limbs & running....If you can't say anything worthwhile without being rude keep it zipped

well lakshmi is one of trinity of goddesses this trinty is a cosmic force so unless the threat to universe they do not incarnate, but this girl has lovely soul, may lakshmi bless her good living yhis girl is good soul as if my child.

trinity of one mother kundalini (shakti/ wife of god shiva),
second mother lakshmi (fortune and posperity and harmony) wife of vishnu
third Mother sharda (the knowledge and intellact and conscious) wife of brahma (wife of the creator)

saw the same movie it was Silent hill wasn't it where it is said" mother is god in the eyes of children?

http://www.csicop.org/si/9909/santo.html The Santos girl, and her mothers pious fraud. What we make of things, and what we must eventually accept as actual.

What genetic quirks are not some sign of some religious nature? Why stop with this one, Freak Shows is that what this can become? Yes very easily. "Lets go see the holy freak girl."

What I'd like to open up for discussion is the possibility of whether or not this child could have really been the incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi. Perhaps she was. What if her story was meant to happen so that the world would become aware of her village and all the children that died because of their disabilities? What if she was born to bring her family out of poverty? Although they never made money from her condition, they did move away from their village to a better one because of it. Were her parents right for doing what they did?

I believe that she is something extrordinary perhaps reincarnation does exisit that is truely something she lived regaurdless of the belifes of shunning a deformed child, she is a Miricle and i think in a way she is symbol for all those children who where sent to their deaths b/c they where born different it is a shame how many people on this earth think and feel about different things they are children it isn't their fult how they are born they are miricles in my eyes no matter how they look, think or act they can be hard at times to deal with but they shouldnt die because of it.

Her parents did a very noble thing when they agreed to get her surgery and tried to find a surgen who would preform the surgery they had a brilliant doctor who wasn't afraid to take on such a challenging procedure I applaud him in what he did, and I'm sure the child is happier that she can lead a more normal type of life and she is able to do things that she couldn't do before.

but I believe that her parents are right about Lakshmi