Air India Crash Site Found Copy of Ancient Indian Religious Classic “Bhagavad Gita,” Almost Intact Despite High Temperatures.
Last Friday (June 13), at the site of the crash of an Air India plane in Ahmedabad, India, a nearly intact paper version of the religious classic “Bhagavad Gita” was discovered. Despite being exposed to intense heat from fires and burning fuel, this “Bhagavad Gita” remained largely undamaged.
The “Bhagavad Gita” is a collection of poems passed down in India over two thousand years ago, consisting of 700 verses divided into 18 chapters, with profound content that holds a revered status in ancient Indian beliefs.
On Thursday afternoon (12th), Air India flight AI 171, destined from Ahmedabad in southern India to Gatwick Airport in London, crashed. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 people including crew members, took off at 1:39 pm and crashed and caught fire just 8 minutes after takeoff.
The plane crashed during lunchtime in a residential area, colliding with a medical college dormitory outside the airport, resulting in over 260 casualties, including some on the ground. This marks the deadliest air disaster globally in the past decade.
While sorting through the wreckage, the copy of the “Bhagavad Gita” was found to have survived this fatal tragedy.
According to witness photos, although the cover of this sacred text sustained slight damage, the hundreds of pages of text and illustrations inside showed no signs of damage.
As the crash site was situated in a residential area, the Boeing aircraft wreckage was scattered in several parts around nearby dormitories and other infrastructure.
A video circulating on social media (
Click to watch
) shows a man at the crash scene holding the book, facing the camera, opening the cover, flipping through the pages one by one, with the text and images still clearly visible.
Some social media users verified the authenticity of this video with local media.
Scholars believe the “Bhagavad Gita” was written between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE. It is the only classic that records the words of God and not a messenger or prophet.
Many classic literary works and historical records handed down by gods to humans are written in poetic form or transmitted orally. Among the most well-known are India’s “Bhagavad Gita,” Laozi’s “Tao Te Ching,” Homer’s “Odyssey” and “Iliad,” and more.
A user on social media platform X commented, “Miracle in tragedy: ‘Bhagavad Gita’ found intact after airplane crash.”
Radharamn Das, Vice President and Spokesperson of the Kolkata Islamic Society, shared the video on social media X, stating, “In the tragic airplane crash, a copy of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ was found intact.”
He also mentioned two remarkable events from this air disaster: the sole survivor on board and a female passenger who missed boarding due to traffic congestion.
“There was a miraculous survival of one soul, with only minor scratches. Another girl missed the flight by 10 minutes because she was arguing with the staff, hoping to board this ill-fated flight,” wrote Das.
The only known survivor from the plane was 40-year-old British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He was seated near the emergency exit and managed to successfully jump out of the aircraft.
“When I woke up, there were bodies all around me. I was terrified. I stood up and started running. Plane parts were scattered around me. Then someone grabbed me, lifted me into an ambulance, and took me to the hospital,” Ramesh told the Hindustan Times.
He later mentioned in an interview that upon waking up, he saw an open door and ran towards it, crawling out.
A video circulating on social media platform X shows a man in a bloodstained white t-shirt and dark pants limping, with medical personnel attempting to assist him. The man had bruises on his face and a stubble beard.
In the video, people surrounded the man, asking him about other passengers, to which he replied, “They are all inside.”
Another individual named Bhoomi Chauhan, who arrived ten minutes late due to traffic congestion, missed the boarding time.
Chauhan told Republic TV that she is still shaking from the incident.
Having missed the flight, she left Patna International Airport around 1:30 pm. Minutes later, news broke about the plane crash in a residential area near the airport.
“My mind went blank. Thank God,” she added.