Laddu Muthya effect: Why is everyone and their cat touching fans on Instagram?

Videos showing a man in a chair being lifted up to a ceiling fan which he stops with his bare hands and then blesses the men holding the car have been doing the rounds on social media for a few weeks now.
Apart from the video, the song used in the clips titled “Laddu Muthya” has gone viral on social media with most users choosing to recreate the bizarre ritual at home with as the same song plays.
Pet owners have started using their cats to recreate the viral videos where they raise the feline to the ceiling fan, touch its paw to the fan and then use it to bless “devotees” who wait with folded hands to receive the blessing.
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The question on everyone’s minds is who is the “Pankha Baba” whose videos have flooded the internet.
Many believe that Laddu Muthya was a disabled man who ran away form his home when he was young and came to Karnataka’s Bagalkote to become a saint and help the needy. It is believed that he lived in the city for 20 years, blessing people and begging for alms. (Also read: ‘Pookie Baba’ Aniruddhacharya sports luxury watch worth a fortune)
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It is said that the saint was blessed with divine power and wherever he went prosperity followed.
Believers say that when he visited someone’s home, they would be blessed with sudden financial profit or if he stopped by a shop, their business would grow.
After witnessing his so-called miraculous powers, people began calling him “Laddu Muthya Avatar” even as his name and influence grew in the region with many temples made for him.
Reports say that Laddu Muthya died in 1993 and the baba seen in the viral reels is not actually Laddu Muthya but one of the priests of the temple dedicated to him.