Ram Bahadur Bomjon

Ram Bahadur Bomjon (; born , sometimes spelled Bomjan, Banjan, or Bamjan), previously known as Palden Dorje (his monastic name) is an ascetic from Ratanapuri, Bara district, Nepal who gained widespread attention and media popularity because of a perceived resemblance to Gautama Buddha, leading to claims that he is a reincarnation of Gautama Buddha.

Bomjon's followers have claimed that he meditates for months without eating or sleeping.

In June 2024, Bomjon was convicted on charges of child sexual abuse. Claims suggest that for 10 months he rarely spoke, drank, ate, or even moved. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people visited the site to see the boy motionless for hours, days or as rumoured even months, or came in devotion to the possibility of an important spiritual event occurring. Bomjon has rejected such comparisons, saying "Tell the people not to call me a Buddha. I don't have the Buddha's energy currently. I am at the level of a rinpoche." Mahiswor Raj Bajracharya, the president of the Nepal Buddhist Council, has stated likewise: "We do not believe he is Buddha. He does not have Buddha's qualities". Buddhist scholars have been sceptical of Bomjon's claims to be able to meditate for months on end without food or drink. On 19 March, Bed Bahadur Lama of the Om Namo Buddha Tapaswi Sewa Samiti (ONBTSS) told reporters that they had seen him in Bara District and that they had spoken to him for half-an-hour, during which Bomjon reportedly assured that he would return in six years.

He was seen again in August 2007, preaching to crowds in Nepal's Hallori jungle, around 100 miles south of Kathmandu.

Legal issues In 2010, Bomjon was investigated for attacking a group of 17 villagers. Bomjon claimed that they were intentionally disturbing his meditation. However, the villagers said they were just looking for vegetables. Bomjon claimed to have taken "minor action" against them with just his hands However, another report claimed she had been kidnapped from a monastery. When she was released, she had a broken arm. A week after her release, Bomjon's siblings accused him of holding his brothers captive overnight, and beating his brothers and his sister. Followers of Bomjon also assaulted five journalists and destroyed their cameras after they had recorded one of Bomjon's sermons. In the same month, police raided one of Bomjon's ashrams in Nepal, but he was not found. On February 6, 2020, the Sarlahi District Court issued an arrest warrant against Bomjon. The following day, police raided another one of his ashrams in Kamalamai, Sindhuli District, but Bomjon again was not found. However, police did arrest one of his disciples, Gyan Bahadur Bomjan. A trial in the case is pending. Bomjon was arrested after jumping two floors from a window during his escape attempt. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, but had until 10 September to appeal his conviction. Following the acquittal, Bomjon was released from prison on 20th April 2025.