Dowsing in India
"Water dowsing" refers in general to the practice of using a forked stick, rod, pendulum, or similar device to locate underground water, minerals, or other hidden or lost substances,and has been a subject of discussion and controversy for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Although tools and methods vary widely, most dowsers probably still use the traditional forked stick, which may come from a variety of trees, including the willow, peach, and witchhazel. Other dowsers may use keys, wire coathangers, pliers, wire rods, pendulums, or various kinds of elaborate boxes & electrical instruments.
Cave paintings in northwestern Africa that are 6,000-8,000 years old are believed to show awater dowser at work. The exact origin of the divining rod in Europe is not known. The device was introduced into England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to locate mineral deposits, and soon afterward it was adopted as a water finder throughout Europe. Water dowsing seems to be a mainly European cultural phenomenon; it was carried across the Atlantic to America by some of the earliest settlers from England and Germany.
