Laddu Mutya: 'Pankha Baba' Origins of the Cat-Stopping-Ceiling-Fan Video Trend

Unless you’re on a social media detox, you’ve probably stumbled upon a video of “Pankha Baba” hand-stopping a ceiling fan and “blessing” people. X and Instagram users also reported seeing another version, where a cat performs the seemingly-miraculous trick. Guess what? It’s all part of a trend and the keyword is Laddu Mutya.We did some digging around so you don’t have to. Our painstaking research reveals that the cat-stopping-ceiling-fan trend—more about it later—is actually a parody of the Pankha Baba videos.

Of late, a who can stop moving fans with one hand is ubiquitously viral online. Several clips of him replicating the act have since latched onto algorithms, typically accompanying the track “ ”.Be advised that the man himself is not Laddu Mutya, but a disciple of a Laddu “Swamy” originally called so. It is said that Laddu Mutya was a runaway who went to Bagalkot, Karnataka, to attain sainthood.There, he lived for about 20 years, helping the community and begging for sustenance. At some point, people started believing in Laddu Mutya’s “miracles”, which they said were divine blessings.Thus began the saga of yet another god-man, who came to be associated with windfalls. The homes he visited suddenly became prosperous, the businesses flourished.His reputation for changing people’s fortunes earned him the name “Laddu Muthya Avatar”. According to some news reports, the saint’s followers also built temples for him.Although Laddu Mutya died in 1993, he is being kept alive through Pankha Baba, who stops ceiling fans with his hand.The phenomenon has intrigued many creators, including Pranav Radhakrishnan (Science Is Dope), who recently made a video demystifying the great Indian “SACMS" like and Laddu Mutya himself.

As for cats touching fans, well that’s just a parodistic take on the entire concept.