Doomsday craze grips the world

New Delhi: The end is near. The world as we know it will end on December 21, when cataclysmic events will leave a trail of destruction and cause near-total human extinction on Earth. At any rate, that's the belief held by some people worldwide based on interpretations of the ancient Mayan calendar.Despite the best efforts of scholars, officials, and religious leaders to debunk the theory, fears of an impending apocalypse have elicited panic, humorous spin-offs, and many shameless attempts to cash in on the rumors. Ancient Mayan sites will be buzzing with activity on Friday, hosting ritual reenactments, conferences and sound-and-light shows -- often against the backdrop of protests by indigenous groups who complain their culture is being hijacked. But elsewhere around the globe there will be no shortage of shelters or shrines to host the fearful -- or simply curious -- crowds through the night. Apocalyptic-minded folk in Brazil can head to the village of Alto Paraiso, a place pulsating with "mystical energy", as local lore would have it, that has been readying for the end for years. An anti-Armageddon ceremony will take place on the Island of the Sun, in the middle of Bolivia's Lake Titicaca, the highest in the world, where legend has it the founders of the Inca empire were born.And illuminati in Serbia are predicting that the pyramid-shaped mountain of Rtanj will glow on Friday night, which is also the solstice. The village of Sirince in western Turkey has also become an apocalyptic magnet, with all 400 hotels in the vicinity fully booked. It is reputed to be doomsday-proof because the Virgin Mary is said to have risen to heaven from there. Likewise the picturesque south Italian village of Cisternino, singled out by an Indian guru as a safe bet come the end of the world. Short of a sacred site to weather the doomsday storm, there is always the man-made option of a good old bunker. For 30,000 rubles ($970, 740 euros) per head, the wealthiest Muscovites can check into a Stalin-era communications bunker 65 metres (200 feet) underground, which is offering 300 people a 24-hour experience called "A chance to survive". Local television has put up tickets for the bunker in a prize draw, and will be broadcasting live from inside on the night -- like a world's end take on "Big Brother". No-nonsense authorities in China have adopted a dim view of the Mayan prophesy, rounding up more than 400 members of the Christian group "Almighty God" who have been publicising the world's end.But elsewhere in Asia, the end of times will be the best of times, featuring a techno soundtrack and fine dining. In Hong Kong, the Aqua restaurant is promising to pick up the tab for its HK$2,112.12 ($273) six-course meal if the apocalypse does appear at hand -- though patrons will have to stump up if still alive at midnight. The mystical minded in Australia -- where Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made a spoof video to announce the end of days -- are laying on a Mayan solstice festival near Canberra featuring music and yoga. Raj Kumar Sharma, a Mumbai-based astrologer, dismissed the Mayan predictions, saying he detected "a lot of positivity around in the near future", and predicting World War III will break out by 2052. But if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse do descend on Earth, it seems one might be riding in on an invisible steed, miming a rodeo dance. South Korean social networks have been buzzing with a spoof "prophecy", attributed to the 16th-century French seer Nostradamus, that ties "Gangnam Style" singer Psy to the Mayan apocalypse. Ominously, believers note, the ever-climbing number of YouTube views for Psy's "Gangnam Style" video, currently at nearly 972 million, stands to hit the billion mark around December 21. In Sarajevo, amid a worldwide frenzy of advertisers and new-agers preparing for a Maya apocalypse, at least one group in Bosnia is approaching December 21 with calm and more than a little scorn for the much-hyped prophecy. A small group of protesters took to the streets of Sarajevo on Wednesday to rally against the so-called 'Doomsday Preppers' making plans for the end of the world. The protest comes ahead of Friday December 21, a date some say the ancient Mayan civilisation prophesised would be the end of the world and which was the subject of the apocalyptic movie "2012." Carrying signs such as "Error 404 - Doomsday not found", the dozen or so demonstrators on Wednesday said they were trying to combat the end of days theories with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "People are actually preparing for that like they will know what will happen and how it will be and what will actually happen," rally organiser Riad Preljevic said. "It's not the end of the world. To us it is just a date," he added. A chorus of books and movies has sought to link the Maya calendar to rumours of impending disasters ranging from rogue black holes and solar storms to the idea that the Earth's magnetic field could `flip' on that date. Archaeologists say there is no evidence the Mayas ever made any such prophesy.Indeed, average Mayas probably never used the Long Count calendar, neither today nor at the culture's peak between AD 300 and 600. The long count was reserved for priests and astronomers. In Chichicastenango, Quiche Indians in the midwestern highlands of Guatemala took part in a procession on Wednesday, ahead of what is seen as a major milestone in the Mayan calendar. On Friday 21 December, a major cycle in the 5,125-year-old Mayan Long Count calendar, a period known as the 13th Baktun, ends. A chorus of books and films have tried to link the Mayan calendar to rumours of impending disasters. Some have even taken this to mean the end of the world.