Sociological Explanations
Many experts interviewed by The Straits Times thought that the phenomenon could be a case of "believing is seeing".
A sociologist from the National University of Singapore explained that "those who believe in divine objects are mostly those who follow a simple faith which is founded in tangible evidences of the sacred". He referred to the believers who, in May 2006, flocked to the mountains of Mexico's southern Chiapas state where a rock with an image that resembles Jesus Christ was discovered.
Another sociologist pointed out that "these objects are called fetishes or 'objects that are imbued with deep symbolic significance to become sacred objects that embody gods and spirits'." In the monkey tree's case, it was because of a "natural transformation of its material appearance that reminds people of an important legend", and "this form of worship is actually basic to human religious behaviour".
Read more about this topic: Monkey Tree Phenomenon
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