[KALKI]

The lost years of Jesus concerns the undocumented timespan between Jesus's childhood and the beginning of his ministry as recorded in the New Testament.

The gospels have accounts of events surrounding Jesus' birth, and the subsequent flight into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod (Gospel of Matthew 2:13-23). There is a general reference to the settlement of Joseph and Mary, along with the young Jesus, at Nazareth (Matthew 2:23; Gospel of Luke 2:39-40). There also is that isolated account of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus' visit to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, when Jesus was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-50).

Following that episode, there is a blank space in the record that covers eighteen years in the life of Christ (from age 12 to 30). Other than the generic allusion that Jesus advanced in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52), the Bible gives nothing more about Jesus' life during this time span. A common assumption amongst Christians is that Jesus simply lived in Nazareth during that period, but there are various accounts that present other scenarios, including travels to India.

Several authors have claimed to have found proof of the existence of manuscripts in India and Tibet that support the belief that Christ was in India during this time in his life. Others cite legends in a number of places in the region that Jesus passed that way in ancient times.

The Jesus in India manuscript was first reported in modern times by Nicolas Notovitch (1894). Subsequently several other authors have written on the subject, including the religious leader Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (founder of Ahmadiyya movement in Islam) (1899), Levi H. Dowling (1908), Swami Abhedananda (1922), Nicholas Roerich (1923–1928), Mathilde Ludendorff (1930), Elizabeth Clare Prophet (founder of Ascended Master Teachings New Age group) (1956) and more recently Holger Kersten in his book Jesus Lived in India (1981).