India yogi who claimed to live without food or water for decades dies aged 90, AFP reported.

Prahlad Jani was originally from the village of Charada in the western state of Gujarat, where he spent his life practicing yoga.

"He died early Tuesday morning at his residence due to old age," Sheetal Chaudhary, who lived next door to Jani, told AFP.

"He was rushed to hospital after midnight, but was declared dead on arrival by the doctors there."

Jani's body was brought to Ambaji, a town famous for its temples, where he built a small ashram and was known as "Mataji" (goddess). 

"The body will be kept at the ashram for the next two days for people to pay their last respects," Chaudhary said, adding that Jani would be cremated on Thursday.

Jani claimed that he was blessed by the goddess as a child, which allowed him to survive without sustenance. He told AFP in 2003 he got the "elixir of life from the hole in my palate, which enables me to go without food and water".

However, there was no way to verify Jani's statements. However, Jani's claims have caught the attention of the medical community of India.

In 2010, a group of military doctors examined him for two weeks at a hospital in Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat. Doctors took pictures of his organs, brain, and blood vessels, and also performed studies on his heart, lungs, and memory. They said that he did not eat, did not drink and did not go to the toilet.

"We still do not know how he survives," neurologist Sudhir Shah told reporters then. "It is still a mystery what kind of phenomenon this is."

The results of a study initiated by the India's Defence Research and Development Organisation have never been published or presented for peer review.