Shirdi News

Mohan Yadav

Public Relation Dept.,

Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust (Shirdi)

– Translated by

Vishwarath Nayar

     e-mail : vishwarath_2006@rediffmail.com

Well organized Shri Ram Navami Festival - 2007

celebrated with great excitement

On behalf of Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust (Shirdi), the annual Shri Ram Navami festival was celebrated from Monday, March 26, 2007 to Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at Shirdi with loud chants of Shri Sai Baba’s name in a divine atmosphere.

This year more than 60 Palkhis (palanquins) from Mumbai - Thane regions came to Shirdi. The Sansthan had provided drinking water, shelter and electricity facilities for all the devotees who came on foot with the Palkhis. Emergency medical services were also arranged alongwith. There was a mobile medical service van on the Nasik - Shirdi route. The medical team was provided by the Red Cross Society, Nasik.

The chairman of the Sansthan, legislator Shri Jayant Sasane, trustees Shri Ashok Khambekar, Dr. Eknath Gondkar, Shri Suresh Wabale, executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure visited the halting locations of the Palkhis at Sinnar, Vavi, Pohegaon and other places and observed the facilities there and welcomed the Palkhis. With the arrival of the Palkhis in Shirdi, the whole of Shirdi resounded with the chanting of Sai Baba’s name.

On the first day of the festival on Monday, March 26 at 5.15 a.m. the Kakad Aarati of Shri Sai Baba was done. The Shobhayatra (grand procession) of Baba’s holy book ‘Shri Sai Sat Charita’, photo and Veena was taken out at 5.45 a.m. Trustees Dr. Eknath Gondkar carried the Veena, Shri Krishnachandra Pandeya carried the holy book and Shri Suresh Wabale and Shri Ashok Khambekar carried Sai’s photo and participated in the festive procession. After the Shobhayatra reached from Samadhi Mandir to Dwarkamai at 6 a.m., trustee Mrs. Urmila Jadhav read the first chapter of Shri Sai Sat Charita commencing the Akhand (whole) Parayan (recital) of it. The second chapter was read by trustee Shri Suresh Wabale, the third chapter by executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure’s wife Mrs. Sarasvati Wakchaure, the fourth chapter by trustee Dr. Eknath Gondkar, and the fifth chapter by trustee Mrs. Sumitra Kailas Kote. The worship of Sai’s feet was performed on this day by trustee Mrs. Sumitra Kailas Kote along with her husband, in the presence of trustees Shri Ashok Khambekar, Dr. Eknath Gondkar, Shri Suresh Wabale, Shri Krishnachandra Pandeya and executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure. The programme of the holy bath of Shri Sai was conducted in a divine atmosphere at 6.15 a.m. The Abhishek worship was done at 8 a.m. At 8.30 a.m. the public auction of offerings at the feet of Shri Sai in the form of clothes and other things was conducted. The noon Aarati was held at 12.30 p.m. After that at 3 p.m. the regular recital of chapters of Shri Sai Sat Charita took place at Samadhi Mandir. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. the Kirtan (devotional rendition) of Hari Bhakta Parayan Shri Vilas Renapurkar of Nanded was held. After the Dhoop Aarati at 6 p.m., at 8 p.m. a Kaththak dance programme by Mrs. Shaila Gulshan Arora of Pune was held on the stage near the Samadhi Mandir, and from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. renowned playback singer Sadhana Sargam of Mumbai presented ‘Sadhana Sargam Night’, a programme of Marathi and Hindi songs on the stage in the grand compound of Sai Nagar. Sai’s Palkhi was taken in a procession through the village at 9.15 p.m. Shri Nitin Karandikar’s (of Korle) Devi Jugai Dhol Pathak (drums band) and other local bands participated in the procession with the Palkhi. Colourful, sparkling crackers were lit during the procession. Local artistes presented the traditional Bharud programme in front of the Palkhi when it reached the temple premises. On this day Dwarkamai was kept open throughout the night for Akhand Parayan.

Tuesday, March 27 was the second and most important day of the festival. At 5.15 a.m. the Kakad Aarati of Shri Sai was performed. After that, at 5.45 a.m. the Akhand Parayan concluded. At 6.15 a.m. the Kaavadis procession programme got over and the Abhishek Pooja of Shri Sai was done after the holy bath of Sai. On this main day the grand procession of Shri Sai’s holy book ‘Shri Sai Sat Charita’, photo and Veena was taken out. Trustees Shri Ashok Khambekar carried the Veena, Dr. Eknath Gondkar carried the holy book and Shri Pandurang Abhang and Shri Shailesh Kute carried the photo of Sai and participated in the Shobhayatra. At 8.30 a.m. the public auction of offerings at the feet of Shri Sai in the form of clothes and other things was conducted. On this day, the chairman, legislator Shri Jayant Sasane along with his wife and vice chairman Shri Shankararao Kolhe performed the worship of Sai’s feet. After the worship of the wheat filled sack in the Samadhi Mandir by trustees Shri Ashok Khambekar, Shri Krishnachandra Pandeya and Dr. Eknath Gondkar, the sack was taken in a procession to Dwarkamai. The Kirtan on the birth of Lord Shri Ram was presented by H.B.P. Shri Mahesh Anant Athavale of Nanded from 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon. The privileged annual worship this year too by the Shri Rasane and Shri Nimonkar families was done by offering a floral carpet (Chadar) and the flags on the Samadhi. The noon Aarati took place at 12.30 p.m. At 4 p.m. the procession of the flags, and at 5 p.m. the procession of Shri Sai’s chariot were taken out through the village. In front of the chariot, Pavli Nritya, Lezim Pathak (Shirdi), Zanj Pathak (Shirdi), Dhol Pathak (Korle), Band Pathak (Shirdi), Sanai Choughada Vadan (Shrirampur, Pune) and others participated in the procession. Dazzling crackers were lit during the procession. After the chariot procession returned, local artistes presented the Bharud programme. From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., ‘Hasya Darbar’ - a comedy programme by Navin Prabhakar, Eshan Kureshi, Madan Shukla, Archana Mahajan, Kenith Dias and Himali Shejpal of Mumbai was presented on the stage in the grand compound of Sainagar. The artistes who participated in the programme were felicitated on behalf of the Sansthan by the chairman, legislator Shri Jayant Sasane, trustees Shri Ashok Khambekar, Shri Suresh Wabale and executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure. Availing the important day of the festival, the Bhopal-based O.S.S. Aviation Pvt. Ltd. Company showered flowers from a helicopter on the Samadhi Mandir, the temple premises and other sacred spots in the temple complex. Artistes performed their programmes from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day in front of Shri Sai. Being the main day of the festival, the temple was kept open throughout the night for Darshan.

On the concluding day of the festival on Wednesday, March 28, after the holy bath of Shri Sai at 7.30 a.m., trustee Shri Shailesh Kute performed the worship of Shri Sai’s feet. At 8.45 a.m. the Rudrabhishek was done by trustee Shri Krishnachandra Pandeya at Gurusthan. H.B.P. Shri Vikram Vinayak Nandedkar rendered Kirtan of Gopalkala from 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon. All the invited Kirtankars were felicitated on behalf of the Sansthan by the chairman Shri Jayant Sasane, M.L.A., for presenting melodious devotional Kirtans on all the three days of the festival. As per the annual tradition, after the Kirtan of Gopalkala at 12 noon the breaking of the Dahi Handi was done. After that, at 12.15 p.m. the mid-day Aarati was done. A ‘Nupoornaad’ - Bharat Natyam dance programme by Mrs. Swati Daithankar of Pune,  was performed from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. on the stage near the Samadhi Mandir. All the artistes participated in this programme were felicitated on behalf of the Sansthan by trustee Shri Ashok Khambekar and executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure. Shri Anil Mohile of Mumbai presented a programme of old Marathi and Hindi songs - ‘Yadon ki Baarat’, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the stage in the grand compund of Sainagar. The artistes of this programme were felicitated on behalf of the Sansthan by trustees Shri Ashok Khambekar, Dr. Eknath Gondkar, Shri Suresh Wabale and executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure.

The annual wrestling tourney was organized on the occasion of the festival on behalf of the Sansthan and with the co-operation of the Shirdi villagers. The victorious wrestlers were awarded on behalf of the Sansthan.

On the occasion of the festival, a cultural organization of Shirdi ‘Kalasampada’, presented the drama ‘Vidhilikhit’ on Thursday, March 29 at 9.30 p.m. on the stage in the grand compound of Sainagar.

On the occasion of this festival, Dwarkamai Mandal of Mumbai erected a massive Mahadwar (main entrance gate) measuring 40 feet in height and 60 feet in length in the shape of a fort’s replica, at the main entrance of the Mandap in the temple compound, a moving mechanical depiction of Baba lighting the lamps with water in Lendibag. These were the main attractions at the festival. The electrical lighting done by this Mandal in all the places, including the Samadhi Mandir premises, became the cynosure of all eyes.

During the festival, Star News, ND TV, Zee TV, Me - Marathi, Aaj Tak, E TV and others covered the various programmes of the festival and did live telecast.

Under the guidance of executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure, all administrative officials, departmental heads and employees strived very hard for the successful conduct of the festival.

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Glorious Achievement of Sportspersons of

Sansthan’s Educational Complex

Students of Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust’s Educational Complex achieved remarkable success in the field of sports during the academic year 2006-07. These players represented and led Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust in chess, volley ball, fencing and other sport tournaments at the taluka, district, regional, state and national levels and earned the distinction of being the leading educational complex in Ahmednagar district in the field of sports.

Winning the gold medal at the 14th All India National Fencing Tournament, Sameer Inamdar, a student of Shri Sai Baba Junior College registered the highest achievement in this academic year. Teams from 23 states in the country competed in this event. Deepak Phatnani, Siddharth Bhansali and Satish Sahani recorded excellent performances at the state level fencing competition in Chalisgaon.

Similarly, Tanmaya Badhe, Kanhaiya Sahani, Shubham Shivgaje, Akshay Varghude, Pritam Patil, Dharmaveer Sahani and Sandeep Sahani of Sai Baba English Medium School recorded success in the regional and state level chess tournaments.

The under 14 years school volley ball team scored victories in the taluka and district level competitions, and were runners up at the Pune regional level tournament.

Swapnil Jambhulkar, Rakesh Yadav, Akash Varghude and Madhavsingh Rajput exhibited excellent play skills.

Satish Sahani performed excellently well at the five k.m. state level schools’ walking tournament in Pune.

Pallavi Jagtap, Shubham Pachpinda, Mahesh Barahate, Prasad Arane, Pramod Kadus scored victories at the state level athletics tournaments in Solapur.

Rakesh Yadav played excellently well at the state level schools’ volley ball tournament at Kandivli, Mumbai. He has been selected to play for Maharashtra state in the All India National Schools’ volley ball tournament to be held in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

For the second consecutive year, the Sai Baba Educational Complex emerged victorious in the Ganesh Kala Krida Mahotsav Sports Tournament at Rahata. In all  55 schools in the Rahata region competed in the event.

The chairman of Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, legislator Shri Jayant Sasane, vice-chairman Shri Shankararao Kolhe, the members of the trust,  executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure, administrative officers Shri Prakash Deshpande, Subhash Jagtap, Prakash Joshi, Eknath Wagh, Ramesh Sabale, Principal Mrs. Z. V. Inamdar and others heartily congratulated the victorious sports students of the school. All these students were guided by Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust’s sports trainer Shri Rajendra Kohokade.

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