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Shirdi News Mohan Yadav Public Relation Dept.,
Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust (Shirdi) –
Translated by
Vishwarath Nayar
e-mail :
vishwarath_2006@rediffmail.com Shri Sai
Baba Sansthan’s ‘Prasadalaya’ The
very mention of the name Shirdi evokes in the mind of crores of devotees
the serenely beautiful, peaceful and pleasant image of Shri Sai Baba and
spontaneously the mind prostrates with faith and the hands fold on their
own, both, of the believers and non-believers too. The name Shirdi is no
more like earlier days. Not merely in the whole of India, the
benevolence of Shri Sai Baba on His devotees and His strange Leelas
(doings) have spread the fragrance of faith worldwide, which attracts
these devotees to Shirdi through various paths and even without those
devotees being aware about it . For, the urge of Baba to meet His
devotees and the devotees’ urge to meet Baba is uncontrollable. Shirdi
is located near Kopargaon in Ahmednagar district. It was earlier known
as ‘Shiladhee’ It is now very easy to come to Shirdi. Almost all
state government transport buses in India and private passenger vehicles
ply continuously to and from Shirdi. Shirdi is about 300 kms. from
Mumbai and about 165 kms. from Pune. It is convenient to get down at
Kopargaon on the Dound-Manmad railway line. Shirdi is 60 kms. from
Manmad railway junction. Shirdi is located at a distance of 90 kms. from
Ahmednagar and 145 kms. from Aurangabad district places. The black
Mother Earth on either side of the road soon-after crossing Nasik draws
our attention. During the monsoon days, the black Mother Earth, draped
in a shawl filled with splashes of green, pleases the mind and in that
blissful state of mind one enters Shirdi. Totally away from any
thoroughfare, habitat boundless concern for devotees and the lure for
spiritual, divine knowledge and as one sets foot on (Baba’s) Karmabhoomi,
in the reign of that knowledge, the mind is over-whelmed with extreme
joy, faith and satisfaction. In
Kaliyug, charity has an extra-ordinary significance and amongst
the charitable duties, offering food (Annadan) is considered
supreme. One should regularly do Annadan and satiate the pangs of
the hungry. One should do some Annadan to those asking for food.
Shri Sai Baba popularly followed (the practise of) Annadan. Baba
Himself sat to grind the spices and prepare meals. Baba Himself
purchased all the ingredients to prepare the meals maintaining perfect
account of all requirement.
Boiling food in the Handi, He satiated His devotees, poor and
destitutes by serving them with His
own hands. Truly, how
blessed were they who savoured meals prepared
by Baba Himself. Shri Sai Baba Sansthan
continues this Annadan
work perenially through Prasadalaya. Shri Sai Baba Sansthan’s Prasadalaya
has become a centre of faith for Sai devotees, who savour the food here
with faith as ‘Sai Prasad’ (blessing). If one understands that this is
merely not an eating house or a food joint but a ‘Prasadalaya’ then
one can know the sentiment of the
Sansthan behind this service. The sumptuous meal for merely Rs. 5/- is
the special feature of this Prasadalaya. Considering
the growing number of
devotees coming to Shirdi every day, the Sai Baba Sansthan has erected
a Prasadalaya that can accommodate 6000 devotees for Prasad-meals
at one time. This has become the largest Prasadalaya among the
religious organizations in the country. This single storeyed grand Prasadalaya
on 7 acres of land has been erected at a cost of
Rs. 20 crores. In this, a dining hall of 44,567 Sq. ft. has been
built. In this 3500 devotees can have Prasad-meals at one time.
The flooring of this dining
hall is of white refine and dado has been laid and the walls are gypsum
plastered. The Prasadalaya has been
beautified with
tiled roofing. An additional dining hall that can accomodate 1000
devotees at one time has also been built. And for very important people
three dining halls spanning 20240 Sq. ft. have been built, in each of
which 300 people can have meals. An Annadan-hall to accommodate
250 Bhikshus (who beg for food) has also been built. A big
kitchen worthy of this building has also been built . Ultra-Modern
appliances are being used here. Solar system will be used for preparing
food. A separate kitchen for preparing Prasad-laddus (sweet) and
a hall for drying them has been built. Apart from this, an office for
the management and godown facilities have been provided. Rs. 18 crores
for equipments and Rs. 2.5 crores for interiors have been spent for
constructing this building. This
is the biggest and noteworthy project of the managing committee under
the leadership of legislator and chairman of the Sansthan Shri Jayant
Sasane and vice-chairman Shri Shankararao Kolhe. This Prasadalaya
located about one km. from the city to
the west of Nagar-Manmad highway and behind Shirdi police station
will be very convenient for the devotees. The present Prasadalaya
of the Sansthan can accommodate one thousand devotees at one time and
daily an average of fifteen to twenty thousand devotees avail the Prasad-meals,
informed (ex) executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure. qqq Nandurkhibudruk
village is 5 kms. from Shirdi. A progressive farmer and the village Sarpanch
Shri Arjun Vishnu Chaudhary offered a horse named ‘Raja’ on January
10, 2008 at the feet of Shri
Sai.
The
bronze-white shaded horse is 2½ years old and the market price is about
Rs. 2½ lakhs. (Ex) executive officer Shri Bhausaheb Wakchaure received the horse on behalf of the Sansthan. This horse is going to be included in the Palkhi-procession every Thursday, as also in the Palkhi and chariot processions of festivals. Golden
Throne of Rs.10 crores offered to Shri Sai Shri A. M. R.
Reddy, managing director of M. R. Construction of Hyderabad in Andhra
Pradesh recently offered a
Rs.10 crores golden throne weighing 95 kgs. for the idol of Shri Sai
Baba. Shri Reddy is an ardent devotee of Baba. He organizes Satsang
in Shirdi every year on Datta Jayanti since the last 15 to 20
years. Shri Reddy had expressed the desire to offer a golden throne of
100 kgs. for Baba’s idol on July 15, 2007, and had requested
permission for the same from the Sansthan. The chairman of the Sansthan
- legislator Shri Jayant
Sasane, vice-chairman Shri Shankararao Kolhe, trustee -
legislator Shri Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and the managing
committee deliberated on Shri Reddy’s appeal on July 28, 2007, and
decided to grant the said permission. After that Shri Reddy gave the
work contract to Padmalaya Metals, Bangalore and commenced the work. 41
artisans of Padmalaya Metals did this work in 2 months and 10 days. 95
kgs. of gold and as support for the gold sheet, 80 kgs. of silver and
teak wood were used to make the golden throne. The
95 kgs. gold included two golden lions, golden Prabhaval (a plate
forming the back of an Idol’s pedestal), golden seat, one umberella
and golden sheet on the back wall of the throne. After completing the
throne on December 19, 2007. It was immediately despatched to Shirdi.
After reaching Shirdi on December 20, it was taken to Samadhi Mandir.
After removing the silver throne there, a practical demonstration of
installing the golden throne was made. After the practical installation,
necessary corrections were made, and the throne was duly arranged. On
December 23, 2007 on the occasion of
Datta Jayanti, at 7.30 a.m., the throne was ritually
offered to Baba amidst loud chanting of Mantras, by donor, Sai
devotee Shri Adinarayan Reddy, his wife Mrs. Sulochana Reddy, Mahesh
Reddy and Girish Reddy. After that the idol of Baba was showered
with flowers. The occasion was graced by chairman of the Sansthan
Shri Jayant Sasane & Mrs. Rajashree Sasane, vice-chairman Shri
Shankararao Kolhe, trustees Shri Suresh Wabale, Shri Krishnachandra
Pandeya, Shri Ashok Khambekar, Shri Pandurang Abhang, Dr. Eknath Gondkar,
the chairperson of Shirdi Municiple Council and trustee of the Sansthan
Mrs. Sumitra Kailas Kote and (ex) executive officer Shri Bhausaheb
Wakchaure and other dignitaries. The
chairman Shri Jayant Sasane and vice-chairman Shri Shankararao Kolhe
presented a marble idol of Baba and Shri Sai Sat Charita book to the
donor Sai devotee Shri Adinarayan Reddy and on behalf of Shirdi
villagers, Municipal Council chairperson Mrs. Sumitra Kote heartily
felicitated Shri Reddy and his family. qqq Remarkable
performance in sports by players of Shri
Sai Baba English Medium School Players
of Shri Sai Baba
English Medium School in the Educational Complex run by the Shri Sai
Baba Sansthan displayed excellent performances during the academic year
2007-08. By participating in fencing, volleyball, chess and other
outdoor and indoor sports at the taluka, district, regional, state and
national levels, the players representing the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan
carved a place of pride and earned a reputation as the leading
educational institution in sports in Ahmednagar district for the Shri
Sai Baba Sansthan Educational Complex. Rakesh
Gyanchand Yadav of Shri Sai Baba English Medium School captained the
Maharashtra State Volleyball team at the 53rd
All India National Schools Volleyball Tournament in this academic year
in the field of sports. This tournament was held at Banglore (Karnatak)
in which teams from 22 states participated. The Ahmednagar district was
honoured with the captaincy in the volleyball game for the first time
due to Rakesh Yadav. He also represented Maharashtra at the national
games in Bhilwada (Rajasthan). Holder of a government sports
scholarship, he has till date represented Shri Sai Baba Sansthan in
volleyball tournaments at the all-India level three times. The sports
trainer of the Sansthan, Shri Rajendra Kohokade has been selected this
year as the chief coach of the Maharashtra volleyball team. At the
volleyball tournament in Rajasthan, under his guidance the Maharashtra
team exhibited spectacular performance in their game. He was also
decorated with selection as member in the state-level schools volleyball
selection committee. Ahmednagar district was bestowed both the honours
in the field of sport for the first time. Chess
players of Sai Baba English Medium School, Tanmay Badhe, Kanhaiya Sahani,
Pritam Patil, Pratik Patil, Akshay Varghude, Dharamvir Sahani, Sandip
Sahani, Kiran Jape and Prajakta Tambe, scored successes at the district
and regional chess tournaments. Vikas Borkar, Pritam Chiranjilal and
Rishikesh Maind exhibited worthy performance at the state-level fencing
tournaments in Kalyan and Sandeep Sahani excelled in the state-level
fencing tournament in Nanded. The under-14 years boys volleyball team of the school beat
famous teams at the taluka and district levels and emerged champions.
They were runners-up at the Pune regional tournament. Swapnil Jambhulkar,
Abhishek Dunakhe, Hirsingh Rajput, Madhavsingh Rajput, Sajid Shaikh and
Akash Gondkar exhibited excellent play skills. At the under-16 years boys volleyball tournament organized by
Sports Authority of India (SAI), the school displayed grand performances
to trounce 10 teams at the district level and 4 teams at the regional
level and clinch the championship. This team was selected for the
state-level volleyball tournament at Solapur. The team bagged 3rd place in the tournament and added one more feather to the
schools cap in the field of sports. Similarly, the team scored a hatrick
by winning the general championship for the third consecutive year at
the Ganesh Kala-Krida festival at Rahata. Taking special note of
this victory, trustee of the Sansthan & legislator Shri Radhakrishna
Vikhe Patil felicitated the team with a momento and honoured the
players. 45 schools and colleges in Rahata region registered their
participation in the Kala-Krida festival. The most remarkable
aspect of this academic year is that 8 students of X Std. will be
getting 25 sports points (4.50%) in their X std. marksheets, as per
Maharashtra State Education Board rules based on their performance in
various sports at the state-level. This is indeed a matter of great
pride for Sai Baba Sansthan and its educational complex. The
players and sport trainer of Sai Baba English Medium School were
congratulated for their successes by the chairman of the Sansthan &
legislator Shri Jayant Sasane, vice-chairman Shri Shankararao Kolhe,
other trustees of the Board of Trustees, (ex) executive officer Shri
Bhausaheb Wakchaure, administrative officers Shri Prakash Deshpande,
Shri Subhash Jagtap, Shri Prakash Joshi, Shri Eknath Wagh, Shri Ramesh
Sable, principal Mrs. Z. V. Inamdar and others. All the players were
guided by sports trainer of Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shri Rajendra
Kohokade. qqq Saipradkshina
bears fruit My wife Vanaja and I experience several tidings of Shri Sai Baba. She started doing 100 Pradkshinas (going round) of Nandadeep after coming to Shirdi. Nowadays she does 1000 Pradkshinas. I also started doing Pradkshinas with her. Thereby I got rid of the ailment of pain in my legs immediately. – B.Vijaykumar (Hyderabad, A. P.)
qqq In the Shastras,
for the different epochs different, means are prescribed for attaining Nirvana.
Penance for the Krita Yuga, Knowledge for the Treta Yuga,
Sacrifice for the Dwapara Yuga and Charity for the Kali Yuga. Performance of charity and righteous action is always important.
Pacifying hunger is the best of all. Therefore, giving food in charity
should be done regularly. It takes precedence over all other actions. When it becomes noon, we suffer from the pangs of hunger. Just as
we feel, so do others. One who understands this inner feeling is
virtuous. According to the
code of conduct laid down by the Shastras, giving food in charity
has the first place. When considered, there is nothing greater than
that. Food is Parabrahma. From food all beings are born; by food
lives are sustained and having departed, into food again they enter. When an uninvited guest arrives at any odd time, a householder
should make the guest happy with food. Those who send them back hungry
invite trouble to themselves. Giving charity of money, property, clothes etc. requires some
discrimination; but in the matter of food, no such consideration is
necessary. Whoever comes at any time to the door, it is not good to
disrespect him. Such is the greatness of giving food in charity that there is
evidence of it in the Shrutis also. Therefore, Baba too offered
food to the people behaving as long established tradition. Giving money or doing any other charity is imperfect without
giving food in charity, as is the constellation of stars without the
moon or a necklace without its pendant. Would they look beautiful ? Just as ‘Varan’ is the best among six flavours, giving
of food in charity is the most meritorious. A spire without a pinnacle
does not seem befitting, nor does a lake without lotuses; nor Bhajan without devotion, nor a married lady without
the Kumkum mark on her forehead, nor singing without a sweet
voice which is tedious, nor buttermilk without salt which is tasteless. When offering food, the diseased, the weak, the blind, the
crippled and the poor should be served first - the relations and others people afterwards. - 12-23, Chapter 38, Shri Sai Sat Charita |
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