Sri Sai Baba, a personification of spiritual perfection and an epitome of compassion , lived in the little village of Shirdi in the state of Maharashtra (India) for sixty years. Like most of the perfect saints he left no authentic record of his birth and early life before arriving at Shirdi. In fact, in the face of his spiritual brilliance such queries do not have much relevance
He reached Shirdi as a nameless entity. One of the persons who first came in contact with him at Shirdi addressed him spontaneously as ‘Sai’ which means Savior, Master or Saint. ‘Baba’ means father as an expression of reverence. In the Divine play it was designed as such, that He subtly inspired this person to call Him by this name, which was most appropriate for His self-allotted mission.
In the early days of his stay at Shirdi he spent his time either wandering in the outskirts of village and neighboring thorny jungles or sitting under the neem tree totally self absorbed. The first set of villagers who regarded this saintly figure were Mhalsapati, Tatya Kote, Bayyaji Bai and few others. Bayyaji Bai felt deeply motivated by this Divine Saint, and with her motherly instinct she used to walk miles on end into the jungles in search of him, carrying food in a basket on her head. Often she found Sai Baba sitting under some tree in deep meditation, calm and motionless. She would boldly approach him, serve the meal and return home.
All that we definitely know of Sai Baba is that his arrival at Shirdi was anonymous. He was first noticed in the outskirts of the village Shirdi, seated under a ‘neem’ (margosa) tree, about the year 1854. However, even this date is not definitely noted. Sai Baba of these younger days remained a stranger staying under the neem tree for some time and then suddenly he left Shirdi to come back again sometime in 1858, and stayed on there till he left his gross body in the year 1918.
After sometime as though out of compassion for her, Sai Baba ceased wandering and moved into a dilapidated mosque in the outskirts of the village. He referred to this mosque, where He resided till the end, as ‘Dwarkamai’ (Dwarka was the place where Lord Shri Krishna stayed to fulfill His divine Advent). This mosque ‘Dwarkamai’ – abode of Sai Baba became Mother of Mercy for all the time to come.
He had a body of athlete built and in his earlier days he was fond of wrestling. Another aspect of Sai Baba’s personality was his love for song and dance. In those early years of his life he used to go to ‘Takia’ , the public night shelter for moslem visitors to the village. There in the company of sojourning devotees and fakirs, he used to dance and sing in divine bliss, with small tinkles tied around his ankles. The songs he sang were mostly in Persian or Arabic. Sometimes he sang some popular songs of Kabir.
The Dwarkamai of Sai Baba was open to all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. As the days passed devotees from all walks of life started streaming into Shirdi. The village Shirdi was fast assuming prominence. As the gifts and presentations flowed in, the pomp and grandeur of Sai worship also increased. But Baba’s life of a fakir remained calm, undisturbed, unaltered and there is the Saint’s spiritual glory.
He lived His divine mission through His pure self in a human embodiment. The immense energy that was manifest in the body of Sai was moving in a mysterious way, creating and recreating itself every where beyond the comprehension of time and space.
This fountainhead of unsurpassed spiritual glory shed His gross body on 15th October 1918. Every limb, every bone and pore of his body was permeated with divine essence. Baba claimed that though one day his physical body will not exist his remains will communicate with all those who seek him with inner yearnings. His self-allotted labour of love in His physical body was perhaps over. Today He continues to work ever vigorously as the ‘Sai Spirit’.
Writing a simple pooja for this fast world :
It is the blessing of our sweet saint shirdi sai baba who made me a instrument to write this pooja. I humbly wish to express my feeling that this pooja is only for "Shirdi" sai baba devotees because what came from him must reach him. He gave me vision and hints to create this pooja with affection on all the children of Shirdi saibaba like you.
How many minutes do we shirdi saibaba devotees have to think about sai everyday. We are either busy with our wordly affairs or waste time worrying about our own problem. I wanted to create a pooja which can be done by this fast world.
Its not me who wrote this pooja, i have been praying shirdi sai for past few days asking him to help me write a pooja which sai devotees can do.I want to make sure people who love shirdi sai can do it everyday all life just spending 10 to 20 minutes .By grace of sai , the pooja can be dont by shirdi sai devotees who are too busy with their studies,career and personal life.
Baba, please inspire your devotees to do this pooja because it includes all the main aspects which can gain your blessings.
"Starsai Shradha - Saburi pooja " in simple steps
Samadhi Mandir
This is the place where Sai Baba went into his samadhi. The temple is built of stones whereas the samadhi is built up of white marbles, with beautiful ornamental decorations. Behind the samadhi there is an idol of Sai Baba which shows him seated on a throne. The idol is made up of pure Italian marble and is a masterpiece indeed, it appears as if Sai Baba is about to speak to his devotees.. The temple can be visited from 5 AM till 10 in night. On Guru-Poornima, Dussera, and Ramnavami festivals, the temple is open overnight. On every thursday, a palkhi with Baba's photo is taken out from the temple, which is worth a watch.
Dwarkamai - The Holy Mosque
This is where Sai Baba used to live. After coming to Shirdi, Sai Baba stayed here till end days of his life. The mosque is situated on the right side of Samadhi Mandir where Sai Baba use to meet his devotees and solved their problems. The sacred fire 'Dhuni' lighted by Sai Baba, has been constantly burning for more than a hundred years now. The sacred ash 'Udi' is collected twice everyday and is distributed among the devotees. A life size portrait of Sai Baba at his sitting place inside the mosque premises is definitely generates awe in its visitors
By Railways
The nearest stations are Nasik around 123 km away and Manmad around 60 km away. The best option is the Tapovan Express that departs from Mumbai at 6.30 AM and reaches Manmad at 11.30 AM. There are regular Bus services from this station to Shirdi.
By Road
Since Shirdi is located on Ahmadnagar - Manmad road, it is easily accessible through roadways. Many private bus operators run their luxury coaches from nearby cities to Shirdi at regular intervals. You can also opt for taxis that ply on all major routes.
Sri Shirdi Sai Baba
