Worship and devotees Main article: Shirdi Sai Baba movement The Shirdi Sai Baba movement began in the 19th century, while he was living in Shirdi. A local Khandoba priest, Mhalsapati Nagre, is believed to have been his first devotee. In the 19th century Sai Babas followers were only a small group of Shirdi inhabitants and a few people from other parts of India. The movement started developing in the 20th century, with Sai Babas message reaching the whole of India.[3] During his life, Hindus worshiped him with Hindu rituals and Muslims considered him to be a saint. Many Hindu devotees – including Hemadpant, who wrote the famous Shri Sai Satcharitra —consider him as an incarnation of Lord Krishna[30] while other devotees consider him as an incarnation of Lord Dattatreya. In the last years of Sai Babas life, Christians and Zoroastrians started joining the Shirdi Sai Baba movement.[3] Because of Sai Baba, Shirdi has become a place of importance and is counted among the major Hindu places of pilgrimage.[31] The first Sai Baba temple is situated at Bhivpuri, Karjat. The Sai Baba Mandir in Shirdi is visited by around 20,000 pilgrims a day and during religious festivals this number can reach up to a 100,000.[32] Shirdi Sai Baba is especially revered and worshiped in the states of Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. In August 2012, an unidentified devotee for the first time donated two costly diamonds valuing Rs 11.8 million at the Shirdi temple, Saibaba trust officials revealed.[33] The Shirdi Sai movement has spread to the Caribbean and to countries such as the United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Shirdi Sai Baba movement is one of the main Hindu religious movements in English-speaking countries.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 05:57:01 +0000
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