Shirdi Sai Baba movement
Encyclopedia
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
of the followers and devotees of the 19th- and early 20th-century India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n saint Sai Baba of Shirdi
Sai Baba of Shirdi
Sai Baba of Shirdi , also known as Shirdi Sai Baba , was an Indian guru, yogi, and fakir who is regarded by his Hindu and Muslim devotees as a saint....
(or Shirdi Sai Baba).
History
The Shirdi Sai BabaSai Baba of Shirdi
Sai Baba of Shirdi , also known as Shirdi Sai Baba , was an Indian guru, yogi, and fakir who is regarded by his Hindu and Muslim devotees as a saint....
movement began in the 19th century, during Sai Baba's life, while he was staying in Shirdi, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. A local Khandoba priest named Mahalsapathy is believed to have been his first devotee. However, in the nineteenth century Sai Baba's followers were only a small group of Shirdi inhabitants and a few people from other parts of India. It started developing in the 20th century and even faster in 1910 with the Sankirtans of Das Ganu (one of Sai's devotees) who spread Sai Baba's fame to the whole of India. Since 1910 numerous Hindus
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
from all parts of India started coming to Shirdi. During Sai's life Hindus worshipped him with Hindu rituals and Muslims revered him greatly, considering him to be a saint. Later (in the last years of Sai Baba's life) Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s and Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
s started joining the Shirdi Sai movement.
Chandra Bhanu Satpathy, a devotee of Sai Baba, has been instrumental in creating more than one hundred and fifty temples of Shirdi Sai Baba in India and abroad. He has also had an important role in the development and propagation of the Shirdi Sai Baba movement.
The devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba have spread all over India. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Religion there is at least one Sai Baba mandir in nearly every Indian city. His image is quite popular in India. Some prominent non-religious publishing houses
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
(such as Sterling Publishers) have also published books about Shirdi Sai written by his devotees. According to the book Modern World Religions: Hinduism - Pupil Book Core Shirdi is among the major Hindu places of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
. According to estimates the Sai mandir in Shirdi is visited by around forty thousand pilgrims a day and during religious festival
Religious festival
A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar...
s this number amounts to a hundred thousand.
Beyond India the Shirdi Sai movement has spread to other countries such as the USA and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. Sai Baba mandirs and organisations of his devotees have been built in countries including Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. According to the book The South Asian Religious Diaspora in Britain, Canada, and the United States the Shirdi Sai Baba movement is one of the main Hindu religious movements in English speaking countries.
The Shirdi Sai Baba movement has developed mainly thanks to the Shri Saibaba Sansthan and other organisations of his devotees such as the All India Sai Samaj, authors of publications about Sai such as B. V. Narasimhaswamiji, Swami Sai Sharananand, Guruji C. B. Satpathy, as well as numerous mandirs dedicated to Sai Baba.
Much of the Shirdi Sai Baba movement started because of the deligent work of H.H. Shri B.V.Narasimha Swamiji of Chennai who went to Shirdi 12 years after the Mahasamadhi of Shirdi Sai Baba. Later Shree B.V.Narasimha Swamiji started the all India Sai Samaj and built a beautiful temple in Mylapore Chennai just like the Samadhi mandir in Shirdi. This happens to be the first Sai Baba temple built in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
. His disciple H.H.Radhakrishna Swamiji came to Bangalore and built the beautiful Shirdi Sai centre in Bangalore. Also, H.H. Swami Sai Sharanandji built the beautiful temple of Shirdi Sai Baba at Ahmedabad. Acharya E.Bharadwaja
Ekkirala Bharadwaja
Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja (1938–1989)(Telugu: ఎక్కిరాల భరద్వాజ)Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja (1938–1989)(Telugu: ఎక్కిరాల భరద్వాజ)(Affectionately called by his followers as 'Mastergaru'(Telugu: మాస్టర్ గారు) is a well known personality and is considered as one of the greatest of all...
also built Sai Baba temple in vidya nagar(Near Nellore in A.P) which is blessed by several contemporary saints. These saints were themselves considered realized beings and are being worshipped and revered by many people and are often called the apostles of Shirdi Sai Baba. One can find their pictures in the samadhi mandir at Shirdi. Much of the Sai movement owes much to their diligent effort.
Practices
The practices that Shirdi Sai Baba's devotees use to worship him are mainly traditional Hindu practices such as puja, ritual washingRitual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...
of his images, singing and repeating his name, worshipping his feet (which is a common practice in Hinduism) going on pilgrimage to Shirdi, singing arati or reciting a mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
(Om Sai Shri Sai Jaya Jaya Sai). The anniversary of Sai Baba's Mahasamadhi is an important festival for them. Guru poornima
Guru Purnima
Guru Purnima is a festival traditionally celebrated by Hindus and Buddhists.On this day, disciples offer puja or pay respect to their Guru . It falls on the day of full moon, Purnima, in the month of Ashadh of the Shaka Samvat, Indian national calendar and Hindu calendar...
is another auspicious day celebrated by sai devotees. It is told that Brahma gnyan can't be achieved without a guru's help. Hence baba paid highest importance to guru parampara and guru worship. Sai is worshipped by people of many religions.
The Sai Baba mandir in Shirdi is active and every day worship of Sai is conducted in it, including aartis. Pilgrims visit Shirdi every day. Shirdi Baba is especially revered and worshipped in the state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, under the jurisdiction of Government of Maharashtra is based there. It maintains a complex of Sai Baba temples and publishes publications about him. It also conducts free charity, social and medical work and ensures the development of Shirdi. It is governed by a board of trustees
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
.