ॐ साईराम सेवा समिती

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state of godliness. It is believed that at a tender age of 16 yrs Shri
Saibaba arrived at the village of Shirdi in
Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra and remained
their till his death. He found shelter in Khandoba
temple, where a villager Mahalsapathi in the temple
addressed him as Sai or Saint. Saibaba of Shirdi lived an extremely simple and
austere life, sleeping on the floor of temple and
later taking a ruined mosque as his shelter. With
his arrival to Shirdi, in no time he began exhibiting
a hypnotic attraction among people as they began
flocking to him. He is attributed many miracles
doing things that were beyond a mortal's power. He never discouraged these attributes and soon his
fame spread like wild fire. Many pilgrims came
seeking his blessings. Such was his hypnotism that
even the mundane of his activities attracted large
crowds. Popular among both Hindus and Muslims, Shri
Saibaba became a great building force between the
two disparate communities. He regularly recited
Hindu and Muslim prayers. His Hindu followers
considered him to be an avatar or reincarnation of
Shiva and Dattatreya. Sai Baba did not leave any
written works. All his teachings were oral and
catchy. His sayings were short, crisp and in layman
language with which the common mass could easily
associate. Saibaba encouraged charity and said, "Unless there
is some relationship or connection, nobody goes
anywhere. If any men or creatures come to you, do
not discourteously drive them away, but receive
them well and treat them with due respect." Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi was unique in the sense
that he lived his message through the essence of
his being. He lived among the common people
adorning a torn kafni (long robe), sleeping over a
mat while using brick as his headrest and got his
food by begging. Such was his smile that radiated a
mystical charisma and deep seated inward look that
hypnotized the people who visited him. His most concise message for one and all alike was
"Why fear when I am here". Saibaba said that he was a slave in the service of
those who loved him. He was ever living to help
those who turn to him and that he has to take care
of his children day and night. Saibaba's mission was to restore belief in god and
according to him, "I give people what they want in
the hope that they will begin to want what I want
to give them (knowledge of the Ultimate)." He
then taught values of total surrender to the
Almighty Master (ALLAH MALIK EK- The only ONE)
and experiences his grace. Today, Shri Saibaba has millions of devotees in
India and abroad. Shirdi, the obscure village in
Maharashtra has become a pilgrimage destination
much as Bethlehem, Jerusalem or Varanasi. With
over 25,000 pilgrims thronging in here each day
the number of pilgrims climb to over a hundred
thousand on holidays and festival days. There are
over 2,000 major Sai temples in different parts of
India and 150 abroad in places as far-flung as
Canada and Kenya, Singapore and England.