Temple Town Shirdi To Remain Shut Indefinitely From Sunday After Row Over Sai Baba's Birthplace
The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, the administrative body of the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in Maharashtra has announced an indefinite shutdown in the temple town after a row erupted over the birthplace of Sai Baba.?
"We have announced to close Shirdi against rumours from January 19," said B Wakchaure of Saibaba Sansthan Trust."A meeting of villagers will be convened on Saturday evening to discuss the issue," Wakchaure said.?
He also added that devotees will not face any difficulty if they come to Shirdi.Other than the temple, units like the Sai Prasadalaya, Sai Hospital, Sai Bhakta Niwas, and the local medical shops in the town have been kept outside the purview of the shutdown.?
Maharashtra State Regional Transport Corporation buses and hotels will also be allowed to function as usual.However, public transport vehicles like autos and taxis operated by locals would remain off the road. This could pose problems for devotees visiting the temple town by air or by train.?
The dramatic development came after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray claimed that Pathri in Parbhani district was the birthplace of the 19-century saint.Last week CM Thackeray had called Pathri as Sai Baba's birthplace and announced a package of Rs 100 crore for the development of the region.?
However, according to the Saibaba Sansthan Trust, there is no historical record to show that Sai Baba was born in Pathri. In fact, not much is known about Sai Baba's early life including his real name, place of birth or religion. the holy man himself was elusive about his past before arriving in Shirdi.?
But, according to some records, Sai Baba had told Mahalsapati who was a close follower, that he was born in Pathri to Deshastha Brahmin parents who had been entrusted into the care of a fakir at a very young age.?
Even though this has not been established beyond doubts, the Shri Sai Janmasthan Temple in heart of the Pathri town has been attracting thousands of devotees from across the country.?
The Shirdi Temple is one of the most popular religious destinations not just in Maharashtra, but anywhere in the country with hundreds of thousands of devotees visiting the holy site every year.?
On average, daily 25,000 devotees visit the Shirdi temple. In the festival season, while more than 1,00,000 devotees visit the shrine every day.The temple had received donations worth Rs 287 crore in 2019.This included cash, gold jewellery, coins, guineas and other valuables of around 19 kgs, and offerings of silver articles weighing 391 kgs.
