THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF SAI BABA

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THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF SRI SAI BABA

The original photographs of Sri Sai Baba are very small in number. There are not

more than eight or nine photographs of Sri Sai Baba which may be considered as

authentic. The reason was that Sri Sai Baba disliked being photographed. If

anyone sought his permission to take his photograph; he would say, "Why take a

photograph? It is enough if one knocks down the wall between us." Sometimes he

would say, "Why photograph this poor fakir?" and refuse to pose for the

photograph. If the devotee adamantly took the photograph in spite of Baba’s

refusal; the photographs never came out well. If Tatya or Shama, using the

intimacy they had with Baba as a weapon; pressured him he would acquiesce

sometimes to have his photograph taken. It is these photographs that are

available to us now. There are many photographs available in the market and in

the books which are claimed to be the original photographs. But of these only

nine can be given the stamp of authenticity with no room for

doubt. The rest are not original.

The photograph taken of Sri Sai Baba while he was seated leaning on the pillar

opposite the dhuni at the Mosque may be considered the first photograph taken

of him. Sri Sai Baba is seated in this photo with his left leg laying on the

floor bent behind his right leg, which is erect. The right leg is upright and

is supporting his right hand. The elbow of Baba’s right hand is resting on his

right kneecap. His palm is near his ear while his left hand is resting lightly

on the toes of his right leg.

The photograph was taken when he was seated leaning on the pillar which is

(presently) adjacent to the dhuni. Sri Kasiram Shimpi had arranged for the

photographer and had this photograph taken of Sri Sai Baba. This is the first

of the available original photographs of Sri Sai Baba.

One can indistinctly see three objects in this photograph adjacent to Sri Sai

Baba. Of these, the object to the far left is one of the ends of the hand stick

satka of Sri Sai Baba. It is not possible to state clearly what the other two

objects are. One of them may be the Baba’s chillim or clay pipe. On Baba’s

right side or at the South West corner of the Mosque the water pot and the

alcove on the south face of the Mosque are visible. Baba’s long headdress and

the cloth used by him as a seat are also visible, coiled behind him at the foot

of the pillar. Baba could be between forty-five and fifty years old in this

picture. The earthen floor of the Mosque is clearly visible indicating that no

flooring of stone slabs was done on the floor.

Baba is seated facing East in the photograph. The dhuni is in his front and to

the right of him. However, the dhuni itself is not visible in the photograph.

Various artists have added the dhuni shown in the photographs now available in

the market at a later date. The dhuni is not visible in the original photograph

as it may have been a little distant and therefore not covered in the field of

view of the camera.

The dhuni was kept on the floor of the mosque while Baba was extant. After Baba

entered mahasamadhi the place where the dhuni was kept was dug to the present

level and it was enclosed in an iron mesh. The pillar leant upon by Baba in the

original photograph is now to the North West corner of the present dhuni. Baba

would sit in solitude every day in the morning for a while leaning on that

pillar. He would not permit anyone to approach him at that time. The devotees

would be kept at least fifty feet away from him at that time. After a while he

would permit the devotees to draw near. He would continue to sit there and

recount to the devotees where he had gone the previous night and how he had

saved each of his devotees. He would thus converse for a while with the

devotees. A set of padukas is now been kept at that spot to commemorate it.

This is the same pillar that Baba had ordered Dada Kelkar to worship on a Guru

Poornima day. In

those days, the Eastern boundary of the mosque extended only up to the hand

railing next to the present location of Baba’s photograph in the mosque. The

present extension where the stone used by Baba while bathing is kept, was

constructed later. It is evident from the angle of the photograph that the

camera was placed near the steps of the mosque, approximately where the platter

with udi is kept presently.

Kasiram Shimpi (the photographer) was a native of Shirdi and a cloth merchant.

He was initially well off but suffered some losses in business later. However,

by the grace of Sri Sai Baba he regained his earlier prosperity by the end of

his life. Kasiram developed devotion for Sri Sai Baba when he had first come to

Shirdi and served him with unbroken love till the end of his life. He passed

away in 1908. This photograph must have been taken when Kasiram was financially

sound. Taking this into consideration and from the age of Sri Sai Baba visible

in the photograph, it may have been taken around 1900.

Many copies of this photo are available to us now in the market. The paintings

were created by different artists who used the original photograph as the base.

The dhuni, large chillum, the large matchbox and Siva’s horizontal marks on

Baba’s forehead are all embellishments of the artists’ brush on the original

photograph.

(Source: Sai Padham magazine)

 

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