3000 Sai Temples in A.Pradesh & 100 centres in US

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Shirdi Sai Baba ~~ 3000 Temples in Andhra Pradesh, 100 centres in the US ~~ & First ever animation film on Sai Baba releasedBy M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian TribuneSat, 2009-10-03 IndiaNew Delhi, 03 Oct (Asiantribune.com): Andhra Pradesh has an estimated 3000 temples with Sai Baba as the presiding deity- by far the largest number for any single state. More temples are coming up almost every day. Some of the temples are makeshift to satisfy the urge of the Sai devotees, whose number is

increasing, it’s said.About 50,000 devotees take Saibabas darshan at Shirdi every day. Their number is increasing. Thursdays, Saturday and festivals witness big rush.Andhra Pradesh also sends the largest number of devotees to Shirdi, followed by Delhi and Haryana, according to Mohan Rao Yadav, spokesman of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust. Delhi and Haryana have seen a spurt in the construction of Sai temples particularly in the National Capital Region comprising Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad.Several Sai temples dot the states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.Overseas, there are 29 temples in America. Most major cities have Sai centres where devotees come together every Thursday for prayer and worship. Each congregation

attracts 500 to 600 devotees.More than 100 such centers are functioning as of now; some of them plan to construct permanent Sai temples.In the city of Chicago, Sai idol has been installed in a 120-year –old Church. Aarati is performed four times a day, according to Mohan Rao Yadav, who was a journalist before taking up assignment with Saibaba Sansthan Trust.Sai Baba temples have been built in Canada, Singapore, Kenya, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zeland, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, South Africa, East Africa, Kuwait, Shri Lanka, Zambia, Japan, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Netherlands, Spain, Fiji, West Indies and several other countries. At all these temples, the Punyatithi was celebrated this year.Shri Ramnavami, Shri Gurupournima, and Shri Punyatithi are the three main celebrations at Shirdi. Palanquins come from far and near to Shirdi for every festival. Devotees accompany the palanquins on foot. A

large percentage of them are youth.This year’s Punyatithi was a big draw. The day also marked the 91st year for Saibaba’s Samadhi.The Shirdi Sansthan Trust is gearing up for big rush of pilgrims, says Jayant Sasane, chairman. ‘Very soon, 100 years will be completed for this Samadhi. So, we are chalking out action plans’, he said. He added: ‘Considering the increased influx of Sai devotees the trustees are taking care to provide additional facilities. Projects like Shri Sai Super Speciality hospital have become more useful to the devotees.Jayant Sasane released on the eve of Vijaya

Dashmi a new book on Sai Baba in Marathi. Written by Mohan Rao Yadav, Trust PRO, the book is a compilation of articles written by Yadav in local Marathi papers on various aspects of Sai life and the devotion of devotees.Also released to mark the occasion was an Animation film on Shri Saibaba. Bangalore based Sai devotee, Balkrishnan produced the film. Not many details about the film are immediately available.Source-http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2009/10/02/sai-baba-3000-temples-andhra-pradesh-100-centres-us-first-ever-animation-film-sai-ba" The Signs of the Zodiac are Karmic Patterns; the Planets are the Looms; the Will is the

Weaver."....anOnymOuswEavEr-mAn : rOhit beHaL

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