Photos - Sai Baba Shrine near Bidadi` Bangalore

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~~ Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine near Bidadi` Bangalore ~~The Saibaba shrine built by the Mahesh couple is located near BIDADI, on a farmland some 3Kms off the Bangalore-Mysore highway. They also run a special school for 40-odd mentally challenged children. The Mahesh’s spend much of their time out here, though they have a town house on Bangalore’s Richmond Rd. “The city traffic being what it is, we find daily commuting a hassle,†says Capt. Mahesh. Capt. Mahesh can be contacted at vvmaheshA Saibaba Devotee since the age of 12, Samyuktha Mahesh spoke of a dream that prompted her to build this temple. She consulted her husband, who agreed to do it on their own farm near Bangalore, though he wasn’t then a Saibaba devotee like his wifeâ€. Their three sons, one of whom is also a pilot, helped to make their mother’s dream a reality.This Shrine came up seven years ago. Capt.Mahesh says the main

prayer hall and a smaller one for meditation and the landscaping have been completed. What remains is Nandadeep – a cluster of 108 brass lamps to be placed in enclosed space in the temple courtyard.They have timeline for its completion – by January next – whether or not they raise funds through donation by this time. “We are confident of meeting the requirement", observed Capt.Mahesh, adding that the project is estimated to cost Rs.6 lakhs. Samyuktha is modest about whatever they have accomplished till date. She referred to an anonymous devotee who has donated Rs.62 crores for infrastruture improvement at Shirdi to facilitate visitors. "What we are doing here isn’t much in comparison,†says Samyuktha. The setting is conducive to contemplation. A visitor to the prayer hall tends to sit in silence for a while. Capt.Mahesh has thoughfully placed plastic chairs in the hall for the benefit of aged and the handicapped.At the far end of the courtyard across the main prayer hall is a smaller hall where they keep an eternal fire going. The sanctity about it is that this flame was lit with the embers from a piece of firewood brought

from dhuni in Shirdi. "We couldn’t bring it by train; they wouldn’t allow it on a plane,†said Capt. Mahesh, adding that the sacred fire from Shirdi was brought by road in a hired van. The Dhuni is the perpetually burning fire that Baba had built. The fire is today much bigger and is enclosed in a wired cage.It is said that Baba, when asked why he had the fire going, replied that it was for burning our sins, or karma. It is reported that Baba spent hours sitting in contemplation by the Dhuni.A Saibaba image one doesn’t get to see in other temples at a shrine on a

farmland not far from Bangalore. It has come up on a patch owned by a retired Air India pilot, Capt.V V Mahesh. What strikes about this painting is its creator’s perception of Saibaba. The message it conveys is that even a Saint needs his afternoon rest. And the setting in which the Baba is cast is absorbingly down-to-earth. It was Mrs Samyuktha Mahesh’s idea to portray the secular sage as a person, not a defied entity placed on a pedestal as someone with whom the poor and the humble among his devotees can relate. She conveyed her thoughts to an artist who put them on

canvas. Maybe Samyuktha was motivated by what she read & as her husband put it, she has read almost everything anyone has written on Saibaba.Source - http://gvk2.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/sai-shrine-on-bangalore-farmland/" We are Punished by our Sins, not for Them."..............E.HubbardSiN wOrth cOmmitting - rOhit beHaLhttp://forum.spiritualindia.org/photos-sai-baba-shrine-near-bidadi-bangalore-t32917.0.htmlhttp://sai-ka-aangan.org/sai-baba-news-room/photos-sai-baba-shrine-near-bidadi-bangalore/http://.com/forum/index.php?topic=3074.0

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