page_title: Sai Baba of Shirdi
section_title: Return to Shirdi
hierarchical_section_title: Sai Baba of Shirdi / Return to Shirdi
caption_attribution_description: Sai Baba of Shirdi, Sai Baba died in 1918. Public domain.
context_page_description: Sai Baba of Shirdi, also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master who is regarded by his devotees to be a manifestation of Sri Dattaguru and identified as saint & a fakir. He is revered by both his Hindu and Muslim devotees during, as well as after his lifetime.
  According to accounts from his life, he preached the importance of realization of the self and criticized love towards perishable things. His teachings concentrate on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace and devotion to the God and guru. He stressed the importance of surrender to the true Satguru, who, having trod the path to divine consciousness, will lead the disciple through the jungle of spiritual training.
  Sai Baba also condemned distinction based on religion or caste. It remains unclear if he was a Muslim or a Hindu. This, however, was of no consequence to Sai Baba. His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived, practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions and took samadhi in Shirdi.
context_section_description: Sai Baba returned to Shirdi in 1858. He appeared at the Khandoba Mandir in Shirdi. The temple priest, Mahalsapati, upon seeing him for the very first time, welcomed him by saying 'Aao, Sai!' ('Come Sai'). From then on, He was known by the name (Sai Baba).
  Around this time he adopted his famous style of dressing, consisting of a knee-length one-piece Kafni robe and a cloth cap. Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Sai Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported 'long hair flowing down to the end of his spine' when he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only after Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohiddin Tamboli that he took up the kafni and cloth cap, articles of typical Sufi clothing. This attire contributed to Baba's identification as a Muslim fakir and was a reason for initial indifference and hostility against him in a predominantly Hindu village.
  For four to five years, Baba lived under a neem tree and often wandered for long periods in the jungle around Shirdi. His manner was said to be withdrawn and uncommunicative as he undertook long periods of meditation. He was eventually persuaded to take up residence in an old and dilapidated mosque and lived a solitary life there, surviving by begging for alms and receiving itinerant Hindu or Muslim visitors. In the mosque, he maintained a sacred fire which is referred to as a dhuni, from which he gave sacred ash ('Udi') to his guests before they left. The ash was believed to have healing and apotropaic powers. He performed the function of a local hakim and treated the sick by application of ashes. Sai Baba also delivered spiritual teachings to his visitors, recommending the reading of the Ramayana and Bhagavat Gita for Hindus and Qur'an for Muslims. He insisted on the indispensability of the unbroken remembrance of God's name (dhikr, and often expressed himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols and allegories).
  Baba is believed to have grown and cultivated a garden called Lendi Baug, named after a riverlet called Lendi which flowed nearby. The garden continues to be a place visited by pilgrims, and has temples, samadhis of people and animals associated with Shirdi Sai Baba's life and temples.
  In 1910, Sai Baba's fame began to spread in Mumbai. Numerous people started visiting him, because they regarded him as a saint with the power of performing miracles or even as an avatar. They built his first temple at Bhivpuri, Karjat.
caption: Sai Baba in his usual attire
exif: {}