A Day in the Patha Mandir - As narrated by Bombay Srinivasan

 

( Compiled Article - Felt I can hold this beautiful piece in my Blog to the delight of the audience )

During those days there were no rituals like omkaram,suprabhatam or nagarasankirtan. Swami was everything for devotees. At 3 AM one could hear farmers going to their fields, singing folk songs. That was the Omkaram for devotees those days. At 5 AM one could hear milk vendors saying ,"Please buy my curd, milk and flowers". This was the suprabhatam for devotees. In any case they had to get up by daybreak.At dawn, Swami would rise, wash himself and drink the hot beverage devotees offered to him, and move happily with them and talk to them also. At 9 Am after Swami had taken his bath, devotees would offer him the breakfast they would have prepared. Swami would taste a bit from each, joke a bit and offer the same as prasadam for everyone.

After breakfast, anyone could do padapuja to Swami. There was a old cane-chair in the Old Mandir which would be placed in the hall. Requesting Swami to place his lotus feet on a plate, devotees would wash the feet with scented water, wipe with kumkum. Then they would offer Swami naivedhyam which he would partake a little. Devotees would then offer harathi to Swami and everyone would do padanamaskar. While doing padapuja, Swami would ask devotees to sing with devotion, instead of mechanically. Bhajans would start at 11 AM. There was no regular bhajans those days.....just long songs. Any person could sing during bhajans. Swami would sit on that red stone and also sing. His sister, Venkamma would also sing with him. The hall was very small and men and women sat on either side. Some men sat behind Swami fanning him. Despite that, Swami's robe would be soaked wet due to the scorching heat. At the end of the session, Swami himself would do harathi to please his devotees and then distribute prasadam to everyone.

At 1 pm, everyone would assemble for lunch. Swami would take a little food from everybody, mix it, eat a little and distribute the rest as prasadam. Later he would rest for a while. Even in those days Swami never took sweets, ghee, milk or curds. When pressed for a reason, Swami said he had had enough during Krishnavatar.

In the evening at 4 pm came the most awaited phase for the day. He would take devotees to the Chitravathi riverbed. There, he would sing and ask the devotees to sing as well. He would materialize from the sand - idols, photos, fruits etc and give them to the devotees. He would also talk about spiritual matters and give the devotees great joy. On one occasion he took out and apple from the sands and cut it into 4 slices. He started giving them to almost 50 devotees seated there. As he gave them,the slices multiplied on their own and everyone got a slice. Swami would say, "I am sankalpasiddha, not siddhasankalpa".While returning to the mandir, Swami would walk in front and advice the devotees to follow him singing songs. There would be bhajans for a while in the mandir and after harathi everyone would have dinner. In the night Swami would walk around the mandir with a torch. Puttaparthi was full of snakes and scorpions. They sometimes lived with devotees. No one was bitten by them, thanks to his grace. Even dogs and cats were allowed to move freely inside the Mandir!

Mera Sai Prayan

Jai Sai Ram 

I actually don't particularly remember when, how I was inducted to Sai Baba worship , but as Luck and Destiny would have it , Sai Baba mixed into my Life without me noticing him entering . But ever since he has never ever left me . I lived in a simple rented home in Mylapore for a good 20 plus years and as you may or may not be aware, there is a famous Shiridi Sai temple . They provide really tasty prasad there, which is one my fondest memories of the place , apart from the main attraction , Swami himself , seated there in his trademark pose . With a smile , that defeats you the very instant you lock your eyes with him , one can only experience this if they are meant to be. Otherwise, what lies in front of you would be just another Deity's statue . My blessed parents , and my sibling , are all Sai devotees . We may be one family , but we have our own personal connections with Swami for ,we are all not one and the same. The Sai prema binds us even more . I am indebted to my blessed parents , as they had the habit of taking me to temples and this temple/mandir in particular often , when i was a kid. See , what one gets to see and hear often somehow penetrates the internal psyche and that's how, the thought of worshiping Swami somehow won me over. The temple used to be very simple , in contrast to how well and prosperous it has become now and it will become. There were no other big chambers, except Swami's concentrated gaze on his devotee , the revered Dhuni ( sacrifical Fire ) , a Krishna idol , Some hundis and a meditation place . In fact, even as I am trying to recollect now , I have lost the vision of the Old Mandir's Layout. It has changed so much now, as devotees, come and contribute out of their own will and desire for improving the mandir. 

The Mandir grew and grew , with many facilities, lighting and water arrangements, sound systems, decorations, newer chambers , prayer hall , anna daan hall and much more. It is as though, the old devotees kept watering this Love Tree, for the future devotees who will be coming to the mandir seeking comfort in the presence of his Lotus Feet .  For a keen eye , one might notice that people who have taken to sai prema, or the act of worshipping swami Sai ram wholeheartedly bear this peaceful contented look in their face. Their face would not give away any sign of human desire, discontentment with one's lot. Another characteristic feature since old days is the presence of the poor people who sit in front of the temple in lines, with their begging bowl , wearing torn clothes, asking people for food, money , resources. The devotees would sometimes acknowledge by offering some cash, coin or food to them , sometimes they pray to the swami himself for their welfare. The whole temple is a beautiful adaptation of Swami's Shiridi Home , where he enacted all the Leelas in his mortal form . Blessed are those , who got to experience Swami's physical love , for people like me, can only experience his invisible love, enveloping me every second , every step and every breath . I sometimes used to wonder , if I was intelligent enough to recognize Swami , if he walked in front of me, whether the so called human intelligence would permit me to believe his Divine aura . 

But I leave it to him , in the hope, he drags me by the ear and makes me realize he has been looking at me all this while, while I was looking elsewhere , lost in my own thoughts. Then we moved on to a new home in Chromepet , a place near Tambaram ,where by our sheer luck and Blessings of Swami , right behind our home , in the parallel street , there is both a Shiridi Sai Mandir and Sathya Sai Bhajan Hall . What more do I ask, than this persistent Love of Swami , his constant attention on me . Words can only describe as much,  what I feel for him . But I will try , and conjure our my Hridaya Bhava through my god gifted craft of Creative Writing  .

sabka malik ek hai - allah malik