YOUR PLACE IS YOUR SHIRDI

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YOUR PLACE IS YOUR SHIRDI

One Mr. Keshavrao Pradhan stayed at Ukrool near Mumbai. Though he had heard of

Sai Baba he did not believe in Him. He did not visit Baba till his friend

compelled him to do so in 1916. Later he was quite changed. He repeatedly

visited Shirdi and invited Baba to Ukrool. Baba simply gave him a picture of

himself and said, "Go to your place and raise a temple of this (i.e., his form

which you call Baba). Don’t come here again. Go!" When Pradhan again

visited him, Baba said, "When I have come to your place, why are you here? Your

place is your Shirdi now!" Pradhan submitted that he had not the confirmatory

experience of this fact.

Later Pradhan raised a Mandir at Ukrool and installed a idol of Baba in it. Ever

since Baba spoke the above words, those who lived nearby the Sai Mandir,

including Pradhan and his family, had strange experience. At night they used to

hear the sound of Mandir doors being opened, saw from a distance, Baba’s

physical form moving in the precinct of the shrine. Finally, they saw him

withdrawing into the Mandir at about 3 a.m. and closing the doors of the

Mandir. Several leelas of Baba took place there and the number of devotees

visiting the shrine rapidly increased. Even after Baba’s Mahasamadhi the

devotees had clear proof of his spiritual presence there.

For instance, in 1940 the temple was being renovated after Pradhan’s

demise. But the funds were not forthcoming. A devotee named Narayan Purohit

undertook parayana of Sri Sai Satcharitra to secure Baba’s help in the

matter. In three or four days Baba appeared in his dream, moving about the

precincts of the temple saying, "Where is my Dhuni? If there is no Dhuni, how

can this be Shirdi? How can the temple be complete?" Then he threw stones at

all, fuming and fretting. Accordingly, with the consent of the trustee as Dhuni

(8’ x 4’) was made. Sri A. R. Walewalkar, son of Dabolkar (the

author of Sri Sai Satcharitra) lit up the Dhuni on 7-4-1949 at 10. A.m. He

stayed at Bhivpuri (which is close to Ukrool) under the instructions of Baba in

a dream.

(Written by: Pujya Acharya E. Bharadwaja in Sai Baba the Master)