Construction of Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine on Girivalam Roadway

 

In an earlier posting at this link here I uploaded photographs of the Groundbreaking and Bhumi Puja for the Temple Construction of the new Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine to be built on the Girivalam Roadway near the junction of Kanji Road.

Below are photographs of the ongoing construction and I have also included an image of a rough plan of the upcoming Shrine and contact information of the group responsible for this Shrine. 

Rough Plan of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine

Details of Temple Founders and Contact Information

I hope to continue posting updates of the ongoing development of this new Shrine on the Girivalam Roadway.

Shirdi Sai Baba Arunachala Connection

 

"There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food and clothes, in any devotees' homes. It is my special characteristic that I always look to, and provide, for the welfare of those devotees who worship Me whole-heartedly with their minds ever fixed on Me. Lord Krishna has also said the same in the Gita. Therefore, strive not much for food and clothes. If you want anything; beg of the Lord, leave worldly honours, try to get Lord's grace and blessings and be honoured in His Court. Do not be deluded by worldly honour. The form of the Deity should be firmly fixed in the mind. Let the senses and mind be ever devoted to the worship of the Lord, let there be no attraction for any other thing: fix the mind in remembering Me always, so that it will not wander elsewhere; towards body, wealth and home. Then it will be calm, peaceful and care-free. This is the sign of the mind being well engaged in good company".

[Words of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba in Shri Sai Satcharitra]

 

There is a connection with Arunachala of the famed Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple at Mylapore, Chennai whose founder Sri B.V. Narasimha Swami resided at Tiruvannamalai and was a devotee of Arunachala and Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. In furthering the connection with Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, there are currently 3 Temples at Tiruvannamalai dedicated to the great Saint.

Two are on the Girivalam road; one near the Hanuman Temple on Girivalam Roadway, another known as "Akshaya Sri Sai" (i.e. the ever-full vessel of Grace and Auspiciousness) is located at Adi Annamalai. The third Shirdi Sai Temple, under the aegis of the Sri Arunaibaba Vazhipattu Sthalam Trust, is located in town at the feet of Pavala Kundru Temple and next to the Durgai Amman Temple.

The objectives of the Sri Arunaibaba Vazhipattu Sthalam Trust are:

1.  To perform Baba aarti and distribute annadanam (food prasad) on all Thursdays. To perform yaga puja and distribute annadanam on all no moon days, important festival days and full moondays. To perform puja and distribute annadanam on Ramanavami, Gurupournami, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Samadhi and on important Festival days.

2. To encourage devotees and visitors to the Temple into charitable pursuits and the path of non-violence.

3. To plan and undertake renovation and improvement works to the Temple

4. To exhibit civic responsibility by maintaining the cleanliness of the area around the Temple grounds

5. To provide funds for developing education for poor and handicapped children.

6. To facilitate camps for blood donation, free eye and medical tests for the poor.

Now that life is returning to normal after the year long pandemic, this Shirdi Sai Baba temple is eager to again concentrate on the aims of their Trust. In this regard, yesterday Sunday March 21, 2021 the Temple held a Sri Lakshmi Kubera Homam dedicated to the improvement and development of their Mandapam.

If you would like either to support this organisation in their fund raising endeavours  or if you would like to arrange a homam to be performed at their Mandapam please get in touch with Arunachala Grace on the contact facility at the left side of this Blog, and we will forward all correspondence direct to their Trust.

Below is a pictorial gallery of the Homam performed yesterday at the Shirdi Sai Mandapam.

Sri Shirdi Sai Baba and Sri B.V. Narasimha Swami

A couple of days ago I started rereading the book “Self Realisation—The Life and Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi” by B.V. Narasimha Swami. This is a wonderful book, which is highly recommended. Please do read.

Anyhow, today Guru Poornima is an excellent example of the Divine synchronicity of Saints and Masters. This book on Ramana Maharshi is written by a devotee who dedicated his life to Sri Sai Baba; who is my own Sadguru.

Sri B.V. Narasimha Swami came to Ramana Maharshi around 1929 and during his stay was inspired to write the biography of Bhagavan upon which all later biographies are solidly founded on. In addition while at Tiruvannamalai, B.V. Narasimha Swami was also instrumental in collecting much information on Sri Seshadri Swami which he handed over to Sri Kuzhumani Narayana Sastri, who used it as the basis of a biography on that great saint.

Although endowed with a incisive mind (Ramana Maharshi said Narasimha Swami was a “person of sharpened intellect”) he was drawn to the path of devotion. He travelled north and settled at Shirdi and in later years when he returned to the South visited Sri Bhagavan before going on to live at Madras.

At Madras, B.V. Narasimha Swami worshipped a picture of Sai Baba under a tamarind tree on the street where the Sai Baba Temple is now located. Later, he moved the picture to a small house in Nanjunda Rao Colony in Mylapore and constructed the present temple with help from a Chettiar merchant. The Temple was completed and consecrated in 1952 with its main object being the propagation of the life and teachings of Sri Sai Baba.

This is the only Temple where devotees are allowed to touch, garland and photograph the divine idol, which in this case is a marble representation of Sai Baba. In actual fact it is the picture of Sai Baba (worshipped for many years by B.V. Narasimha Swami) that is considered the moolasthana. B.V. Narasimha Swami is entombed in Samadhi at the Sai Baba Temple, Mylapore.

This Temple at Mylapore, Chennai is a wonderful, sacred space. If you are visiting or staying in Chennai, please spend time there.

Blessings of Light to all readers and friends of Arunachala Grace.

Outside Shirdi Sai Temple, Mylapore, Chennai

 

Marble statue of Shirdi Sai, devotees allowed to touch

Picture of Shirdi Sai Baba regarded as Moolasthana

Paintings around the inside of Temple. The Master loved dogs!

Puja conducted on the marble idol of Shirdi Sai Baba

Aarti after a special function at Temple

Shirdi Sai Baba

Woke up this morning with the strong idea to visit the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple near Adi Annamalai. In previous posts on Arunachala Grace I wrote about the day that, ‘I travelled to Shirdi Sai Baba’, after hearing that a statue of Shirdi Sai was sitting in a crate on the site that would become its Temple Home. Subsequent to that visit, I also attended a beautiful function connected with the installation of the statue.

So today would be my first visit since the statue’s installation and Temple’s completion. Upon arriving at the Temple I learnt that today is also the ninth anniversary (in connection with this Temple) of Sri Sai in the aspect of ‘Akshaya Sri Sai’ – the ever-full vessel (of Grace and auspiciousness).

The Temple founder told me the story of seeing a statue of this Sri Sai aspect and immediately feeling compelled to acquire and bring the statue to Tiruvannamalai. This occurred nine years ago and now the same statue is installed in its own small shrine outside the main Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.

Below are a few photographs of ‘Akshaya Sri Sai’ – the ever-full vessel (of Grace and auspiciousness)

And inside the main Temple, some beautiful paintings and photographs of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba.

And the statue of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba.

For those who 'look' to Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, please visit a very nice website dedicated to him which has a 'question and answer oracle feature'. It can be most inspirational.