Sai Baba passes away
Indian spiritual leader Sai Baba, one of the country’s most famous
gurus, died in hospital yesterday triggering an outpouring of grief from
devotees around the world. He was 85 and succumbed to heart problems,
his doctors said in a statement, after being in critical condition for
more than three weeks.
Thousands of Hindu followers massed at the Institute of Higher
Medical Sciences hospital where Sai Baba was being treated in his
hometown of Puttaparthi, in the Southern State of Andhra Pradesh. Police
used barriers to hold back mourning crowds, and appealed for public calm
after the death was announced.
“Sai Baba is no more with us physically. He breathed his last at 7:40
am and died due to cardio-respiratory failure,” the hospital statement
said. “His body will be kept for public worship for two days on Monday
and Tuesday.”
Devotees congregated in the town over recent weeks to hold special
prayers asking for a miracle to allow Sathya Sai Baba — as he was
properly known — to recover.
He was credited by millions of followers around the world with having
supernatural powers, including an ability to conjure objects out of thin
air, remember past lives and cure terminal diseases. He counted former
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, judges, actors, generals and
other politicians as devotees, as well as Indian cricketing legend
Sachin Tendulkar and Hollywood star Goldie Hawn.
Sai Baba claimed to be the reincarnation of a former holy man, Sai
Baba of Shirdi, who died in 1918. His organisation has funded health and
education projects in India, including hospitals and clinics that say
they are able to cure ailments beyond the capabilities of mainstream
medicine. From his ashram in Puttaparthi, he built an empire of schools
and centres that spread his influence worldwide.
One of his biggest financial supporters was the former owner of the
Hard Rock Cafe chain of restaurants, Isaac Burton Tigrett, who went to
live in Puttaparthi and donated much of his fortune to the Sai Baba
Trust.
Providing free healthcare and performing an occasional miracle cure
was a central part of the image and mystique built around a man whose
flock is thought to number tens of millions across more than 150
countries.
As well as hospitals and clinics, the Sai Baba organisation operates
drinking water schemes, a university, a museum, a planetarium and
thousands of prayer rooms and centres across the globe.
AFP |