PUTTAPARTHI: Sathya Sai Baba was laid to rest on Wednesday morning in Sai Kulwant hall at the same place where he used to meet and address his devotees since many years. Amid chanting of hymns, his nephew RJ Ratnakar performed the last rites in accordance with Vedic customs following full state honours.
The ceremony began at around 8 a.m. with a multi-faith service that preceded the actual funeral ceremony. Religious heads of different faiths including Islam, Christian, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist and Zoroastrian, read from their scriptures.
A group of Vedict priests from Rajahmundry guided Ratnakar in performing the last rites as per Hindu tradition marking the commencement of the actual ceremony at around 8.45 a.m. Earlier, some selected devotees who had an opportunity to participate in the ceremony organised bhajans praising Sathya Sai Baba. Police personnel from the Andhra Pradesh Armed Police gave a guard of honour where they draped the national tri-colour on the glass casket containing Baba’s body and removed it after a while as the buglers sounded the Last Post. Half a platoon of policemen fired three shots in the air in a gun salute outside the Sai Kulwant hall. A general salute was also offered by the men in uniform.
After the religious rites were completed, the body was laid in a pit with a foundation of the finest marble at around 9.45 a.m. Red curtains were drawn around it. The body was laid to rest in a sleeping position with Baba’s head placed in the south direction after which holy water from nine sacred rivers and soil from the Saraswati Teertha, a pilgrimage spot from where the ancient river Saraswati is said to have emerged, were sprinkled on Sai Baba’s samadhi. Navadhanyas (nine food grains) along with silver, gold and navaratnas (nine precious stones) were kept inside the samadhi.
Though the Trust members had planned to allow only limited members for the funeral, the Sai Kulwant hall was packed with more than 3,000 devotees. Lakhs of devotees witnessed the event through live telecasts by news channels. Throughout the ceremony, the Sai Kulwant hall reverberated with the Sai mantra with atteneding devotees silently crying.
The curtains were removed after 40 minutes and VIPs were allowed to pay their respects. They walked up to it and sprinkled sacred soil. Among them were Governor ESL Narasimhan, Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his Karnataka counterpart BS Yeddyurappa, BJP senior leaders LK Advani and M Venkaiah Naidu, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Maharashtra ex-chief minister Ashok Chavan.
The ceremony came to an end with priests offering ‘mangala aarathi’ after which entry into the Sai Kulwanth Hall was barred for a while. Devotees were allowed to have a darshan and pay their respects only after noon.