:4 Spiritually beautiful aartis mark Sthapana diwas

The Shirdi Sai Sansdian, Melbourne celebrated the 7' " Sdiapana Diwas of Sai Baba on a g rand scale on Apri l 14 l t was on this day in 2005 that Sai Baba's auspicious presence was csrabli~hed in the form of a temp le at 32 Halley Avenue in Cambe,well. A life size idol of Sai Baba cook pi:ide o f place wid1in the prem.ises, and bas since attracted thousands of Je,,otees. Sai Baba is revered as one of the greatest saints ever seen in l ndia, endowed with unprecedented powers, and is worshipped as a God incarnate. He embodied all religions and preached the universal religion of love.

The .\'thap,r11n Diwas starred with kakad aarti (morning prnyers) at 8am followed by Baba's i\ltiht1 ,1Janga!a / lhhishek performed by Pundit Rajesh Tiwaci, die temple priest. The ahhishek was performed with JU I litres of milk, yoghurt, honey, sugar, ribh11thi, ghe1• and fruit juice AJI the devoree.s participated in che ahhishck wid1 great enthusiasm. The R11tlm [·ftmm and Sai Gayacri }\Ic1vagmha M,111/m /-lava11 followed the ahhishek, and were aho conducted b)' Pc Tiwari. After the ha/lr/11, Bah,/r 111adl!)'fl11 aarti (middar prayers) were offered. 1\ll tl1e devotees were served wid1 ,,,aha pm.radafter the amti.

The evening pmgramme started with early Dhoop {latti (afternoon prayers) at 5pm, followed by Sai Rhajtm (hymns) by Manish and hi s group. Devotees who , -isired d1e 111m1tlir joined in d1e musical supplication Bahr, j Palki a c 8:30pm was another spir.imal ly beautiful pan of Lhe proceeding.

The celebrations ended with shf/ c1tnYi (evening prayer s). According co temple officials it is estirnaced Lbar more than a d1ousand peopl e attended the function and rece ived the b les~iogs of Baba over the course of the day.

Pradeep Rupanagudi, President of the temple claimed char it has the clistinccion of being d1e first 111andir in the world declicaced to both Shircli Sai Baba and Jhu lelal. --Jn addicion, our 11u111dir is unique in that ic is one of the few temples other than Shirdi, co have a D111nrokamai and Chr111adi. The 111at1diris convenientl y locateu wich access co public transport and devotees from all walks o f life and from diverse backgrounds now Lhrong LO this temple co seek Baba's b lessings and grace," he said

The temple is nm successfully with the support of volunteers and donors. T he da)' •to-day activities in the temple are susra.ined by community participation of volunteers. They a.re there co snpporc p11jas, decoration of d1e remp le, maintenance of its surroundings, o.r:ganisi.ng major events, fond - raising, communicatio n to devo tees, 6.uancial suppotr, accounting, deve lopmem and naaimenance of Lhe website and devotee database etc. t\ magazine called Soi Tani Melhoumf SP is also published by c;he Sansd)an.