New Delhi: The venerated saint of Shirdi in Maharashtra, Sai Baba, is considered as an incarnation of God by his devotees. Sai Baba's words 'Sabka Malik Ek' spells out his philosophy succinctly.Sai Baba was known as a Muslim pir and fakir. There is no information about Sai Baba's real name, date of birth or place. In fact when asked about his past, Sai Baba often gave elusive responses. It is believed that the name "Sai" was given to him upon his arrival at Shirdi, a town near Nashik in Maharashtra. He was welcomed by a local temple priest, Mahalsapati who greeted him with words like 'Ya Sai!', meaning 'Welcome Sai. He even recognized him as a Muslim saint. The honorific word "Baba" means "father; grandfather; old man; sir" in most Indian and Middle Eastern languages. Thus Sai Baba denotes "holy father", "saintly father" or "poor old man" . Sai Baba remains a very popular saint among devotees across the world. He had no love for materialistic things and his sole concern was self-realization. He taught a moral code of forgiveness,love, charity, helping others, contentment, devotion and inner peace to God and guru. Sai Baba made no distinction based on caste or religion. His teachings were a mixture of elements of Hinduism and Islam. He was buried in Shirdi. His well known epigrams are "Sabka Malik Ek" ("One God governs all"), said"Trust in me and your prayer shall be answered". He always uttered "Allah Malik" ("God is King"). Here are some rare and unseen pictures Of Sai Baba:Original picture of Sai BabaThe sacred avtaar of Sai BabaSai baba with his followers Sai baba unique pictureSai Baba sitting outside with his devoteesShirdi - dwarkamaiShirdi Village (old) panorama of locality where samadhi temple was later builtSai Baba' s resting placeSai Baba in his fakir avataar Shri Sai BabaSai Baba during his day to day visit to collect "Bhishka" Khandoba MandirDwarka MaiChawadiSai Baba standing
Updated on: May 20, 2014 8:16 IST
