February 19, 2012 Rajahmundry ( Andhra Pradesh )
I was at my
uncle's house after about 8 years. My heart prompted me to visit an old
temple of Lord Virbhadra and Goddess Bhadrakali at Pattuseema in West
Godavari district, which was about two hours drive from Rajahmundry on
the other shore of river Godavari on my birthday. So me, dad, uncle and
my cousin decided to visit the temple early morning at 8 am because the
temple lacked basic facilities like proper roads etc. We had to take a
boat to cross the river and walk for about 30 minutes in the sand to
reach the temple.
Early morning, I offered prayers to lord Sai
on my birthday and requested him to bless me. Casually, I teased my Pal (
Sai ).... I am in the stronghold of shivaites and amidst those
(fanatics who worship only shiva - my family ) I would like to visit
his (Sai Baba's) temple. It would be a real miracle if I could get a
glimpse of your lotus feet.. I then forgot and got into the car. The
first thing I noticed was Sai's idol inside the car, I was very happy
and thanked Sai of fulfill my wish by giving his darshan.... but more
was to come...
We reached the last point where we had to take a
boat to reach the other end of the river. I was the first one to get
down.. while my father and uncle were talking to the driver. As soon as
I moved towards the river, I was dumbfounded.. I saw a big hoarding... a
picture of Sai with one of his famous assurances - COME TO ME, I WILL
MAKE SURE THAT YOUR MISERIES PERISH !
This was least expected in
that remote lord Shiva/ Virbhadra temple. I was overwhelmed with
emotions and asked my cousin about the hoarding. He told me about a Sai
stupa which was about 20 kms ahead and there was also an ashram there
which ran some charitable activities...
After the darshan in the
temple, i expressed my wish to visit the place. Father and uncle
relented to my stupid wish.. i could make out disapproval from their
facial expressions.. driver was reluctant too. We had only 25 minutes at
our disposal to reach that place as the temple because it got closed at
12.30 pm. However, i decided to take the chance. With great difficulty ,
we found the exact location and reached the place at 12.40 P.M. To my
surprise, the aarti had just begun.. the caretakers of the temple were
glad to see visitors in that remote temple. They asked us to join the
aarti.. after the aarti they explained that it was a different Sai
temple... in the sense that it was a Stupa constructed by a devotee for
Sai... he was also running an ashram for charitable activities. The
caretaker gave us rice and sambar as prashad and asked us to go inside
the stupa.. and read one chapter of Sai Satcharitra authored by the
devotee who constructed the Sai Stupa.. The space inside the stupa was
fully charged with bliss and enamouring silence. There was a tent and
two women were doing constant one lakh Sai Jaap day and night...
It
was a memorable experience and a precious birthday gift from Sai, who
summoned me there unexpectedly. I could read discomfort on the faces of
those who accompanied me.. I didnt make any effort to explain them. But I
thank them for fulfilling my stupid wish.
Recently, i came to
know about the significance of the Stupa and the great devotee Ammula
Sambasiva Rao, who constructed it .. through a blog penned by
Lakshmana Rama .. My gratitude to this messenger of Sai... OM SAI RAM..
