As I have already detailed in a previous blog our Bhajan group with about 75 to 80 members organise a Religious ceremony in honour of Shirdi Sai baba and according to the instructions He has given Shantamma. This celebration includes Rudraabhisheka, various Homas, noon arathi, Bhajans and mass feeding of devotees. This year too the celebrations were organised on the 15th and 16th of December 2012. As happens every year, Sai Bba gifts the coconut and other items for poorna Aahuthi during the homa and also other items like onions, laddoos, sugar candy, cashews, chappathis etc.
Interested members of the Bhajan group also undertake a pilgrimage each year and this year we toured various parts of Gujarat - Ahmedabad, Sidhpur, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Somnath, Gir forest, Junagad and Chottila before returning to Ahmedabad enroute to Bangalore.
We left Bangalore on the morning of 24th December 2012. During the early hours of 25 December (around 5:00 a.m.) while we were on the train, Sai Baba gave a darshan to Shanthamma and directed her to hand over the various gifts he had presented her last year at Karanja on 26th December 2011 to different people as under: -
The set of Padukas to Deepak (me)
The Kamandala to Dhananjay J. Rao
The Olive green pebble/linga/saligrama AND shankha (conch) to Shashi Krishna
The Rudraksha beads rosary to Nandini
The set of ten cowrie shells to Nagashayana
The red/saffron bag in which all the items were presented to be given to Dinesh
And the vibhuthi and Udi to be retained by Shanthamma.
