Devotees bid final farewell

Sathya Sai Baba was given a state funeral today and laid to rest at the very spot from where he used to meet and address his disciples for years.

The last rites were performed by his nephew R J Ratnakar at the Kulwant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam,to the accompaniment of hymns from the vedas and chants of Om Sai Ram. The Kurnool Battalion of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police presented a 21-gun salute.

Earlier,at 8.55 am,the Tricolour was placed for a brief while on the glass casket in which Sai Babas body had been lying in state from Sunday night.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Chief Ministers N Kiran Kumar Reddy and B S Yeddyurappa,Governors E S L Narasimhan and Shivraj Patil,BJP leaders L K Advani,M Venkaiah Naidu,Bandaru Dattatreya,former Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and ex-Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan were among the VIPs present for the funeral,along with hundreds of the godmans followers.

Once the last rites had been performed,curtains were drawn around 9.45 am and the process started to lay his body in a pit dug at the spot where he used to deliver his preachings.

Navratnas were placed in Sai Babas mouth while vibhuti sacred ash and cow milk were sprinkled on his body. Water from sacred rivers from all over the country were sprinkled on the body along with cow milk. A cow and calf,honey,ghee and silk were given as gifts to priests as per custom. Priests from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore conducted the process that lasted about 25 minutes.

The spot where he was buried is now expected to become an eternal memorial for Sai Baba,who at the age of 14 announced himself as a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba.

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With the Sai Babas body draped in his favourite saffron robe,Ratnakar broke down as he conducted the last rites. A member of the powerful Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust,he is believed to be a contender in the race to head the trust.

The curtains were removed after 40 minutes for the people to have a glimpse of the samadhi where the body was laid to rest in line with the practice adopted for Hindu spiritual leaders. People then queued up once again to have a look at the samadhi. The samadhi darshan will continue till April 29. Verses from Hindu,Christian,Islamic,Sikh,Judaism and Buddhist scriptures were read out by leaders from these sects during the funeral. Later,they joined in sprinkling the sacred ash at the samadhi spot as mangal aarti was performed.

An estimated five lakh people are believed to have come to Puttaparthi to have a final glimpse of the guru.