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Share"We don't want political ferment at our doorstep," said chairperson of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan managing committee, Jayant Sasane. The committee, which mans the Shirdi Saibaba temple, has shelved its plans to install a gold throne weighing 250 kg at the cost of Rs 20 crore following a public outcry.
More than opposition from the media -- the "electronic media", in particular -- and the public, the temple management was wary of political criticism. Spokespersons of key parties -- Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray, Congress' Hussain Dalwai and NCP's Madan Bafna had voiced their displeasure at the move, prompting the board of trustees to drop the idea. Sasane spoke to DNA:
Why did you scrap the plan?
We deferred to public opinion. Nine members of the board out of 16 met on Friday to deliberate over the matter. The talks went on for one and half hours, and both shades of opinion emerged. Eventually though, the decision was unanimous. Shirdi is a holy place. We don't want a morcha by Shiv Sena.
You must be resentful of having had to do so.
No. We welcome all opinions. After all, Saibaba was a holy man with a vast following. The general opinion was that he lived frugally and did not need a gold throne.
Are the devotees disappointed?
We planned to meet the cost through a dedicated fund. Sai bhaktas donated Rs 98 lakh in a month to the Suvarna Sinhasan account, created on July 19. The board of trustees will meet next month to decide on their use. We had 90 kg of gold gifted to the temple in the past eight years. The throne design too was ready. But then, this is no big loss. Fifty years ago, we had a photograph of Saibaba, followed by a wooden throne, and then a silver one. Today, we have two silver thrones for the idol.
Will you give the contributions to charity?
I don't know. We have given Rs 5 crore to Mumbai relief after 26/7 deluge and Rs 75 lakh to tsunami victims.
... and Thackeray sacrifices his own
The view outside Lokmat newspaper office on Saturday was bewildering, if not funny. There lay Thackeray Sr's silver chair waiting to be accepted by the newspaper authorities. "Firstly Saheb's throne is not made of silver, it's wood and tin with silver water. He has sent the throne to the people more interested than him. We Sainiks believe whichever seat our Saheb sits on turns into a throne," said Sanjay Raut, MP, Sena.
