Opening the year with Sai darshan

Devotees of Sai Baba will begin the new year with the customary trip to Shirdi. Anticipating the influx of devotees, the Sai temple trust has made special arrangements to accommodate around five lakh devotees expected to visit the temple tonight.

“The temple will be open through the night so that all the devotees can take darshan. There will be a bhajan night to welcome the new year. Judges from the Supreme Court and the High Court and politicians, including Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and chemical and fertilisers and steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan are also expected,” said Jayant Sasane, secretary of the temple trust.

The number of people travelling to Shirdi from Mumbai has increased since last week. Rambabu Chouhan, a travel agent from Parel, said, “Out of the 30 cars in my travel fleet, 21 have been booked for Shirdi on December 31 and January 1, 2008.”

One of the attractions is the golden throne donated recently by a Hyderabad-based businessman. Sasane  said, “People are curious, but I can’t claim they are there only to see the throne.”

t_kiran@dnaindia.net