MILPITAS, CA, July 4, 2013: The Shirdi Sai Parivaar (SSP) celebrated its third anniversary on June 20. On this day in 2010, SSP moved to this permanent facility in Milpitas and performed Pranaprathista to Baba. Ever since, Shirdi Sai Parivaar has been constantly growing and the services offered by the Shirdi Sai Parivaar to the community and those in need have been expanding.

The primary mission of SSP is to spread the teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba by engaging in community and charitable activities and conducting spiritual and educational programs for all.

Shirdi Sai Baba is a charismatic and mystical saint from India who lived between 1838 and 1918 in Shirdi, a small village in Maharashtra, India. He never preached or provided discourses but he emphasized the unity of all religions and the universality of spirit in all existence. One of the key teachings of Sai Baba was to help the poor and needy. Sai Baba not only practiced this till he attained Mahasamadhi in 1918 but encouraged his devotees also to follow this practice in their daily life also.

On this auspicious occasion, as part of the anniversary celebrations, the Shirdi Sai Center was open all day on Thursday June 20. Devotees came in large numbers from June 20 to June 23 to seek his blessings and got an opportunity to climb the main podium to touch Baba’s feet.

This is a tradition that SSP has been following every year as part of the anniversary celebrations. On June 22, several religious and spiritual activities were conducted. Following the morning (Kakad) arati, devotees participated in the Ganapathi puja, Punyavhachana, Ankuraarpana, Mandapa Aradhana, and homam. About 108 families participated in the Kalasha abhishekam to Shirdi Sai Baba. The morning celebrations were concluded with Poorna Ahuti and Mangala arati.

Devotees were overjoyed to be able to perform the Kalasha Abhishekam for Shirdi Sai Baba.

After offering the afternoon (Madhyan) arati to Baba, devotees enjoyed an elaborate lunch as prasadam that was first offered to Baba. The anniversary celebrations continued in the afternoon with vocal recital, Bharat Natyam and Telugu skit performances by children from our very own local Bay Area community. Finally, in the evening, devotees sang the glory of Shirdi Sai Baba and concluded the evening with an arati to Baba.

The entire activities, including procuring the puja related items, preparing prasadam, clean up before and after the event, was coordinated and performed by the dedicated volunteers of SSP. Shirdi Sai Center is the first temple in the entire West Coast that is exclusively dedicated to Shirdi Sai Baba and where all the activities at the center are managed by volunteers.

There are no salaried employees at SSP. SSP is a non-profit organization that thrives on the dedicated and selfless services provided by the 400 plus volunteers who go an extra mile to ensure that all activities are performed as per the schedule.

SSP truly embodies the concept of Parivaar (family) where all devotees are treated equally and everyone is welcome irrespective of caste, creed or religion to participate in any activities.

Source: India Post, DT. July 4, 2013.