Puttaparthi: Probably no other village in the
world is as famous and has so many facilities all in one place
like Puttaparthi.
It may have metamorphosed into a self-containing town over
the years and finds a place on the international map as well,
but Puttaparthi essentially remains a village, more precisely
the abode of Satya Sai Baba.
It was the Baba who earned his native village such an
international acclaim after he declared himself the
reincarnation of the godly-saint Shirdi Sai Baba.
Peace and tranquillity are the salient features of this
bustling place which is thronged by thousands of people not
only from the region but also other states in the country as
well as abroad everyday for the darshan of Baba.
Beginning with the Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning,
which has now transformed into a university, Puttaparthi
boasts of an exclusive airport, a 220-bedded super-speciality
hospital, a railway station, a planetarium, a hill-view
stadium, an indoor stadium and Chaitanya Jyoti, a museum of
world religions.
It is also home for an institute of Indian classical music
called the Sri Satya Sai Mirpuri College of Music.
Puttaparthi was where the Baba was born as Satyanarayana
Raju Ratnakaram on November 23, 1926.
It was a sleepy village then, 85-km from the district
headquarters town of Anantapur.
Above all, Prasanthi Nilayam, the abode of Satya Sai Baba
- is the pinnacle of Puttaparthi`s glory.
A temple of Lord Siva stands where the Baba was born while
many other famous temples like Hanuman and Satyabhama (built
by the Baba`s grandfather Kondama Raju) and the village mosque
adorn the village.
Many special festivals and fairs are conducted on
different occasions with the Baba`s birthday celebrations
standing as the highlight.
The Satya Sai University`s annual convocation is also a
major event celebrated with fanfare in Puttaparthi.
With Baba`s demise, a pall of gloom has descended on
Puttaparthi.
Will it retain its glory in future is a question mark now.
PTI
