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Sai Baba statue
The name Shirdi Sai reminds everyone of
the graceful and pleasant appearance of Lord Shirdi Sai blessing the
devotees. In Machilipatnam, a big statue of Shirdi Sai is built and is
attracting the tourists and devotees.
The biggest Sai Baba statue can be found on the main road of District court center
in Machilipatnam. The statue is so big that anybody who goes near the
temple can only touch his feet. The statue appears as if Baba is sitting
on the first storey of the building. To view the statue completely, one
has to stand away from the building and lift their heads. The biggest
Sai Baba statue is sitting on a throne under the hoods of a five headed serpentine. The height of the statue is forty four feet and width is forty five feet. This has been declared the biggest Sai Baba statue in the world by India Book of Records. The statue is made by sculptors
A. Manikyala Rao and his son Venkateswara Rao. The statue attracts the
devotees with lifelike appearance. And many people not only from places
around Machilipatnam come to have the darshan of Sai Baba.
The founder of Sai Baba temple in
Machilipatnam is Sri Lakshmipuram Vittal Rao. He is a devotee of Sai
Baba from a very young age. He wanted to build a temple at court centers, Machilipatnam. The cement idol of Sai Baba was installed
in a shed on Vijayadasami day in 1994. The temple became famous with
the devotees and a temple was built there after four years. Generally
all the Shirdi Sai temples have the idol in a sitting posture. But in
the Machilipatnam temple, the idol is in sitting position
and the height of the temple is nine feet two inches. Annadanam is held
every Thursday in the temple. More than two thousand people take the
prasadam in the annadanam.
All the rituals performed at Shirdi are
followed at the Shirdi Sai temple at Machilipatnam. Large number of
devotees participates in these rituals. The founder of Sai Baba temple
says that once he was travelling in a bus between Vijayawada and Tenali
and Sai Baba appeared to him sitting on a hill. There was an old temple
on the hill. He believed that it was the power of Sai Baba and he wanted
to build the biggest Sai Baba statue.
The biggest Sai Baba statue at
Machilipatnam was launched on Vijayadasami day in 2007. Rs.22 lakhs were
spent for the construction of the statue and no donations were asked
for the construction of either the temple or the statue. Festivals
such as Gurupurnima, Vijayadasami, Sri Rama Navami and Ugadi are
celebrated here on a grand scale. On special occasions thousands of
devotees come to the temple. All the abhishekas and pujas are performed for free at this temple.
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