The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India visited Prasanthi Nilayam this morning to participate in the Centenary Celebrations of Bhagawan. He first visited the Sai Kulwant Hall, where he donated on behalf of the trust, 100 cows. He was accompanied by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Sri Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Sri Konidala Pawan Kalyan and other dignitaries. Thereafter, Sri Narendra Modi offered his obeisance at Bhagawan’s Maha Samadhi and the main altar inside the Bhajan Mandir. The guests then proceeded to the Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium.
The proceedings in the stadium began with invocatory Vedic chants by women students from the Anantapur Campus, SSSIHL. Sri Chandra Babu Naidu and Sri RJ Rathnakar, Managing Trustee, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, then felicitated the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. Sri Rathnakar then delivered his welcome address, welcoming all the dignitaries and specially thanking the Prime Minister for gracing the occasion. The Managing Trustee also thanked the Chief Minister for announcing Bhagawan’s Centenary Celebrations as a state function and for all the support extended by the state government to the trust. He especially mentioned Swami’s devotees and members of the organisation across the globe, who have been instrumental in keeping Bhagawan’s legacy alive and spreading it further.
The invocatory song, ‘Maitreem Bhajatha’, was offered by the renowned Carnatic musician and Padma Bhushan awardee, Smt Sudha Ragunathan, & Mr Navin, which was followed by a traditional Kuchupudi dance presentation. Students from the Sri Sathya Sai Schools, Gujarat, offered next a dance for the song, ‘Mano Garbo Re Rame Raj Ne Darbar’. This was followed by a fusion dance titled ‘Tribute to Sri Sathya Sai Baba’ choreographed by National Award winner Kala Master to the song from the upcoming feature film dedicated to Swami, ‘Anantha’, and performed by students from Swami’s schools. The final cultural offering was a percussion extravaganza led by Padma Shri awardee, Mr Shivamani, along with Mr Unnikrishnan Marar’s team from Kerala and Sri Manimaran’s team from Tamil Nadu.
The dignitaries who graced the occasion then delivered their talks, starting with Ms Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. An alumna of the Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas program, she spoke specifically about how the education in human values program launched by Swami in the early 1960s transforms children. The next to offer respects was Bharat Ratna recipient Mr Sachin Tendulkar. The cricketing genius recollected with fondness his interactions with Swami during the Sri Sathya Sai Unity Cup in 1997, when he played at the very stadium where the event was taking place. He also shared a few experiences with Swami that came at the right moments in his career.
Minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Real Time Governance and Human Resources Development in the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Nara Lokesh, recalled Bhagawan’s message to the youth to make their life and energy worthwhile by serving the nation. He was followed by the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Konidala Pawan Kalyan, who spoke of the choice of Swami to make an advent in a backward region of the state and transform it into a global spiritual centre, and that this is possible only because Bhagawan shone with Adhyatmic effulgence. The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Chandra Babu Naidu, extolled Bhagawan’s humanitarian works as the very expression of His teaching, Manava Seva is Madhava Seva. He also recalled how Swami asked him if the government would be willing to take on the responsibility of maintaining the Water Project that His devotees would execute, and how he was there to witness the Sankalpa of Swami take the shape of the massive drinking water project.
Thereafter, the Prime Minister launched the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana for 20,000 girl children in the Sri Sathya Sai District, taken up by the Trust by distributing certificates of the scheme to three girl children. The commemorative Rs 100 coin celebrating Bhagawan’s centenary was then released, which was followed by the commemorative postage stamps featuring Bhagawan’s portrait along with that of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences and of Prasanthi Nilayam, the Karmabhoomi of Bhagawan.
The Prime Minister then delivered his address, where he stated that the opportunity to celebrate Bhagawan’s centenary is itself a blessing from Him. He stated that it is common to see people being inspired by a great leader in his physical presence, but the fact that the service activities inspired by Bhagawan are growing day by day, even in His physical absence, is a sign of His greatness. He also appreciated the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations for giving seva an organised, institutional and long-term form and presenting it as a model for all. He noted that there is a miraculous power in this sacred land of Puttaparthi, that infuses compassion in words, peace in thoughts and the feeling of service in actions of every individual who steps on it.
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