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| Puttaparthi |
Baba, who passed away at the age of 85, on Sunday morning at 7.40 am, will be laid in state for two days at the Sai Kulwant Hall.
Baba's body has now been shifted out of the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences at Puttaparthi. It is now being taken to the Yujuramma temple in the city and will be bathed.
Following this process, it will be taken to the Sai Kulwant Hall where it will lay in state for the next two days. Devotees can see the body after 6 pm on Sunday.
The fact that Baba will be buried was a known fact all along. It is a tradition in India that all God realised persons are buried and not cremated. The case was similar in the case of Shiridi Sai Baba.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened as the body was shifted from the hospital. There are over 6,000 police security personnel in Puttaparthi and the entire area has been cordoned off.
The members of the trust and several devotees have pitched in to ensure that there is no chaos or commotion during the funeral.
Puttaparthi is expecting over 3 lakh devotees from across the world in the coming days. Various states have made special arrangements to transport devotees. However, the devotees will need to walk at least eight kilometres in order to reach Sai Kulwant Hall as the roads leading up to Puttaparthi have been cordoned off.
When the body reaches the Sai Kulwant hall, only devotees will be allowed inside and the media has been barred.
However, the burial will be in the presence of the members of the trust and family members apart from some Andhra Pradesh government ministers and officials. This would be barred for the devotees as well.
The Andhra Pradesh government has declared four days of state mourning. A holiday has been declared at the Ananthpur district on Wednesday when the burial takes place.
