Shirdi Sai Baba

Sai Baba of Shirdi (c.1838-1918) was an Indian spiritual master revered as a saint by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during his lifetime and after, worshipped today at his samadhi shrine in Shirdi, Maharashtra.

He is addressed simply as Sai Baba, "Baba" meaning "father" in affectionate, respectful address; his origins and even his given name remain unknown, and he himself gave no importance to questions about his background.

He is represented through photographic portraits taken during his lifetime and through statues at his Shirdi samadhi, typically shown seated, simply dressed, with the sacred ash (udi) from the dhuni, the perpetual fire he tended, which he distributed to visitors and which remains part of devotional practice at his shrine today.

He arrived in the village of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district around the age of sixteen, dressed as a Muslim faqir, stayed roughly three years, disappeared for a year, and returned to settle permanently around 1858, eventually taking up residence in a dilapidated mosque where he lived simply, begging for alms and receiving both Hindu and Muslim visitors without distinction.

His parentage and origins are not reliably established; devotional tradition holds he was born a Hindu Brahmin before being raised by a Sufi fakir, though he himself declined to confirm any such account.

His teachings centred on love, forgiveness, charity, contentment and devotion to God and guru, and he explicitly condemned discrimination by religion or caste; his shrine at Shirdi, maintained by the Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust, is today one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in India, drawing devotees across religious lines.

Though his own life was rooted in Shirdi, Maharashtra, his following has spread across India and internationally, with Sai Baba temples now established throughout the country and among the global Indian diaspora.