Princes and paupers in thousands thronged to the Prashanthi Nilayam ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh to pay their last respects to their beloved spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba on Monday.
Baba, who died on Sunday morning from cardio-respiratory failure after spending nearly four weeks in a hospital run by his own trust, was placed in a glass casket inside the 10,000-capacity Sai Kulwant Hall within the world?s biggest ashram.
Indian cricket stars Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, yoga guru Ramdev, Union ministers Praful Patel and Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh were among those who touched down on the tiny village to catch a last glimpse of Sai Baba.
Sachin Tendulkar, the hero of India?s recent World Cup win, broke down and was seen wiping tears as he paid his last respects. He apparently flew in straight after an Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad along with his wife Anjali.
Officials said about one lakh people came to visit baba in the first 24 hours. Thousands more, from India and abroad, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi are expected to come on Tuesday.
The last ?darshan? would be allowed till 6 pm on Tuesday amidst the tight security arrangements that were seen on Sunday and Monday. Sai Baba will be buried within the Sai Kulwant Hall on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a five-member committee headed by Finance Secretary L V Subramanyam to look the affairs of Sai Baba?s charitable trust, the Sathya Sai Central Trust, which is believed to control assets over Rs 40,000 crore.
The government does not want one of the world?s biggest trusts, known for its extensive philanthropic work that include opening schools, colleges, hospitals and providing drinking water to over a million people, to go into wrong hands.
Millions of people in India and abroad woke up to shock on Sunday morning as news of the demise of spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba, a man hailed as the living reincarnation of god himself, trickled in against his own prediction of dying in 2022.
Born on Nov. 23, 1926, in Puttaparti, and followed by an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide after claiming to be a reincarnation of spiritual guru Sai Baba of Shirdi at the age of 14, Sai Baba was to turn 85 this year.