Puttaparthi: Amid chanting of Sai Mantras, the last rites of spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba were performed at Kulvant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam in accordance with Vedic customs.
The rites were performed by his nephew RJ Ratnakar in the presence of thousands of grieving devotees, following which the mortal remains of the 85-year-old spiritual leader, whose clout spread far and wide, were buried.
The spot is now expected to become an eternal memorial for Sai Baba, who at the age of 14 announced himself as a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba.
Once the last rites were performed by Vedic pandits, red curtains were drawn around 9.45 am and the process started for laying the body in a pit created at the spot in Sai Kulwant, from where the spiritual leader used to make his preachings for his followers for a number of years.
Baba’s resting place is 7ft deep and 12ft in length. It is 10ft behind from where his body was placed in the glass casket in the hall since Sunday evening.
After the body was laid to rest in the sleeping position, holy water from nine sacred rivers and soil from the Saraswati Teertha, a pilgrimage spot – near present day Kurukshetra - from where the ancient Saraswati river is said to have emerged, alongwith salt, silver, gold and navaratnas were used to fill in Baba’s Samadhi. The process took about 25 minutes
Later a memorial with a golden statue of Baba would be built at the spot.
A host of VIPs including Governor ESL Narasimhan, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, LK Advani, Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, Venkaiah Naidu, Chandrababu Naidu, and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa attended the funeral ceremony.
Sai Baba died on Sunday morning after fighting illness for nearly a month caused by multi-organ failure.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, political leaders from various parties, Chief Ministers and personalities from various fields including cricket and films had visited Puttaparthi in the last two days to pay their homage.
An estimated five lakh people from various parts of the country and abroad had filed past the body to have a final glimpse of their spiritual guru.
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