The body of the spiritual leader Sri Satya Sai Baba was ritualistically entombed in Kulwant Hall Of Prashanti Nilaya this morning.
The ritualistic burial of the mortal remains of the spiritual leader Sri Satya Sai Baba was conducted at the Kulwant Hall in Prashanti Nilayam, Puttaparthi, between 9am and 10:30am, today. His body was placed such that it faced the south.
R J Ratnakar, the nephew of Baba, carried out 'dasha mahadanam' in order to get rid of the negative energies that would have surrounded Baba due to the unfortunate time of his death.
His body was bathed with cow milk, pure ghee and the sacred waters of Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. A dip in the holy waters is said to wash away one's sins, and relieve one from the cycle of life and death. The priests used flowers that were specially bought from Karnataka for the ceremony.
The 9 gems (namely ruby, diamond, pearl, red coral, garnet hessonite, blue saphire, cat's eye, yellow sapphire, and tsavorite) that define the energies of the 9 planets were placed in his mouth.
The Indian flag was draped over the coffin of the godman before it was lowered into the tomb, and a gun salute was executed.
His shattered devotees chanted the Sai Maha Gayatri Mantra throughout the entombment procedure. All religions converged to pray for the soul of Satya Sai, with Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindu priests reading from their respective sacred texts.
Various dignitaries, including Andhra Pradesh CM Kiran Kumar Reddy, Governor Narasimhan, N Chandrababu Naidu, L K Advani, Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa, Venkaiah Naidu and the members of the Sri Satya Sai Central Trust, were present at the funeral.
Devotees will be allowed to view the shrine of Sri Satya Sai Baba today from 11:45am onwards, till April 29th.