The history of the Temple
One Adam Jan Pathan who lived in Korhale had a burning desire to build a Sai Baba Mandir. His grandfather was closely associated with Baba and it was Baba who told him to reside in Korhale. Korhale village is about 12 Km west of Shirdi. Around July of early 19th century he decided to go ahead and build a small temple. He approached the Gram Panchyat and they gave him a small piece of land close to the main road entering the village. Now he needed money to purchase the building materials.Adam worked in Sun and Sand Hotel and took up a donation drive. But all he could collect was a very small sum. At that time he was very close to an ‘old Baba' devotee named Varija Prabhu. He told her about his plan and about the lack of funds. Varija Prabhu was very impressed that a Muslim devotee wanted to build Baba's temple so she gave him 3 months of her pension money which was around Rs. 10,000. To make a long story short her daughters Vinny and Ashalatha also contributed the money and work was started. Gurupurnima was about a week away and Adam was determined to celebrate Gurupurnima in the temple. So all the young lads of Korhale village got together and started building a Clay hut. They had enough money to plaster the interior with cement and they worked day and night and the temple was standing. Gurupurnima was a three day celebration and on the first day ‘Akhand Parayan' was going on while the interior was being plastered. However the f estival was a grand success with Annadaan and ‘Palkhi procession'.
How Baba's Padukas came to be enshrined there :-
In 1998 when Vinny Chitluri was collecting material for “Ambrosia In Shirdi” she read in an old Sai Leela Magazine there were padukas of Baba, some where near Narsimh Lodge. This fact was confirmed by Amrut Rao Gondkar. [Grandson of Vaman Rao Gondkar]. Baba used to take ‘Bhiksha' form this house. In days gone by Shirdi was not a flat terrain but had numerous small hillocks. It was on one of these hillocks that Baba stood and from his Jholi he took the food collected and fed the cats, dogs and birds. In fact the dogs and cats survived on Baba's bhiksha. Blessed were these animals who the Parabrahma fed on a daily basis. Vinny searched for the padukas but the area was full of rubble. One day as she was returning from the Dwarka Mai, someone pointed to the wall of the Lodge and said, “This must be the temple housing the padukas, as the structure above looks like a temple” I was aghast to hear this, as it was at ground level, and embedded in the wall of the Lodge. Nonetheless he removed the rubble and there were the padukas. So we started doing some puja with incense sticks and abhishek. The owners of the Lodge provided some lighting and the near by shop keepers lit incense sticks daily.
About 4 years ago the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, set about widening the “ Palkhi Road ”. The front portion of Narshima Lodge was slated to be broken. In that portion the Padukas were partly embedded in the wall. They were very concerned lest they be damaged or broken. They had asked the “vidvan” pundit what had to be done if such a thing happened. For three days they stood near by waiting and watching. Finally the bulldozers came and tore down the wall. What seemed like a ton of bricks fell on the padukas. That evening Adam and Vinny were standing close by. What followed left them speechless. Three young men who were the descendents of Shakaram Shielke came over to them and handed over the Padukas. They got a van and took them to Korhale. There abhishek and daily puja was done. Now they had to build a temple as they couldn't keep the padukas lying there. They had to do Pran prathista. So they had to build a proper temple, got a “Muhurat” for Guru purnima. Guru purnima was three months away. Day and night the work was being done. On Guru Purnima Baba came to the temple in the form of his padukas. The padukas are over a hundred years old. Unlike most padukas they are not raised, but etched in the stone. It looks as though when Baba stood on the stone, the sculptor etched the contour of his feet on the stone. They are the original Padukas of Baba. In front of the padukas, there is a small hollow cup like structure. Its said that Baba during his Bhiksha rounds stood there and fed the birds, crows and dogs, from the food collected. He then poured the liquid collected in that hollow cup. Sometimes he poured water in it so that the birds could drink it. Unfortunately, soon after Adam died.
One Adam Jan Pathan who lived in Korhale had a burning desire to build a Sai Baba Mandir. His grandfather was closely associated with Baba and it was Baba who told him to reside in Korhale. Korhale village is about 12 Km west of Shirdi. Around July of early 19th century he decided to go ahead and build a small temple. He approached the Gram Panchyat and they gave him a small piece of land close to the main road entering the village. Now he needed money to purchase the building materials.Adam worked in Sun and Sand Hotel and took up a donation drive. But all he could collect was a very small sum. At that time he was very close to an ‘old Baba' devotee named Varija Prabhu. He told her about his plan and about the lack of funds. Varija Prabhu was very impressed that a Muslim devotee wanted to build Baba's temple so she gave him 3 months of her pension money which was around Rs. 10,000. To make a long story short her daughters Vinny and Ashalatha also contributed the money and work was started. Gurupurnima was about a week away and Adam was determined to celebrate Gurupurnima in the temple. So all the young lads of Korhale village got together and started building a Clay hut. They had enough money to plaster the interior with cement and they worked day and night and the temple was standing. Gurupurnima was a three day celebration and on the first day ‘Akhand Parayan' was going on while the interior was being plastered. However the f estival was a grand success with Annadaan and ‘Palkhi procession'.
How Baba's Padukas came to be enshrined there :-
In 1998 when Vinny Chitluri was collecting material for “Ambrosia In Shirdi” she read in an old Sai Leela Magazine there were padukas of Baba, some where near Narsimh Lodge. This fact was confirmed by Amrut Rao Gondkar. [Grandson of Vaman Rao Gondkar]. Baba used to take ‘Bhiksha' form this house. In days gone by Shirdi was not a flat terrain but had numerous small hillocks. It was on one of these hillocks that Baba stood and from his Jholi he took the food collected and fed the cats, dogs and birds. In fact the dogs and cats survived on Baba's bhiksha. Blessed were these animals who the Parabrahma fed on a daily basis. Vinny searched for the padukas but the area was full of rubble. One day as she was returning from the Dwarka Mai, someone pointed to the wall of the Lodge and said, “This must be the temple housing the padukas, as the structure above looks like a temple” I was aghast to hear this, as it was at ground level, and embedded in the wall of the Lodge. Nonetheless he removed the rubble and there were the padukas. So we started doing some puja with incense sticks and abhishek. The owners of the Lodge provided some lighting and the near by shop keepers lit incense sticks daily.
About 4 years ago the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, set about widening the “ Palkhi Road ”. The front portion of Narshima Lodge was slated to be broken. In that portion the Padukas were partly embedded in the wall. They were very concerned lest they be damaged or broken. They had asked the “vidvan” pundit what had to be done if such a thing happened. For three days they stood near by waiting and watching. Finally the bulldozers came and tore down the wall. What seemed like a ton of bricks fell on the padukas. That evening Adam and Vinny were standing close by. What followed left them speechless. Three young men who were the descendents of Shakaram Shielke came over to them and handed over the Padukas. They got a van and took them to Korhale. There abhishek and daily puja was done. Now they had to build a temple as they couldn't keep the padukas lying there. They had to do Pran prathista. So they had to build a proper temple, got a “Muhurat” for Guru purnima. Guru purnima was three months away. Day and night the work was being done. On Guru Purnima Baba came to the temple in the form of his padukas. The padukas are over a hundred years old. Unlike most padukas they are not raised, but etched in the stone. It looks as though when Baba stood on the stone, the sculptor etched the contour of his feet on the stone. They are the original Padukas of Baba. In front of the padukas, there is a small hollow cup like structure. Its said that Baba during his Bhiksha rounds stood there and fed the birds, crows and dogs, from the food collected. He then poured the liquid collected in that hollow cup. Sometimes he poured water in it so that the birds could drink it. Unfortunately, soon after Adam died.
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