Tue, Nov 23, 2010 - 85th Birthday News & Photos - Festival of Divine Love: When the big day arrived there was a festive ambience prevailing at the Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium with men and women in thousands turning up occupying every inch of space in the stadium. With many Gods watching from the hill top, mortals on earth were making merry of the opportunity bestowed upon, anticipating the grand arrival of "The Lord of 85 Years".
With time ticking past inching towards the anticipated hours, there was heavy jostling of huge turnout of crowd, expected of such a mammoth festivity. Yes, the Hill View Stadium was anticipating the moment of her life to embrace The Lord and with her there were thousands upon thousands of mortals awaiting seeking to win a glance of The Lord on the auspicious day!
| 23, Nov, 2010: Birthday Morning Photo collage | |  | | Click to Enlarge size 1280 x 800 |
Earlier, in the morning when all the roads were expected to open towards the main venue, the Hill View Stadium was calm and quiet, warmly welcoming the inflow of devotees. Devotees vying for a vantage spot in the unreserved area started filing past in the early hours, well before the sun rise, and with the clock ticking away the stadium was gathering momentum.
Watch and ward sevadals coupled with senior students were in full swing action, providing guidance with reference to seating arrangement. Refreshments were given in the form of tea, coffee, snacks along with drinking water.
Proceedings began with the usual one hour Vedam at 0800 hrs. and bhajans commenced at 0900 that continued till 0945 hrs. when a group of boys took over the stage coming up with commentary in English, Telugu and Hindi. Prof. Anil Kumar as well joined the boys and the show continued up to 1030 hrs. Bhajans continued beyond 1030 hrs. till the Divine arrival.
Long enduring wait did not seem to be a façade any more for the awaiting audience nor the sun that turned scorching beating down the earth mercilessly did deter the assembly, for every soul present has only one intention, to win His Grace of Love!
At 1120 hrs. Prof. Anil Kumar's voice echoed the spacious stadium, announcing the imminent arrival of the Lord. With it began the minutes countdown. At 1125 hrs., when all eyes were fixed at the western end of the Hill View Stadium, there He appeared, shining in creamish-white, enthroned on the Golden Chariot! Yes, the Lord of all lords began His Birthday Journey, casting the highest benedictions. Bhagawan was ushered into the venue by Vedam group followed by the Institute Band of boys and girls.
The procession took fifteen minutes to reach the venue, Shanti Vedika. Throughout the procession, the theme song, "parithranaya sadhunam" with groundbreaking beat music rendered the air, echoing the entire stadium, with the Lord making His 'strides' towards the Shanti Vedika.
The Shanti Vedika resembled a royal court of yore with a silver throne awaiting the Lord at the centre. Upon reaching on stage, Bhagawan assumed the Seat of The Divine, presenting Himself to the multitudes present before Him.
A host of VIPs were also present on the stage. Hon'ble External Affairs Minister, SM Krishna, Union Ministers, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, ESL Narasimhan, Governor of Pubjab, Shivraj Patil, Dy.CM Tamilnadu, Stallin, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Minister from Andhra Pradesh, Dr. J. Geeta Reddy, Industrialist Sri Ratan Tata were among the host of dignitaries present on the occasion.
Proceedings began with Bollywood singers of fame Hariharan, Suresh Wadkar, Shankar Mahadevan along with famous South Indian singer P. Unnikrishn and Simeet Tappu presented Birthday Anthem, singing the glory of the Lord, wishing Him "Happy Birthday". Shankar Mahadevan presented a solo, Mahaprana Deepam, regaling with excellence, enticing the vast audience.
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All India President of SSSS Organisations, Sri V. Srinivasan compeered the programme for the rest of the session. There were a host of speakers including Minister SM Krishna, Governor ESL Narasimhan, Worshipful Mayor of Chennai, Dr. Subramaniam etc.
The occasion also witnessed the launching of the much talked about Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vahini Project, an open ended project extending modern education facilities through the medium of internet based web based tools. Sri SV Giri spoke on the subject elaborating the salient features of the project. Tata Consultancy Services that has been playing a key role in the project providing Management skills in the areas required came for reference. A short video presentation on the same followed after which Sri Ratan Tata , Chairman Tata Sons Ltd. and Sri Chandrasekhar, CEO, TCS Ltd. officially handed over the TCS Software for the project in presence of Bhagawan. The Vidya Vahini Project was subsequently launched by the Divine hands, marked by fire works as an act of merriment. An announcement followed, informing the Vidya Vahini Project is Bhagawan's 85th Birthday gift to the nation.
The occasion also witnessed launching of a dedicated 'sainetwork', a connecting link for the millions of Sai devotees. Sri Sathya Sai Digital Archival System, a mission that takes care of entire Sai related archivals, was also launched by the Divine hands. Both the projects are initiatives by Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations.
"Testimonies of Gratitude" by direct recipients of His Love and Grace followed, wherein selected beneficiaries coming under various humanitarian projects initiated by Bhagawan echoed their voice in His divine presence. Covering Anantapur Water Project, East Godavari Water Project, Gujarat Earth Quake Project, Tsunami Relief Project in Tamil Nadu, Flood Relief Project in Orissa, Super Speciality Hospital Project and Medicare Mobile Hospital Project in Anantapur, six persons shared the stage speaking their hearts out in their own language, with touch of innocence.
Soon came an important announcement. Free Food was declared by Bhagawan to all the villages around Puttaparthi that are covered under the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Medicare Project that came as a Birthday Gift from the compassionate Lord!
It was 1310 hrs. and Bhagawan accepted Mangala Arathi. Ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Former CM, Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan along with Dy. CM Tamil Nadu Stallin went to Bhagawan offering Pranams at His Lotus Feet.
At 1320 hrs. Bhagawan moved down the dais retiring for the session.
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