I had covered the Shirdi cult in my book titled 'In Good Faith' on India's syncretic and plural traditions. The Sai Baba of Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, who passed away in 2011 and had an impressive following of influential politicians and businessmen, had claimed to be a reincarnation of the Shirdi Sai Baba. His shrine in Shirdi has become one of the wealthiest pilgrimage spots in India and certainly among the most famous in Maharashtra.

Today, there are Sai Baba temples across the land, his posters and images adorn millions of homes, and thousands of Indians wear Sai Baba amulets and lockets. The worshippers are largely from the majority community. For those who do not know, the Sai Baba was believed to have been a Muslim fakir who has been fitted into the Hindu pantheon.

Sai Baba worship is a phenomenon that defines India as much as other processes do. The Shirdi Sai Baba is not merely a locally revered figure but one of the most popular national saint divinities of contemporary times. In a letter to the local administration, the masjid trustees wrote that 'despite the fact that we have decided not to broadcast the azaan on loudspeakers in keeping with the Supreme Court order, we request that aarti be broadcast on loudspeakers on a daily basis as usual.'Īlso Read: Use of loudspeaker in mosque not a fundamental right, rules Allahabad HC Muslim residents, and members of the local trust that runs the Jama Masjid, wrote to authorities requesting them to allow the Sai Baba shrine to use loudspeakers during all the aartis on the grounds that Shirdi's Hindu and Muslim communities have always shared a bond and been united. If that was a blatant attempt to provoke communal tension, in Shirdi, the reverse was happening. It might be recalled that MNS chief Raj Thackeray threatened to play the Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques if they continued to broadcast azaan, or the call to prayer, over loudspeakers. The Shirdi shrine traditionally has five prayers, three of which take place at 5 am, 5.15 am and 10 pm, that are no longer heard over loudspeakers.

When the azaan vs Hanuman Chalisa controversy was taking place in Maharashtra last month, the Sai Baba shrine in Shirdi decided to follow the Supreme Court guidelines given in a 2005 verdict that public address systems could only be used between 6 am and 10 pm.

Sai baba shirdi athiest