Accordingly Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited Maharashtra's temple town of Shirdi to attend the closing ceremonies of a year-long festival marking the centenary of samadhi of the Shirdi Sai Baba. Modi also handed over keys of houses to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) and interacted with them via video conference. Maharashtra governor CV Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were also in attendance at the functions.
Modi was present at the e-grihapravesh ceremony for 40,000 beneficiaries of the affordable housing scheme of the government. The prime minister unveiled a Saibaba Centennial Commemorative silver coin, performed the bhoomi pooja of major projects like a new building, a mega educational complex costing around Rs 159 crore, a planetarium, a wax museum, a Sai Garden and theme park, worth Rs 166 crore in total, a laser sound and light show and a 10-MW solar power project worth Rs 39 crore, said Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) chairman Suresh Haware.
Revered across communities, Sai Baba passed away in Shirdi village in Ahmednagar district on Dussehra Day in 1918. To mark the centenary of his death, the Trust had organised year-long celebrations which were inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind on 1 October, 2017. In December 2017, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a Global Sai Temple Conference and a series of big and small activities were carried out throughout the year.
