HYDERABAD: Hysteric crowds and overhanging clouds persuaded Sri Satya Sai Baba
to postpone his promised Vishwarupa darshanam on Thursday evening. There
was chaos at the Puttaparthi airport after Sai Baba devotees thronged
the premises to witness the Vishwarupa darshanam of their master.
They returned
disappointed. Sai Baba had earlier given darshan to his devotees at
Sai Kulwant hall in Puttaparthi. After the bhajan, he told his assistant
Anil Kumar that he would give Vishwarupa darshanam at around 7 pm on
the northeastern direction of the airport.
As soon
as Mr Anil Kumar announced this, devotees ran towards the airport chanting
his name. Television channels also telecast the news and people in Puttaparthi
locked up their houses and ran towards the airport. Thousands also rushed
to the area from surrounding villages.
All the
devotees crowding the area focused their attention on the northeastern
direction in the sky. In a fit of devotion, some of them surrounded
the car of Sai Baba and he could not come out. Devotees did not relent
even after members of Satya Sai Trust urged them to sit down. Instead,
they ran after the car. A small stage was set up before the car for Viswarupa
Darshanam but Sai Baba could not reach the stage as devotees prostrated
before him. He was forced to remain in the car for about an hour.
A short
while later, the office-bearers of the Satya Sai Trust announced that
the Viswarupa Darsanam was postponed because of the non-cooperation
of devotees and the cloudy weather. Sai Baba then returned to his Ashram.
Sai Baba devotees in other countries also called up their friends and
relatives in Puttaparthy to find out about the incident.
Because
of the rush, traffic on the road from Puttaparthy to the airport was
thrown out of gear. At one stage, doors of the airport had to be closed.
Police finally cleared the traffic to enable
Sai Baba to return to his Ashram. Most devotees expressed disappointment
at not being able to see the Viswarupa Darsanam.
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