A temple where Sai, Varahi are worshipped

Located in a narrow street of the congested Allipuram area of Visakhapatnam, a three-storey temple, Shirdi Sai Darbar, catches the eye of passers-by and very few in the city are aware that it houses Saibaba of Shirdi, Varahi ammavaru and Karyasiddi Vinayakudu.

The temple is abuzz with activity on Thursdays and during festive days as devotees visit the place to offer prayers and take part in temple rituals. Also, ‘annadanam’ is organised on the day.

While Vinayaka and a huge idol of Saibaba have been installed on the first floor, Varahi ammavaru in full glow is seen along with Sri Anagha Lakshmi and Sri Raja Syamala on the spacious second floor. The third floor is exclusively allotted for the cradle of Baba. Devotees, who visit the temple, keep rice at the ‘padukalu’ of Saibaba and later it is used in the preparation of food for ‘annadanam’. Built in August 2022, the temple was the brainchild of a staunch devotee of Saibaba.

Peesapati Srinivasa Subrahmanya Sastry, a pharmacist by profession, was behind the establishment of the temple. According to him, his family has experienced a number of miracles of Saibaba and he became a staunch devotee of the Shirdi God. With a view to building a temple for Baba, he floated a trust — Sai Sri Meru Seva Trust — in 2018 and started mobilising funds.

With his wife Prasanna as the chairperson, he himself as a secretary and 18 trustees, the organisation was successful in its endeavour. The trust bought a house in Allipuram, Visakhapatnam, demolished it and got the temple built.

“Even before the temple was built, services like ‘annadanam’, ‘vastradanam’ and ‘vidyadanam’ were offered at our home and we have been continuing the services for the past 17 years,” says Sastry.

Read also- Do you know the fascinating stories surrounding these 6 temples in Visakhapatnam?

Stay tuned to Yo! Vizag website and Instagram for more city and news updates.

This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu