Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined mourners Tuesday beside the body of Sathya Sai Baba, a charismatic Hindu guru who had millions of followers worldwide. Singh sat cross-legged on the floor next to the corpse, which has been on display in a transparent casket for devotees paying their last respects to a man many saw as a living god.
Huge numbers of Indians, among them celebrities including cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, as well as foreign pilgrims have bid Sai Baba a final farewell since he died of multiple organ failure on Sunday aged 85. Singh, a Sikh who described the guru as “an inspiration to people of all faiths”, was accompanied to Sai Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, by Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress party.
The funeral will take place on Wednesday when, as a holy man, Sai Baba will be buried rather than cremated as is normally the practice at Hindu funerals. One devotee, Sergey Eliseev, 41, from Nizhniy Novgorod in Russia, said he had travelled to Sai Baba’s hometown when the guru fell seriously ill. “I was attracted by his teachings and principles,” he said after queueing for hours in the heat to see the body. “I came to Puttaparthi on hearing that he was in hospital. “I wanted to see him in person but I could see only his body now.
