New Delhi: The Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan Trust in Maharashtra organised the “Shirdi Mahotsav” from December 25, 2024, to January 2, 2025, to celebrate Christmas holidays, bid farewell to the old year, and welcome the new year. During the 9-day festival, special arrangements were made for devotees, including VIP passes for special darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba. More than 8 lakh devotees visited Shirdi Sai Baba during the event and collectively donated Rs 16.61 crore.
Donations received
According to the trust, donations during this period were collected through various modes such as toll passes, debit/credit cards, online transfers, checks/demand drafts, and money orders. These contributions amounted to:
- Rs1,96,44,200/- through toll passes.
- Rs 4,65,73,698/- through digital and other payment modes.
- Cash donations totaling Rs 15.97 crore.
In addition, devotees donated:
- 809.220 grams of gold valued at Rs 54,49,686/-.
- 14.398 kilogrammes of silver worth Rs 9,93,895/-.
This brought the total donations to ₹16,61,80,862/- received through various means.
Other activities during the festival
- Over 6 lakh devotees availed free meals at the Shri Sai Prasadalaya.
- More than 1.35 lakh devotees benefited from meal packets.
- A total of 9,47,750 laddoo prasadam packets were sold, generating Rs 1.89 crore in revenue.
- Apart from that, 5,98,600 devotees received free boondi prasadam packets.
Allocation of donations
The trust said that the collected donations would be allocated to:
- Sai Baba Hospital and Sainath Hospital.
- Free meals at Sai Prasadalaya.
- Various educational institutions run by the organisation.
- Donations for outpatient care.
- Activities aimed at enhancing Sai Baba’s facilities.
- Various social welfare programmes.
