Mystery shrouds Sathya Sai Baba's personal chamber in Puttaparthi
There is speculation that Yajur Mandir, Sai Baba's personal chamber, contains huge quantities of gold, jewellery and unaccounted cash donated by devotees from across the world.
More than a month since the demise of spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba, mystery shrouds the Yajurveda Mandir or Yajur Mandir, his personal chamber in the Prashanti Nilayam at Puttaparthi in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The Yajur Mandir has remained closed ever since Sai Baba was hospitalised on March 28. The keys to the chamber were with the caretaker Satyajit, who had reportedly handed them over to the secretary of Sathya Sai Central Trust, K. Chakravarthi, after Sai Baba's death on April 24.
Since then, the Mandir has been under an unprecedented security, leading to speculations that the chamber contains huge quantities of gold, jewellery and unaccounted cash donated by devotees from across the world.
The trust members, who have declared a six-week closure of Prashanti Nilayam to enable the construction of Sai Baba's memorial, met on Tuesday to discuss when to open the Mandir and whether it should be done in the presence of the public and the media.
"We could not come to a conclusion on opening the Mandir as all the members of the trust did not attend the meeting. We will take nephew and trust member R.J. Ratnakar said. However, local leaders have been pressurising the trust to open the Yajur Mandir.
"Nobody knows what is inside the Yajur Mandir. There could be a huge amount of wealth or some spiritual material belonging to Sai Baba. They cannot be kept secret forever. The chamber should be opened in the presence of the media and important dignitaries," former minister D Nagi Reddy said.