By the Divine grace of SriPada Vallabha, Mataji Vallabh Anandamayi received all Divine padukas of the great incarnations of Lord Dattayreya.
- Swami Samarth Maharaj,
- Dattatreya swami,
- Narasimha Saraswati maharaj,
- Manik prabhu Maharaj,
- Gajanan maharaj
from their Sansthans in a span of 21 days and were consecrated at Sree Chakra Datta Sree Paada Sree Sai Peedam at Melsirunai Village , Kanchipuram.
Visions about the Padukas
Sree Mata Vallabh Anandamayi in her vision saw two brothers sitting in front of Sree Chakra Datta Sree Paada Sree Sai Peedam Melsirunai Village, Kanchipuram. They looked divine and had a beatific smile. Mataji Vallabhanandamayi’s heart knows Sripada Vallabha because he resides in her heart. He often sprouts these leelas with her.
By their side was a basket which had padukas (sacred footwear). Sri Pada Vallabha asked Mataji Vallabha Anandamayi to take out the padukas from the basket. As she took a pair of padukas out from the basket, she found another pair in the basket. Then Sri Pada Vallabha told Mata Vallabhanandamayi, one pair is for Me and the other is for you. Is it ok with you? he asked.
Shortly after this vision the following events transpired
- Padukas of Swami Samarth Akkalkot Maharaj
Next morning Mataji vividly remembered her vision and wondered why Swami had given her a pair of padukas? While Mataji was still pondering, she received a call from the Mahasansthan of Swami Samarth from Akkalkot. Mataji was told that the Lord Swami Samarth had ordered his Samadhi, the Pontiff of the Sansthan, to give a pair of His Padukas to Mataji. Pontiff was from the fifth-generation lineage of Pandits of the Sansthan.
The very next day Mataji boarded a train to Akkalkot to receive the sacred padukas of Swami Samarth Maharaj. The train was running late and Mataji was supposed to reach Akkalkot by 10 pm, whereas after the Arati, the main sanctum Santorum was closed for darshan. That day was Thursday. Mataji called the priest and explained her predicament. The Pontiff said that Swami has asked them to wait until Mataji arrives and after she takes Darshan, only the temple will be closed. He also sent an auto rickshaw to pick Mataji from Station.
After she completed her Darshan of Shri Swami Samarth Maharaj also known as Akkalkot Maharaj temple, the doors of the temple were closed. Subsequent days, Abhishek to the special padukas were performed before handing over to Mataji. It was a wonder of wonders. How could such a miracle happen? She then asked the High priest, to which he replied that some devotees who had earlier visited Melsirunai, also visited Akkalkot and showed the photos of Melsirunai there. Almost immediately, Pontiff heard the voice of Swami Samarth from the Samadhi directing him to give his padukas to Mataji.
- Padukas of Lord Dattatreya of Girnar
The second miracle was receiving sacred padukas of Lord Dattatreya of Girnar. A Pontiff from Bhushaawal received an order from the Lord that his padukas be given to Mataji of Melsirunai. The Pontiff had 2 pairs of padukas. Thus, Mataji received one pair of the sacred padukas of Lord Dattatreya too.
- Padukas of Manik Prabhu Maharaj
The third and fourth generation High priest of Manik Prabhu Samasthan, invited Mataji to Manik Nagar for giving Manik Prabhu Maharaj’s padukas as per his order. They placed the sacred padukas on the Mahasamadhi of Manik Prabhu, performed the Abhishek and handed them to Mataji.
- Padukas of Lord Narasimha Saraswati
From Karanja, Mataji received the sacred padukas of Lord Narasimha Saraswati, the second incarnation of Lord Dattayreya in Kaliyug. Karanja is the birth place of Sri Narasimha Saraswati. Here also the padukas were handed over to Mataji by the 5th generation Pontiff. The padukas were placed on the original padukas of Sri Narasimha Saraswati and pooja was performed and then handed over to Mataji.
- Padukas of Shree Gajanan Maharaj
Swami Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon appeared in the dream of Mataji and showed her a vivid and clear picture of his Ashram at Shegaon. She was then invited by the Sansthan authorities of Shegaon to receive holy padukas. The High priest of Bhushaawal placed Gajanan Maharaj padukas on his samadhi and after performing the Abhishek, handed them to Mataji.
From Mataji’s first vision of Swami Sreepada giving her a pair of padukas, within a span of 21 days, Mataji received padukas from other Datta kshetras. Mataji considers this a divine calling and blessing, nothing short of a miracle.
The most significant aspect of receiving these padukas is that Mataji made no independent effort to receive them. It just happened as per Sreepada’s will. It is no wonder that you will feel divine blessings of Gurus and deities at Sree Chakradatta Sree Paada Sree Sai Peetam.
- Padukas of Shirdi Sai Baba
All the padukas reached Melsirunai Kanchipuram through divine will within 21 days.
“Why have Baba’s padukas not reached yet?” this thought arose in Suman’s, a staunch Sai
Baba devotee, heart just before Dassehra. She and Sai Baba share a divine father-daughter
bond, and she considers Shirdi as her Maika (parent’s house).
She called Rajaram Thethe, who works at the Shirdi Sansthan trust and whom she has
known for 19 years. And asked if he could arrange Baba’s Padukas for the Melsirunai
Kanchipuram Temple. He said there is a system in Shirdi to consecrate Murthi and Padukas.
He asked her to arrange the padukas and assured he will help get them consecrated.
Suman called Mataji Vallabhanandamayi and asked if she could install consecrated padukas
at the Melsirunai Kanchipuram Temple. Mataji was happy to hear that. She said she has
been trying to get Padukas from Shirdi, but wasn’t able to. Mataji and Suman decided to go
ahead with the process. They agreed that the size of padukas should be around 8 to 9
inches. Suman has brass padukas at her home temple and felt she should find similar ones.
Finally, brass padukas of 8-9 inches were finalized.
She reached out to potential distributors and collected price estimates. Later, she asked her
father if he would like to contribute to this divine cause, and he instantly agreed as a token of
his love for Sai baba but didn’t mention how much he would contribute. Suman thought if her
parents would pay half of the amount for padukas, the rest half shall be borne by her. On
Dhanteras day, she was supposed to order the padukas, but she felt she should hold off till
after Diwali.
The morning after Dhanteras, Suman saw her father had sent the exact amount she had
hoped. Her father has a baba ki joli at home, where he holds money for Baba’s seva every
month. He said it turned out to be the exact amount and simply sent it across.
Suman was delighted to see Baba’s leela/ miracle. In the morning, she sat in front of Baba
at her temple and asked him “Please help get the padukas blessed and consecrated at
Shirdi”. Immediately, she felt Baba instructed her to call Sunita Ji.
Sunitaji is the co-founder of Sai Warsa – Bayajama and Tatya Kote Patil Foundation and is
the great granddaughter of Tatya Kote Patil. Bayajama and Tatya Kote Patil (Bayajama’s
son) took care of Sai Baba and were deeply loved by him which is beautifully illustrated in
Sai Satcharitra. Suman and Sunita had met during the ‘Runanubandha with Sai’ program on
Guru Purnima. Suman spoke to Sunita Ji, asking if she could help her. Sunitaji listened to
her patiently and shared this story:
A devotee from the UK and another from Spain had requested Sunitaji to bring Baba’s
consecrated padukas from Shirdi to the UK on her visit. She was attending the Shirdi
Saibaba Palki at Aylesbury. But she couldn’t continue her journey to Spain and came back to
India with one of the Padukas.On Guru Dwadashi (Antardhan Day of Sri SriPada Srivallabha Swamy) and Dhanteras
Sunitaji and her mother were conducting their yearly puja and the padukas were kept in the
thali of Tatya Kote Patil and homam was done by the priest and Bayajama’s family. Before
going to sleep, she bowed down to Baba with the thought “Guide me to the person you
want to give these padukas to or if you want me to keep it in my temple”. The very next day
Suman called.Sunita told Suman that Baba must have definitely been to Kanchipuram that night. Sunita revealed the padukas are 8 inches and made of brass and ready to install at Kanchipuram.
She said she won’t take money for it, instead Suman may donate the money to Sai Warsa
for Deepam dhan at Shirdi on Diwali, which she did.Once Sunita shared the picture of the padukas, Suman was overwhelmed as the Padukas were exactly how she had envisioned and were an exact replica of the ones she has at her
home temple. She immediately called Mataji Vallabhanandamayi to tell her about the
Padukas. Before she could say anything, Mataji shared this story:
She said her house help told her that she had a dream last night where her granddaughter
was given krishna padukas made of brass. Suman shared that the granddaughter of Tatya
Kote Patil has a pair of consecrated padukas and is happy to get them installed at
Melsirunai Kanchipuram Temple. When Suman shared pictures of the padukas with Mataji,
she felt a lot of love and to Suman’s surprise, Mataji said she had the same padukas in her
vision.
Padukas of Krishna which Mataji Vallabhanandamayi’s house help saw in the dream are
Baba’s padukas (Krishna is in the form of Baba at Shirdi as Samadhi mandir was earlier
constructed as temple for Krishna) and the granddaughter is Sunitaji mother (great grand
daughter of Tatya Kote Patil). Baba treated bayajama as his mother, so these padukas are
coming from Baba’s home itself.
Baba’s leelas are boundless. We are mere channels of Divine. This Leela indicates that
Baba had already decided how and when the Padukas will reach Melsirunai Kanchipuram
Temple. Sunitaji will go to Shirdi again to get the padukas consecrated, and she and Sumanji will head to Kanchipuram soon.
