An unusual confrontation is building up ever since Dwarka Shankaracharya, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, ran down the followers of Shirdi Sai Baba, saying they ought not to worship the 19th century mystic who was no god, and remove his photographs and idols from temples where he gets the pride of place with Hindu deities.
The 90-year-old pontiff’s comments hurt a legion of Sai devotees. In Varanasi, protests broke out soon after the Shankaracharya’s observations, while the ‘sanatani’ followers of the seer hit the streets of the temple town in the seer’s favour.
“We cannot accept Sai Baba as God since he has not scripted any religious scriptures nor had he disciples. He has adopted Guru Nanak’s religious slogan, “sab ka malik ek” (Ever-yone’s god is one)”, the Shankaracharya said.
He attacked the promoters of the Sai Baba cult saying that they have created “Sai Ramayan”, “Sai Gita” and “Sai Bhajans (devotional songs)” to wean away Hindus to their fold. “Worshipping of Sai Baba is nothing but religious conversion”, he said, adding, “Hindus should worship God not Sai Baba”.