Nashik: An Italian sadhvi donated a gold crown studded with gemstones worth Rs 29lakh to the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi on Thursday. The 72-year-old sadhvi is a spinster and calls herself Sai Durga. Her given name is Selena Dolores. Sai Durga visits Shirdi for darshan five to six times a year, and claims that Sai Baba performed a miracle on her.
Sai Durga said she had suffered a cardiac arrest twice but that Sai Baba came and healed her. She has become his disciple ever since and visits Shirdi regularly, she said.
Wearing a spotless white dhaut vastra, Sai Durga laid the crown at the samadhi of Sai Baba. The 855-gram gold crown, which is studded with gemstones, is worth Rs 29 lakh.
Commenting on the offering, Mahant Sudhirdas of Kalaram Mandir said the Sai Baba temple is a prime example of international integration.
“Now with the sadhvi and foreign devotees coming regularly, it has become a venue of international integration. This is faith and devotees see their wishes (come true),” he said.
This is the sadhvi’s third offering to Sai Baba. Sai Baba Sansthan trustee Sachin Tambe said that on two earlier occasions, she had donated to the temple rudraksha necklaces worth Rs 12 lakh and Rs 1.4 lakh respectively.
