Shibpur Sai Mandir, Dist. Nadia, West Bengal - Part # 2

Way back in 1850, Ramdas Biswas a wealthy villager of Shibpur village of Nadia’s Nakashipara established a temple, in the compound of his house to offer daily puja in it. He never took any help from anybody but set up the temple on his own cost.

Past facts did not establish whether Ramdas set up any idol of Shirdi Sai Baba as he was alive then. But so far the information are available, the daily prayer was stopped in the temple of 1920. The reason behind it is hitherto unknown.

The prayer stopped and the temple slowly became birth place of venomous snake with dense bush and cobwebs surrounding it. Forget offering prayer, local residents dared not to go anywhere near to the temple site fearing snakes would take their lives.





However, as lights follow the darkness, rainbow follows rain; villagers of Shibpur in 1992 saw a neem tree sprouting out of the dense bush adjoining the crumbling structure of the temple. What made them more surprised that deadly snakes also stated fleeing after the neem tree was born there. With snakes making exit, villagers started cleaning up a part of bush and a green field was born there with children began playing near to it. A way to enter the temple was also found thereafter.

The villagers took all these things lightly till 1999 when during Guru Purnima, Sai Baba, who died in the year 1918, appeared in the night dream of Amit Biswas, the great grandson of Ramdas.

In the dream Baba told Amit that long before Ramdas used to offer prayer to him in the temple where the neem tree has suddenly sprouted up. “Your great grandfather used to offer daily puja to me 100 years ago.

He was my devotee and used to pray for me sitting in the temple for hours. But all have gone after that. So I have planted the neem tree there to eradicate all evils. I now want the prayer should be restarted in the temple. Make that temple a heaven for the people. Whoever would visit the temple would get all he/she wants,” Baba told Amit.

Amit woke up with the divine instruction next morning and rushed to the temple area. He cleaned up the area and got rid of all bushes and cobwebs used to remain there. Amit established a clay idol of Sai Baba and began offering puja. After he spread the message, he got from baba in sleep, to local villagers, the villagers got inspired.

Leaving fear and evil spirit behind them, the villagers started pouring in the temple and began offering pujas. Believe it or not, within days Sai Baba’s promise started becoming true.

After offering puja in the temple, though dilapidated, a woman gave birth to her first baby after 12 years of her marriage. The doctor had predicted that she could not give birth medically. She is not alone, some villagers, who were suffering from chronic and incurable diseases, got cured after offering prayer to Saibaba in the temple. Stunned villagers stood up and took a resolution that they would protect the temple at any cost.

In 2003, advised by the local villagers, Amit formed a trustee committee to rebuild the temple. Nadia-Shibpur-Sai-Sadguru Samity was formed thereafter. The resolution the committee took was that a new structure of the temple would be made and the trustee board would work for the amelioration of the poor people in the area.

They also took oath that organization would work for all social causes like campaigning against dowry, drug addiction of students. The committee then began working according to their resolution and campaigned extensively against dowry, child marriage, drug addiction etc etc. Worthy to mention, the villagers also started getting success.

Their achievements began spreading like wild fire in the villages of Nakashipara and out of it.A national award winner and a famous sculptor Subir Paul could not sit idle after hearing the activities of the Sai Sadguru Samity.

Inspired, the sculptor constructed a human size Fiberglass Idol of the Baba. Paul himself admitted that while making the idol for six months some miraculous spirit grappled him. “I never made such perfect structure like Sai Baba before,” he said.

Getting the idol quite unexpectedly, the committee thus could not sit idle too. Although not financially equipped, but the villagers began constructing the temple. They put together bamboos and erected a structure in the temple areas keeping the old structure intact. The idol seated on a golden chariot has been kept under the thatched temple now in place. Currently, the devotees offer their daily pujas, arti and bhajan, two times daily. Trustee committee has recently begun collecting subscription from the people of all walks of lives to build up the permanent concrete structure.