Puttaparthi Travel Information

The Abode of Peace
A small village in Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh, Puttaparthi is today on the world map. And the person responsible for it is "Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba" cousidered as a living God by moillions. Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of Peace) is an imposing edifice at Puttaparthi built by the devotees in reverence to the living God at his irth place. Peoople seeking peace of mind and solace make a beeline to this village from all over the world.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Born on November 23, 1926 Sathya Sai Baba's life has been a consistent manifestation of his divinity right trom his childhood. His birth itselt was accompanied by a strange phenomena. The musical instruments in the house started playing on their own &: a cobra was found lying under the child's bed. He was against any form of violence and refused to touch meat. Even as a toddler, he identified himself with all living beings.

At a tender age of 4 he displayed infinite compassion & generosity. By the age of 8 he organised groups of his age to sing the glory of the Lord and taught them bhajans composed by himself. At the age of 14 he declared to his family that he did not belong to them and set out with his devotees to launch his divine mission in the service of mankind. Right from childhood he was able to perform miracles and cure devotees of maladies not easily curable.

To enchant his devotees he performed many miracles like distributing sweets from an empty bag, plucking a variety ot fruits from a tamarind tree (since known as Kalpavnksha). Devotees overseas are spread across 155 countries covering about 1900 Sai centres and groups. In India there are over 6000 Sai Samithis and groups all over the country.

Service to Humanity -His Mission
Sathya Sai Baba's emphasis has been on service to the society, free education, free medical and health services to the poor, rural development for improving the living conditions of die weaker sections of the society are some of his major contributions.

A laudable contribution has been the provision of drinking water to the people in 731 villages in Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh by laying 2500 Kms long pipelines, construction of hundreds of reservoirs and overhead tanks at a cost more than Rs. 250 crores. Such a massive project was envisaged and completed in less than a year.

Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital
Free medical facilities are provided at the hospital which has a Casualty department open all 24 hours. The Outpatient department functions in the mornings and evenings daily. The hospital also has Maternity &: Dental departments. Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital located 7 kms from the ashram has excellent modern facilities to handle cases pertaining to Cardiology, Urology, Nephrology and Ophthalmology.

Sri Sathya Institute of Higher Learning
Established in 1981 and situated in the Vidyagiri adjacent to the Ashram this magnificent structure stands as the sentinel of the happy amalgamation of the secular & the spiritual. It is the foundation of the education system established by Bhagwan Sri Sathya Baba. The institute has been recognised by the University7 Grants Commission as a Deemed University.

It conducts courses in under graduate & post graduate studies in Arts, Science and Professional subjects. Apart from this Institute of higher learning, there is a Primary school and a High School. There are good hostel facilities. Education is free in all these institutions.

Festivals & Functions during the year :
Although Bhagwan Baba's programmes arc I unpredictable, he is generally present in Prashanthi Nilayam from early June to the middle of March. Summer months are spent in Brindavan, Whitefield in Bangalore as also in the hills of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, South India. Sometimes during this time he also visits other cities. Most of the festivals are conducted in Prashanthi Nilayam. It is always advisable to ascertain the presence of Bhagwan Baba before planning a visit.

The most largely attended festivals are
July-August - GuruPoornima
September - October - Daserra
November 23rd - Bhagwan's Birthday
December 25th - Christmas
January 11 - Sports & Cultural Festival

Location :
Prasanthi Nilayam is located in Puttaparthi, Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is 80 Kms from Ananthapur town and 120 kms from Bangalore.

Climate :
The climate is warm & dry almost throughout the year. Light rainfall occurs during the months of June - August and October - December. Climate is pleasant during December - January.