Saint Sai Baba of Shirdi

Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838 – 15 October 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, Shree Sainath was an Indian spiritual guru considered to be a saint, and revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime. Sai Baba preached the importance of "realisation of the self" and criticised "love towards perishable things". His teachings emphasised a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace, and devotion to God and Guru. Sai Baba condemned discrimination based on religion or caste. He had both Hindu and Muslim followers, and refused to identify exclusively with one religion.: 3  His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived, practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, and taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions. According to the Shri Sai Satcharita, a hagiography written shortly after his death, his Hindu devotees believed him as God and to be an incarnation (purna Avatar) of the Hindu deity Dattatreya. Most information about Shirdi Sai Baba comes from the Śrī Sāī Saccarita written by G.R. Dabholkar in Marathi (1859-1929). Dabholkar's biography was influenced by the Vākarī Sampradāya and the Marathi Gurucaritra by Sarasvatī Gaṅgādhar. There are claims that Sai Baba was born as a Hindu Brahmin before being adopted by a Sufi faqīr. However, there is no evidence to this claim and he also never gave any details about his origins.: 8–9 : 129  Baba reportedly arrived at the village of Shirdi dressed as a faqīr in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, India, when he was about sixteen years old. Although biographers disagree about the date of this event, it is generally accepted that Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year, and then returned permanently around 1858.