“We did not set out to create a Shirdi Sai temple. It just .. happened. It was by Baba’s grace and blessings, dedication of many volunteer devotees and Prabhu Hingorani’s support that made it happen” say Neelkanth Mishra and
 Nilesh Gunda, along with many other volunteers established the Shirdi Sai temple in the Sadhu Vaswani Center in Dracut, Ma. The temple is open Thu and Fri     7:00 - 9:00 PM and Sat & Sun 4:00 - 7:00 PM.

Nilesh Gunda and Neelkanth Mishra’s story is no different than a typical immigrant. Engineers by training they came to the Boston to pursue a career. Both had been brought up in homes with a strong sense of spirituality but neither ever imagined that they would be instrumental in setting up and running a temple dedicated to Shirdi Sai Baba who is considered as an incarnation of the Divine by His followers.

“It all started at the Lord Baron apartments in Burlington, Ma which is the first rental space for many Indian immigrants in New England. A few of us in the building would get together to do Bhajans.  At one of the Bhajans we met “Mayiji” a relative of one of the members. The blessing of Shirdi Sai Baba was on her and once we met her we all felt pulled in Baba’s direction” says Nilesh Gunda.

“After Mayiji’s arrival the Bhajan events become very regular. Suddenly Bhajan became a central part of any party in our group be it a birthday or an anniversary” says Neelkanth Mishra.

The group rather accidentally met Sandeep Kaushik who had been inspired by a Guru he met in his travel to India to create a Sai organization and temple. Following his Guru’s instruction Kaushik had incorporated a non-profit organization and called it NESSP (New England Shirdi Sai Parivar) not knowing where he would find members nor having a clue on how to build a temple. When the Bhajan group met with Kaushik there was a tremendous amount of energy to establish a temple.

“We needed a place for a temple. Building something from scratch would take a lot of money. We approached Prabhu Hingorani ji of the Sadhu Vaswani Center to see if we could use one of his rooms for a temple. He was extremely supportive and gave us the room at an extremely nominal rent. This helped us have a temple within six months of conceiving the idea- which is really unbelievable.  We consider this a great miracle of Shirdi Sai. We raised enough money to keep the temple running for three years” says Neelkanth Mishra.

“We had never run an organization let alone established a temple. We did not know how to do this. We did not know the required rituals. We had no priest, only a core set of spirited volunteers. We were very fortunate to find a spiritual mentor in Anil Naik who has been gracious all along providing thoughtful suggestions on enriching temple activities for devotees. In fact our regular schedule includes Vishnu Sahasranam and Sai Mahima on his advise.” says Mishra.

“The number of devotees who visit the temple has grown by leaps and bounds. We decided to open the temple for four days instead of the initial two days. We have over 900 people who continue to visit the temple” says Gunda.

This surge in the number of devotees has made the group think about the idea of building a larger temple.  “We need to build a temple since the space we have currently is not able to handle the number of visitors who come. We are in the process of envisioning that step. It makes us nervous. But with Baba’s grace we have come this far and I am sure He will guide us for the future” says Gunda

Can people get involved in helping run the temple? “Absolutely. Our group is very open and we are eagerly looking for people who could help us run the temple in its current form and guide us in our journey. Please call (978) 528 1985 or send email to maildrop@nessp.org for details” says Mishra.

"In addition to regular service, we are starting two new activities this year. We will have a children's education program where we  teach kids about Baba and his life. The second activity is adult spiritual upliftment group where we will read and absorb the teachings of various religious scriptures as a group." says Gunda.

What impact has this experience had on these volunteers?  “When we started I did not know much about Baba’s teachings. I am really inspired by the fact that Baba allows us freedom in the way we work and think and asks us to be better human beings in that framework. He does not force any behavior upon us. Baba’s blessings have led me, my wife Jaishri and our two daughters on this spiritual journey” says Gunda.

For Mishra it has deepened his spirituality. “I had a wonderful uncle with whom I stayed in Varanasi (Benares) during my childhood who imbibed wonderful spiritual values in me. He taught me to read the Ramayana and taught me all the prayers I know today. But with the advent of Baba into the life of my family our spirituality has deepened and my wife Rekha and I have experienced many special miracles.  Baba has given us a new perspective to view difficulties and that has helped during difficult times” says Mishra.

Both agree that Baba’s message is very relevant for the modern times. “As we enter 2009 many of us are facing a lot of tensions. Baba’s message can help alter our views and give us a new perspective on life itself. This will certainly help lighten the burden” says Mishra.

To learn more about this temple and about Shirdi Sai Baba please check out their website at http://www.nessp.org. The mission of the organization is to promote the philosophy of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba and to support religious, spiritual, cultural, educational and charitable activities in New England and the long term vision of the organization is to build a permanent temple in New England and facilitate worship services to devotees.

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