Shirdi, October 21: The Saibaba Temple in Maharashtra’s Shirdi has received donations worth Rs 5.97 crore in three days from October 17-19 during the Saibaba samadhi centenary festival. On Saturday, Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rubal Agrawal told reporters that the temple received Rs 2.52 crore in donation boxes in the temple premises. The holy shrine also received Rs 1.46 crore cash, while Rs 1.41 crore was donated through online transactions through debit cards, cheques and demand drafts, said Agarwal. Shirdi Sai Baba 100th Maha Samadhi Day: PM Narendra Modi Visits Temple Along With Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

Meanwhile, devotees also donated gold and silver items worth Rs 28.24 lakh and foreign currencies worth Rs 24.55 lakh to the temple. The CEO of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust further stated that the temple trust earned Rs 78 lakh through paid darshan and online passes and Rs 28.51 lakh through the distribution of 'laddoos'.

Donations received by the temple during

Sai Baba is known as the one worshipped by all as nobody knew his real name or religion. He is known as ‘Faqir’. Sai Baba first made his appearance in Shirdi as a youth and remained there throughout his life, devoting his life in the service of people. He attained samadhi on October 15, 1918. To mark the 100th Year of Sai Baba's Samadhi, a Sai Darbar was constructed and the three-day festival was organised from October 17-19. Security was also tightened in Shirdi to avoid any unfortunate incident. Nearly three lakh devotees from across the country and abroad visited the shrine during the three-day festival.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2018 05:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).