Doddamallur sitting on the cusp of a reincarnation miracle

The focus has shifted from Puttaparthi to a small village called Doddamallur, which lies between Channapatna and Maddur, and is about 90 km from Bangalore. Identified as the place where Sathya Sai Baba will be reborn as Prema Sai Baba, the village is expected to play a significant part in the perpetuation of the Sai Baba mythology in the days to come.

The death of Baba and the reincarnation stories doing the rounds have already sparked off a great deal of interest in this small village. All these years, this sleepy hamlet had had one great legend to tell: Lord Rama was believed to have prayed at the Sri Aprameya Temple in the precincts of the Shri Ambegalu Shri Krishna Temple in the village before he set  out to Lanka for his epic battle with Ravana.

According to discourses delivered by Sathya Sai Baba, Prema Sai Baba would be the third and the last incarnation of Sai Baba, the first being Shirdi Sai Baba. Baba had said during his discourses that he would be reborn as Prema Sai Baba near the Shri Ambegalu Krishna Temple in Doddamallur. This has also been documented in a book written by Kannamma, who herself is an ardent devotee of Sathya Sai Baba and has quoted Baba on this point.

Doddamallur though is not complaining. After all, who will object to the birth of God in their midst? The villagers are basking in all the attention that the stories of Baba’s reincarnation have bestowed on Doddamallur. They are aware that if this indeed happens, their village will become hugely important.

Whether Prema Sai will be born or not is what only time will tell. But the fact remains that the hunt has already begun. The first time that a search began for Prema Sai’s parents was five years ago. A team had been dispatched from Puttaparthi to find out if a woman by the name Kasthuri existed in the village. According to Baba, this woman would be the mother of Prema Sai. However, the team was sent back by the villagers who said there was no one by that name.

People from Puttaparthi have been evincing a great deal of interest in Doddamallur. What is more ironical is that two months ago, Baba himself had dispatched a team of at least 700 members to Doddamallur. The villagers were a bit taken aback to see such a large contingent. These people headed straight to the temple at Doddamallur and offered Laksharchana and Kumkumarchana pujas, which went on for nearly 10 hours.
Chairman of the temple trust Venu confirmed that such pujas were conducted. He said that people from Sathya Sai Baba camp visit the village often.

Venu said that Prema Sai Baba’s birth is what they are all waiting for. They have no reason to believe that this will not happen and the whole village thinks that the prophecy of Baba will come true. The every day talk in the village is now about Baba’s rebirth and the frenzy is building.

When reminded that according to the prophecy Prema Sai would be born in 2024, Venu said there is no clarity on that. He claimed there is no date specified for the birth of Prema Sai and it could happen anytime in the near future.

But Venu admitted that the parents of Prema Sai have not been identified yet. He said they expected people from Puttaparthi to come down and identify Prema Sai. “Although we are on the look out for the possible parents of Prema Sai, we would still wait for the people from Puttaparthi to do the needful. All they have told us is to inform them if they find something strange or a miracle which is bound to happen around the Shri Ambegala Krishna Temple,” he said.