Sai Dham Nottingham

Sai Dham Nottingham

Sai Dham (abode of Sai) is the UK and Europe’s first meditation/prayer centre dedicated to Bhagwan Shirdi Sai Baba. Within the walls of premises situated at Egypt Road, New Basford, Nottingham, UK, are housed a marble statue of Shirdi Sai Baba, photographs of Sathya Sai Baba, statues of Venkateshvara Balaji, Hanumanji, Durga Mata, Ganeshji and a Shiva Linga with Nandi.

A city known for the tales of Robin Hood, but why Sri Sai Das Babaji chose Nottingham, of all the places in Europe which could stake a claim to establish the most unique Shirdi Sai Mandir, is a wonderful mystery to all. Such is the uniqueness of Sai Dham, not only is it the only temple in Europe dedicated to Shirdi Baba, but also Abhishek’s are carried out on the Murthis every morning and Bhajans occur every evening at the premises, with dinner served to all on Saturdays.

Today there are 10 Sai Dham’s spread all over the world, but this website is dedicated to the very first Sai Dham which was setup in 1994. Some of the others include Sai Dham’s in New Jersey USA, Massachusetts USA, Nairobi in Kenya, Iringa in Tanzania, Jammu and Kashmir in India and head quarters Sai Foundation India located at Prashanti Dham, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh in India.

Sai Dham NottinghamHistory

The following is the story of how this first Sai Dham in Nottingham came about

H. H. Sri Sai Das Babaji first came to Nottingham, England in March 1993. He came on invitation from Mr. P. N. Sharma and conducted a parayan (reading) of the Sai Satcharita. During that first visit, many people became devoted to Sai and a family, a Sai Parivar, was born. Babaji stayed for two weeks and during that trip made a permanent place for himself in the hearts of the devotees. Upon leaving he made the following comments:

“The beautiful Sai Centre that will emerge in Nottingham will herald many new works of Bhagavan Baba’s. There will also be a small Sathya Sai hospital. For all this, you people will not have to do anything, there will be no need to collect money or anything. In Sai’s, work it is faith and not money that is needed. It will all be Sai’s and he will look to it all. It is his headache not our headache. We just have to enjoy the fruits of that centre. From the day when a Shirdi Sai Baba idol will be installed in Nottingham in 1994, the Sai Centre will start to function. How is the Centre to be started? From where are the parts going to come? Who is going to run the Centre? How are people going to enjoy the fruits of the Centre? What is the purpose of the Centre? All these questions will be answered through your own experiences right from the time the Shirdi Baba idol is installed.”

H. H. Sri Sai Das Babaji first came to Nottingham, England in March 1993. He came on invitation from Mr. P. N. Sharma and conducted a parayan (reading) of the Sai Satcharita. During that first visit, many people became devoted to Sai and a family, a Sai Parivar, was born. Babaji stayed for two weeks and during that trip made a permanent place for himself in the hearts of the devotees. Upon leaving he made the following comments:
“The beautiful Sai Centre that will emerge in Nottingham will herald many new works of Bhagavan Baba’s. There will also be a small Sathya Sai hospital. For all this, you people will not have to do anything, there will be no need to collect money or anything. In Sai’s, work it is faith and not money that is needed. It will all be Sai’s and he will look to it all. It is his headache not our headache. We just have to enjoy the fruits of that centre. From the day when a Shirdi Sai Baba idol will be installed in Nottingham in 1994, the Sai Centre will start to function. How is the Centre to be started? From where are the parts going to come? Who is going to run the Centre? How are people going to enjoy the fruits of the Centre? What is the purpose of the Centre? All these questions will be answered through your own experiences right from the time the Shirdi Baba idol is installed.”

He returned in September 1993. The number of devotees regularly gathering at the home of Mr P. N. Sharma was beginning to get very large indeed, so Babaji suggested that the devotees look for a place where a temple could be set up. Several places were suggested and Babaji chose one in particular. It was an old disused two storey mini supermarket in a built-up residential area of Nottingham.

Babaji announced that the name of the centre would be Sai Dham and that it would contain within it a temple called the “Abhaya Hasta Sai Mandir” meaning the Lord’s hand raised in blessing, granting shelter and protection for the devotee. He fixed the date for inauguration to be 20th April 1994, Ramnavmi day, declaring that all the idols, pooja materials and other items for the temple would be provided by Baba himself and (the then recently set up) Sai Foundation India. So, the small group of devotees set about “building” a temple.

Efforts to buy the property were met with difficulty. A local opposition group who did not want a Sai temple to be opened in Nottingham, pushed the price of the property up by making false offers to purchase it. The result was that the building cost 40% more than it should have. Nevertheless, the keys to the building were received on Thursday 17th February 1994 and the building finally become ours.