We all Hindus regard “Murthis” or “Vigrahas” as living manifestations of Divinity. In our Saibaba Temple we do have four different “Murthis”, along with our own Shirdi Saibaba in the center of the sanctum hall. After the temple was inaugurated and after “ Vigraha Prana Pratishta”, rituals need to be performed regularly according to Agama sastram. They are called “Utasavas”- and are performed nitya (daily) varotsava (weekly), paksha (fortnight), masotsava (monthly) etc Utsavams. As we may be missing some of these utsavas, our priests and Temple committee came up with these Abhishekams to each deity once a month to replenish the power for the “Murthis/Vigrahas”. Our Saibaba Temple has Sri Satyanarayana swamy Abhishekam on every first Saturday of the month, Sri Saibaba Abhishekam on every second Saturday of the month, Sri Rajarajeshwari Abhishekam on every third Saturday of the month, and Sri Hanuman Abhishekam on every fourth Saturday of the month. Typically “Panchamruthalu (five nectars)” – five different items are used for Abhishekam. They are Milk (Water), Yogurt (Earth), Ghee (Fire), Honey (Ether), Sugar (Air). Each of them is linked to one of the five elements of Nature. When we devotees do these panchamrutha abhishekam, we are essentially requesting the God to purify and balance the external physical world and our own subjective perception of it. Abhishekam, is performed pouring each one of the panchamrutha’s on to the Murthi with chanting of vedic mantras creating a vibrational effect which transforms the surrounding environment as well as the devotees who are witnessing and performing it. The positivity and spiritual energy created effortlessly uplifts everyone who attends the abhishekam. Abhishekams performed at home also gives similar effect or benefit, but witnessing or performing at temple when priests are performing to the Pranaprathista Murthies or Vigrahas, the effect is multiplied and enormous. So all devotees are requested to come and participate in Abhishekam every Saturday.

In February 1999, few devotees of Saibaba joined together in a devotees house and conducted bhajan on a Thursday. The tradition was continued by performing bhajans on thursdays and weekends at the devotees house. Devotees number grew over a period of time to hundreds, space was leased at New Market Mall, Columbus to provide a central place of worship for all Saibaba devotees. By the will and grace of Sri Saibaba, Sri SaiBaba Temple Society of Ohio was formed and registered as a ‘not for profit’ organization in 2002. Initially all the rituals were performed by the devotees. Few months later Society hired a full time priest to conduct temple services 7 days a week. Later as the devotee numbers grew, a second priest was hired to celebrate all festivities round the year with special focus on Sri Saibaba events along with major festivals.

Foreseeing a phenomenal growth in the devotee numbers, the temple society decided to build a permanent temple for Sri Saibaba, and upalayas for Sri Maha Ganapathi, Sri AbhayaAnjaneya Swamy, Sri Raja Rajeshwari and Sri Hari Hara Hiranyagarbhathmaka Ramasahitha Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy. In 2006, the Society purchased 7.73 acres of land on Lewis center Road in Lewis Center, Ohio. Sankhusthapana (Groundbreaking) for the new temple was performed in May 2010 and since then, the construction was done at a brisk pace. Sri SaiBaba Temple Society Of Ohio built a 16,484 sft temple with a total area of 7.73 acres. The newly built Sri Saibaba Temple Society of Ohio was completed and inaugurated with the Pranapratishta of SaiBaba Idol on April 25, 2012. The Baba’s idol was made of Italian marble and sculpted by the ‘Talim’s Art studio’, the same studio which carved the Saibaba Idol in Shirdi. The four Upalaya’s for Sri Maha Ganapathi, Sri AbhayaAnjaneya Swamy, Sri Raja Rajeshwari and Sri Hari Hara Hiranyagarbhathmaka Ramasahitha Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy vigraha prana prathishta took place in April 2016, under the supervision of vedic scholars, stapathi and shilpi in a grand ceremony for 9 days. Accordingly, since taking the first step in 1999, With BABA’s divine grace and support of all devotees, an additional 5 acre land adjacent to the temple was purchased in 2014 for future use. In 2016 society has under taken a project to expand the parking lot and serve the needs of the growing number of devotees and completed the project in 2017 which provided much needed additional parking spots. To meet the devotional needs of the members of the society and temple, a third priest was hired in 2016.

With support from devotees, Rajatha (silver) Simhasanam was offered to Lord SAIBABA in Feb 2019 during the 20th Bhajan Anniversary celebrations. In addition, Rajatha Kavacham and Makarathoranam was offered to Lord Ganesha on Vinayaka Chavithi day, Rajatha Kavacham for Goddess Raja Rajeshwari during Diwali and Rajatha Kavacham and Nagabharanam was offered to Lord Shiva during Karthika Masam in the year 2019. During this year, one more priest was hired who has experience in making prasadam for devotees, naivedyam for dieties and performing rituals in the sanctum hall, to fulfill the unmet needs of the society members. In Feb 2020, society acquired 2434 Lewis center property of 5acres land with a house, for future developmental activities with the support from members of the congregation. SSBTS of Ohio is grateful for the support and participation of all the devotees in the central Ohio and elsewhere.

Take One Step towards me, I shall take a hundred towards you -Saibaba