Sai Baba ashram – 9-foot python slithered in

9-foot python slithers its way into Sai Baba ashramBengaluru: June 9, 2016, DHNS

Visitors to the Sathya Sai Baba Ashram in Kadugodi received a slithery surprise on Tuesday night when they stumbled upon a 9-foot-long Indian rock python, which wildlife experts say is a rare phenomenon in Bengaluru. The serpent, weighing about 12 kg, was found coiled on the compound wall of the ashram, hiding itself behind the bougainvillea plants. Their excited cries quickly invited many inquisitive onlookers who soon raised an alarm. The BBMP Control Room, too, was rattled with calls about the massive python, following which wildlife rescuers were alerted. Wildlife rescuer C S Nagabhushan, who lives in Hoskote, rushed to the ashram and captured the snake. He said he was amazed to see the huge reptile. “My first impression when I received a call was that it could be a rat snake, which resembles a python. The reason for doubting the input was that Bengaluru is no more a habitat for pythons.

‘Diyya’ writes: In the old days, a snake in sb’s ashram would mean a number of people would come running and worship it with milk, flowers, incense and arathi of lit camphor waved around the confused and frightened creature. I was present or heard of at least a few occasions where that happened in Puttaparthi. Devotees really believed that the snake was ‘swami’ come to visit and bless them!

However now that the devotees have mostly all gone away or are following the ethereal, ‘king’s new clothes’ form of sb in oracle boy, what do devotees do when a large snake appears in the ashram? Call the forest department for easy disposal! Shocking!

As a side note and credit to the practical, unbelieving side of sb’s sister Venkamma, when a large snake slithered into her South Prasanthi room in 1989, she screamed for the nearest sweeper guy to come and slaughter it right there, beating it to death and spreading a long line of blood in her room. It was an outrageous thing to do and tramatic for all the devotees who heard about it. That might have been a form of ‘swami’ that she slaughtered! Of course, no one dared question the actual sister of the ‘god in human (or snake) form’!

Robert comments: Seeing that rock pythons are incredibly rare nowadays in the whole area, it is surprising that nobody announced that it was Swami reincarnated returning to his old devotees (or his lair!). When I was waiting to go into the compound one afternoon a snake came at breakneck speed down the alley and hid under some sandals. The Seva Dals borrowed a big stick and clubbed it to death. The head Seva Dal said, it had come for the darsan of Swami! Not exactly a politically correct viewpoint! The same Janus-faced attitude was prevalent with dogs too… not treated as Shirdi Sai would have, nor even Sathya, who gave lip service to dogs as being far better than his devotees, but was only once photographed with a couple that were given to him. (A prominent IAS official told me that Prashanthi Nilayam was “a snake pit of jealousy”.)