When Sri Sathya Sai visited Jammu and Kashmir (A Photo Feature)

Sunday, June 1, 1980 to 
Tuesday, June 17, 1980

Bhagavan visited Jammu and Kashmir between 3rd and 14th June 1980. Bhagavan flew to Delhi on 1st June along with a group of alumni of the Sri Sathya Sai Colleges, and a few other blessed devotees like Swami Karunyananda. Bhagavan gave Darshan to the devotees assembled at the Hyderabad Airport during the stopover. Bhagavan stayed at the residence of Sri Sohanlal at Delhi and granted Darshan to the devotees there. Many dignitaries, Judges, Members of the diplomatic Groups, Ministers of the Central and State Governments, Members of the Parliament and Shri Sanjay Gandhi, grandson of the first Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and son of the Prime Minister of India Smt. Indira Gandhi, came to offer their homage to Bhagavan. He blessed them with His counsel. 

Sri Sathya Sai with Lt. Gen. Malhotra and other army officials

Bhagavan left for Jammu by plane on 3rd June. En-route, He blessed the devotees at Chandigarh Airport. Bhagavan and His party reached Jammu at 9.30 am. Lieutenant General S.P. Malhotra, Area Commander in Chief, received Bhagavan and His party and drove them in a motorcade to Udhampur, the Regional Centre of the Army. Bhagavan addressed a mammoth gathering at the Army Gymkhana club in Udhampur that evening. 

Sri Sathya Sai with entourage at Jammu and Kashmir

Bhagavan accompanied by General Malhotra proceeded by road with His party to Srinagar on the 4th. 

Sri Sathya Sai travelling with entourage and students

He stayed at the General’s Bungalow at Srinagar. 

He met the members of the Sathya Sai Samiti of Srinagar and gave them valuable guidance. 

Sri Sathya Sai with Kashmir Sai Samiti Members

Between the 5th and the 14th of June, Bhagavan blessed thousands of devotees with His Darshan at Srinagar. 

Sri Sathya Sai Darshan at Kashmir

He also visited the bordering villages and blessed the villagers.  

Sanctifying the hills and valleys with Divine touch

The Chief Minister of the State, Sheikh Abdullah, had an audience with Bhagavan on 6th June, and later brought his family for Bhagavan’s Darshan. 

Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah with Sri Sathya Sai

Bhagavan blessed the Governor of the State, L. K. Jha and his wife with an interview. He had a quiet stay in a little rest house in the midst of a lush green lawn at a nearby village Dachigam. 

Sri Sathya Sai with the Amarnath Lingam and the Lakshmi Narayana statue

There, on one evening, seated at the river bed, He materialised the replicas of the ‘Sphatika Lingam’ of Amarnath and the Lakshmi Narayana idol of Badrinath. 

On another evening at Pahalgam, He materialised the replicas of the Holy Sri Chakra and the Lingams of the famous temples at Chidambaram and Kedarnath.

 

Sri Sathya Sai with Students in the picturesque Kashmir Valley

Bhagavan addressed a mammoth gathering at Srinagar on the 8th of June. 

He flew back to Delhi on the 14th. He stayed in Delhi on the 15th and the 16th. He visited the houses of a few devotees in Delhi on 16th. Bhagavan left for Bombay by plane on the 17th. The members of the Seva Samiti and the organisers of the Third World Conference (scheduled to be held at Prashanti Nilayam in November 1980) had meeting with Bhagavan at Dharmakshetra. He laid the foundation stone for a hall at Dharmakshetra on the 18th and subsequently left for Bangalore. He reached Brindavan at 1 pm the same day.

Source: Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam Part 1 (1926-1985)