Statue of Baba at Ramanthur Gravesite

 

Premananda writes:
When the statue was finished I remember the other disciples being very exited. They felt the sculptor (in marble) had really captured something or had a vision or something, like the guy who designed (architect) the guru temple which sits over Baba's gravesite.

Now that I see A.'s 2004 shots of the statue I would have to agree. The eyes look uncannily like they are alive, I don't know why. It seems appropriate considering its position.

Once Baba told me in a kind of hushed tone that at the grave of a great holy man sometimes at night his shakti (power) goes out like a snake and goes all through the whole village. I believe it to be true in this case. Indeed, if we look at this blowup from the above photo, the eyes look alive, and slightly wet, as Baba's eyes seemed to always look. Always some glisten in his eyes that was unlike any other men I had met.


Another great picture from 2004 shows the altar at which Baba worshipped the Divine Mother as Kali for decades. It shows the strangely shaped Kali image built around a "salagram stone," which is a kind magic stone that can be divined. For someone coming to learn about their fate (and I saw them lining up a certain day of the week) a flower dipped in sandalwood paste would be adhered by the paste to the top of the saligram. Then Baba would fold his hands and wait. He would wait until the flower moved and fell off. He would catch it when it fell off. In this way he could devine what providence had in store for the person facing him.

Oddly, as I discovered by accident, if the midtones are dropped out one can see the Kali shape only.