Guru Purnima is one of the most sacred days in the Vedic calendar — a day set aside to honor all Gurus, the one who lights the way from darkness to truth. This year, that celebration held even deeper meaning for our community in India, as it coincided with the birthday of Her Holiness Sai Maa. Across Varanasi, devotees, students, and volunteers came together not just to honor our Guru, but to embody her deepest teaching: that love in action looks like feeding the hungry.
To celebrate Guru Purnima, Deveshwar Das traveled to the Shivaji Mission School in Bhojubheer, Varanasi, joining forces with Ranjana Gaur, director of the Social Action and Research Centre (SARC), along with the women from her center, the school’s staff, and 300 students.
Together, they performed Sai Maa Aarti and offered rose petals to Sai Maa’s padukas in a moment of collective gratitude. Afterward, the students planted ten fruit trees in honor of Sai Maa — a living tribute that will bear fruit for the community for years to come, echoing the way a Guru’s teachings continue to nourish long after they’re first received.
A second celebration brought together participants from ASMITA and young women in our Dreams to Degrees scholarship program. College students and children performed a puja to Sai Maa, followed by a joyful performance from local children in celebration of the occasion.
At both gatherings, our teams distributed food parcels to women from the local slums — each one packed with enough rice, oil, beans, flour, and spices to last a full month. In a city where daily survival can be a struggle, this simple gift of sustenance carries the weight of a prayer answered.
Deveshwar shared that the women who receive these packages don’t often show much outward emotion — many are shy by nature. But he could see their gratitude in their eyes, on their faces and as they bowed with gratitude and reverence at receiving such a precious gift. What touched him most were the children, running to help their mothers carry the heavy bags home, already excited about what she would cook for them in the month ahead.
Sai Maa’s birthday was also celebrated at Balanand Ashram with a bhandara — a sacred community feast — offered to local Brahmins (pundits) and sadhus, along with more than 300 local families from the slums. The pundits who conduct our yagyas were honored with another special celebration, complete with birthday cake and hot snacks, a joyful moment of gratitude for their continued service. The program completed with food parcels distributed to 100 impoverished families who are regular visitors to the ashram, sending everyone home nourished in body and spirit.
Every aarti, every puja, every tree planted, and every parcel of rice handed to a mother in need was blessed by Sai Maa’s presence. If there is one thing our Divine Mother loves is feeding the hungry. On her birthday, on Guru Purnima, and on every ordinary day in between, nourishing those in need is simply the truest way we know to honor her.
Great gratitude to everyone in the MAA Humanitarian community — donors, volunteers, and partners alike — who made these celebrations possible. Your generosity continues to feed both bodies and souls across Varanasi.
Honor the spirit of Guru Purnima and Sai Maa’s birthday by extending compassion beyond these sacred days. A gift to the India Initiatives Fund carries this work of love and service forward every day of the year.
