Shyam Sunder Hall/Old Parayana Hall

Adjoining the eastern wall of Dwarkamai is what was, until 1999, a parayana hall, or reading room (the entrance is outside the mosque around the left-hand corner as you come out). When Sai Baba was living in Dwarkamai, there was a collection of sheds where the current building now stands, part of which was used as a school. Madhav Rao Deshpande, alias "Shama" (Baba's nickname for him) was a teacher there. He was one of Baba's earliest devotees and became one of the most intimate. Shama reported that there was a small window in the dividing wall through which he sometimes used to peep at Baba and "I realized that he had remarkable powers and began to have faith in him."

The ardent devotee, Radhakrishnayi, who was instrumental in developing Baba's Sansthan, probably stayed in one of these sheds when she first came to Shirdi. Baba used to send visitors to her and referred to her room as "the school". Abdul Baba also lived here for a while. In the few years before Baba's mahasamadhi, part of the building was used as a stable for Shyam Sunder, Baba's celebrated and beloved horse. It was built with the money donated (500 rupees) by a grateful Sakharam Aurangabad-kar from Sholapur, whose wife had given birth to their first child after twenty-seven years of marriage, once she had resorted to Sai Baba.

The building is now used as a storeroom and a new Parayana Hall on the west side (beside Lendi Gardens) has been built as part of the new complex. It is open from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Before leaving the mosque, let us sit for a few moments in this sacred abode of Baba. While doing so, we may recall Baba's loving and reassuring words: "As soon as one climbs the steps of the mosque, suffering due to karma is over and joy begins... She will save anyone who is in danger...Whoever sleeps in her shade will attain bliss...enter this masjid ayi and your goal will be achieved..."

Sri Babuji draws our attention to a peculiar but quietly spectacular feature of Dwarkamai: although the mosque may be full of people, activity and noise, when we sit here we feel that we are in a pool of silence and alone with Baba. Somehow, the noise is not a disturbance to us, and despite the comings and goings, we feel unusually still and peaceful.