Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba · 1926 — 2011
His Life
From a small village called Puttaparthi to crores of hearts across the world: a life in which love was always in action.
In brief
His life in one paragraph
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born Sathyanarayana Raju in Puttaparthi on 23 November 1926. He made the Avatar Declaration on 20 October 1940; Prasanthi Nilayam was inaugurated on 23 November 1950; the Seva Organisation took root in the 1960s and the Central Trust in 1972, whose free hospitals, schools and water projects still serve today. He left His body on 24 April 2011; His Centenary has been celebrated since 2025.
Chapter 1
Advent and childhood
A devout family of Puttaparthi, and a child whose heart melted at every sorrow.
- 1926
23 November 1926, a Monday
Born in Puttaparthi
At sunrise on a Monday of the holy month of Karthika, a son was born to Mother Easwaramma and Sri Pedda Venkama Raju. His mother had vowed the Sathyanarayana Puja, so He was named Sathyanarayana Raju; the village called Him ‘Sathya’.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- Childhood
A child of compassion
When a beggar called at the door, Sathya abandoned His play and made His sisters give grain or food; warned that He would then go hungry, He gave up His own meal. At about ten He formed a ‘Pandhari Bhajan’ group of village boys.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
Chapter 2
The Declaration
1940: the year Sathya announced who He truly was.
- 1940
23 May 1940
“I am Sai Baba”
At Uravakonda, Sathya gave His household and neighbours sugar candy and flowers produced with a wave of the hand. When His father angrily demanded who He was, the long-withheld Announcement came.
“I am Sai Baba.”
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 1940
20 October 1940
The Avatar Declaration
The day after returning from Hampi, Sathya set out for school, came back within minutes, cast aside His books on the doorstep and called out that He now belonged to His devotees. From that day Sathyanarayana Raju became Sathya Sai Baba.
“I am no longer your Sathya… I am Sai. I have my work, I cannot wait any longer.”
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
“I am no longer your Sathya… I am Sai.”
Chapter 3
Foundations of the mission
A small temple, a letter, a first discourse, and the ‘Abode of Supreme Peace’.
- 1947
February 1947
The old mandir
As the number of devotees arriving in Puttaparthi swelled, a mandir was built in February 1947, where Swami began to reside and grant darshan.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 1947
25 May 1947
The letter to His brother
Worried by His growing fame and envious ridicule, His elder brother Sri Seshama Raju wrote to caution Him. In reply Swami set down the purpose of His life: a Task, a Vow and a Work He loves. Read the full passage below.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 1947
25 October 1947
First public discourse, at Karur
At Karur in Tamil Nadu Swami gave His first public discourse. Thousands of Divine Discourses followed over the next 63 years, recorded in the 42 volumes of ‘Sri Sathya Sai Speaks’.
- 1950
23 November 1950
Prasanthi Nilayam inaugurated
On His 25th Birthday Prasanthi Nilayam, the ‘Abode of Supreme Peace’, was inaugurated. It remains the central venue for darshan and festivals, and the epicentre of the Organisation worldwide.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗ssssoindia.org — Major Centres ↗
- 1958
Maha Shivaratri, 1958
Sanathana Sarathi magazine begins
Sanathana Sarathi was started on the auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri. Between 1958 and 1984 Swami wrote essays for it that were later published as the 15 ‘Vahinis’.
25 May 1947
The Task, the Vow and the Work
In His letter to His elder brother Sri Seshama Raju, Swami declared the purpose of His coming.
“I have a Task: To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of Ananda (Bliss).”
“I have a Vow: To lead all who stray away from the straight path, again into goodness and save them.”
“I am attached to a Work that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack.”
“I have a reason to be proud, for I rescue all who worship and adore Me.”
Chapter 4
The Organisation and free service
Institutions that turned love into action: the Seva Organisation, the Central Trust and the Permanent Charter.
- 1960s
The 1960s
The Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation
In the 1960s Swami germinated the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation in India, where people of every religion, class and caste serve selflessly together and live the eternal values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 1972
Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
To create working models of service, Swami founded the Central Trust in 1972. Through it came free primary to tertiary-care hospitals, free education from primary school to doctoral research, free drinking water for remote villages and free housing rehabilitation.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 1981
14 January 1981
The Permanent Charter
At the Third World Conference Swami granted the Permanent Charter to the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations; it still governs how the Organisation works.
Still serving
Love that is free of charge
The thread running through all of Swami’s works is that everything is free. Super-speciality hospitals giving tertiary care free of charge, schools and colleges imparting values-based education, and mammoth drinking-water projects stand as testimony to His selfless love.
Chapter 5
Golden culmination and the Centenary
Beyond the body, the Universal Consciousness that is Sri Sathya Sai lives on.
- 2008 · 2010
November 2008 and November 2010
The golden chariot
On His 83rd and 85th Birthdays, at His devotees’ request, Swami rode on a golden chariot. Only later did everyone realise these were symbols of the golden culminating moments of His earthly sojourn.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 2011
24 April 2011
Mahasamadhi
Swami discarded His bodily vesture. Devotees miss His physical form, yet continue to experience His guidance and grace as before.
Source:ssssoindia.org — His Life ↗
- 2025 – 26
Centenary year
The Centenary
2025 marked the beginning of the Centenary celebrations of 100 years of His advent. The XI World Conference on ‘The Pathways to World Peace’ met on 20–21 November 2025, and five Grand Chariots carried His message, ‘Love All, Serve All; Help Ever, Hurt Never’, across the country.
Source:ssssoindia.org — World Conference 2025 ↗ssssoindia.org — Centenary ↗
His message, for today
The five human values, the Ten Principles, and His divine footprints in Madhya Pradesh.