{"id":891,"date":"2026-09-19T03:02:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/?page_id=891"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T12:26:05","slug":"sai-babas-sandalwood-mandir","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/sai-babas-sandalwood-mandir\/","title":{"rendered":"Sai Baba&#8217;s Sandalwood Mandir"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.ap-story-page{--ap-ink:#17324d;--ap-muted:#49657e;--ap-teal:#08736e;--ap-line:#dde7ea;--ap-soft:#eef8f6;color:var(--ap-ink);font-family:Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;line-height:1.7}.ap-story-wrap{max-width:1060px;margin:0 auto;padding:8px 0 54px}.ap-story-kicker{color:var(--ap-teal);font-size:.78rem;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.14em;text-transform:uppercase}.ap-story-dek{max-width:780px;color:var(--ap-muted);font-size:1.2rem;margin:.45rem 0 1rem}.ap-story-subtitle{font-size:1.05rem;color:var(--ap-muted);margin:0 0 18px}.ap-story-grid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:minmax(0,1fr) 300px;gap:34px;margin-top:28px}.ap-story-main,.ap-story-card{background:#fff;border:1px solid var(--ap-line);border-radius:12px}.ap-story-main{padding:clamp(22px,4vw,46px);box-shadow:0 12px 28px rgba(16,52,80,.05)}.ap-story-main h2{font-size:1.8rem;margin-top:0}.ap-story-main h3{font-size:1.25rem;margin-top:2rem}.ap-story-main p{margin:0 0 1rem}.ap-story-main p:first-of-type:first-letter{float:left;font-size:4rem;line-height:.8;padding:.1rem .5rem 0 0;color:var(--ap-teal)}.ap-story-aside{display:grid;gap:16px}.ap-story-card{padding:20px}.ap-story-card h2{font-size:.8rem;letter-spacing:.12em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--ap-teal);margin:0 0 .7rem}.ap-story-card p{margin:.45rem 0}.ap-story-card a{color:var(--ap-teal);font-weight:700}.ap-story-source{background:#fbfcfc}.ap-story-teaching{background:var(--ap-soft);border-left:4px solid var(--ap-teal)}.ap-story-tag{display:inline-block;border-radius:999px;padding:4px 10px;margin:4px 4px 0 0;background:#e8f4f2;color:var(--ap-teal);font-size:.82rem}.ap-story-note{border-top:1px solid var(--ap-line);margin-top:24px;padding-top:16px;color:var(--ap-muted);font-size:.86rem}.ap-story-nav{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;gap:12px;margin-top:24px;padding-top:18px;border-top:1px solid var(--ap-line)}@media(max-width:760px){.ap-story-grid{grid-template-columns:1fr}.ap-story-nav{display:grid}}<\/style>\n<section class=\"ap-story-page\">\n<div class=\"ap-story-wrap\">\n<div class=\"ap-story-kicker\">Chapter 3 \u00b7 Live Experiences of the Tarkhad Family<\/div>\n<p class=\"ap-story-dek\">Sai Baba&#8217;s Sandalwood Mandir<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-subtitle\">How a shared dream, a carefully carved shrine, and an unexpected portrait brought Sai Baba into the Tarkhad family&#8217;s home worship.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">Shraddha<\/span><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">Saburi<\/span><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">Worship<\/span><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">6 min read<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ap-story-grid\">\n<article class=\"ap-story-main\">\n<h2>The chapter<\/h2>\n<p>As the Tarkhad family&#8217;s visits to Shirdi increased, Babasaheb and Jyotindra longed for a way to remain close to Baba while in Bandra. One morning, both dreamed of a beautiful carved Mandir with Baba seated inside it. When they compared their sketches, they found them remarkably alike.<\/p>\n<p>They purchased sandalwood and commissioned an expert carpenter to create the shrine. The work took more than a year, and the finished Mandir was described as about nine feet tall. The family still needed a portrait of Baba to place inside it.<\/p>\n<p>During a Friday visit to Chor Bazaar, a Muslim shopkeeper recognized Babasaheb and Jyotindra by the description given to him by an elderly saintly donor. The parcel contained a black-and-white portrait of Sai Baba in a wooden frame, and the frame fit the sandalwood Mandir without alteration.<\/p>\n<p>The family consecrated the portrait and established a daily practice of worship, including sandalwood paste, a lamp, incense, and sugar offered as prasad. On a later visit to Dwarkamai, Baba told a devotee seeking a photograph to visit His \u201cBhau&#8217;s\u201d home, where He was alive in the portrait in the Mandir.<\/p>\n<h3>What this account invites us to reflect on<\/h3>\n<p>The chapter connects Shraddha and Saburi with patient, loving practice. The family&#8217;s shared dream, long effort, unexpected delivery, and daily worship are remembered as signs that devotion can continue at home even when a devotee is away from Shirdi.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-note\"><strong>Editorial note:<\/strong> This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation and does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ap-story-nav\"><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/meeting-along-with-babasaheb-tarkhad\/\">\u2190 Chapter 2<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/sai-the-saviour-of-the-ganesh-murti\/\">Next chapter \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<aside class=\"ap-story-aside\">\n<section class=\"ap-story-card ap-story-source\">\n<h2>Referenced source<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Live Experiences of the Tarkhad Family with Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chapter 3: <em>Sai Baba&#8217;s Sandalwood Mandir<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3-sai-baba-s-sandalwood-mandir.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">View original chapter PDF \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/live-experiences-of-the-tarkhad-family-with-shri-sai-baba-of-shirdi\/\">View the complete book \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"ap-story-card\">\n<h2>People and places<\/h2>\n<p><strong>People:<\/strong> Babasaheb Tarkhad \u00b7 Jyotindra Tarkhad \u00b7 Sai Baba<\/p>\n<p><strong>Places:<\/strong> Bandra \u00b7 Chor Bazaar \u00b7 Shirdi \u00b7 Dwarkamai<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"ap-story-card ap-story-teaching\">\n<h2>Related teaching<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Shraddha and Saburi<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The account reflects faith joined with patience, sustained through daily remembrance and worship.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/teachings-and-parables-of-sai-baba\/\">Explore teachings and parables \u2192<\/a><\/section>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chapter 3 \u00b7 Live Experiences of the Tarkhad Family Sai Baba&#8217;s Sandalwood Mandir How a shared dream, a carefully carved shrine, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-891","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/891\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}