Devotees pour into Puttaparthi, darshan timing extended

PUTTAPARTHI (AP): With devotees continuing to surge into the town to offer their homage to the late Sathya Sai Baba, authorities today extended the final darshan timing till midnight.

Three special trains from Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada brought in a large number of devotees to the town on the final day of darshan.

Inspector General (Rayalaseema Region) Santosh Mehra said the darshan timing, which was to end at 6 pm today, has been extended till about midnight.

"Devotees are standing in queue of about 1.5 km and their arrival is on the rise.We are trying to ensure that all devotees have an opportunity to have final glimpse of Sai Baba," who passed away on Sunday after battling multi-organ failure, he said.

"We have spoken to Sai Trust authorities with regards to the extension of darshan timings from 6 pm till midnight and they have agreed for the same," he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna are among the VVIPs who are expected to visit the town this evening to offer their tributes to Sai Baba.

Sai Baba would be buried in the Sai Kulwanth Hall here with full state honours between 9 and 9.30 am tomorrow.