Sant Gadge Baba

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Shri Sant Gadge Baba (Devanagiri : संत गाडगे बाबा) was a great hero of the 19^th century and known for his social services. He was a holy saint who worked for the helpless and poor.

On the 23rd of February 1876, Gadge Baba was born in a washerman's family of a small village called Shengaon of Amravati district, Maharashtra, India. He lived a life of poverty. Initially he worked in his own field, but when he lost his own land he worked as a wage laborer. One day he was in a field keeping birds away from grain. A sadhu who passed by him, asked Gadge baba if he was the owner of the grains. This question was a turning point for Baba in his realization of the value of sharing.

After this encounter with the sadhu, Gadge Baba cherished the value of community-sharing and practiced it for the rest of his life. Community-service became the basis of his teachings. His main teachings were-

Give food to the hungry
Give shelter to the needy
Protect the environment

A public teacher, Gadge Baba traveled from one place to another wearing his food pan upturned on his head and carrying his trademark broom. When he entered a village, he would instantly start cleaning the gutters and roads of the village. He also told the citizens of the village that their congratulations would have to wait until his work was done. In return the villagers gave money to Baba. From this money Gadge Baba built educational institutions, dharmasalas, hospitals and animal shelters. He conducted his discourses in the form of "Kirtans"(a form of discourse which includes devotional songs by Saints). In which he would emphasize values like service to humanity and compassion. During his kirtans he would educate people against blind faiths and rituals. He would use Dohas (couplets of a song) by Saint Kabir in his discourses.

Currently almost all organizations built by him are functioning well. On December 20^th, 1956 the Great Saint left this mortal world. Even though so many years have passed since his departure he has many followers. The State Government of Maharashtra also runs a village cleanliness programme named after him. The University of Amravati was renamed as the Sant Gadge Baba University.

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