Sri Satya Samiti of Prayagraj keeps statue of Bharadwaj Muni clean for over three years

PRAYAGRAJ: At a time when the tourism department has yet to begin the proposed renovation work of the Bharadwaj Ashram and the statue of Bharadwaj Munni installed at the city's Balson crossing, volunteers from Sri Satya Sai Samiti of Prayagraj continue to uphold their commitment to clean the property and the opulent statue every second Sunday of the month.
Volunteers have been working nonstop for the past three years to maintain the statue and its surroundings, from young people like CL Sahu, 82, to young people like Naivedya Sinha, 10, a class four student.
A water kiosk has also been installed and is being maintained by the samiti close to the lovely statue, which is one of Sangam City's top tourist attractions. The kiosk, one of nine of its kind the samiti installed in Sangam city, offers commuters cool water in the sweltering heat.
In addition to the water kiosk at Bharadwaj Ashram, the samiti also installed and maintains water kiosks at Prayagraj Junction (platform number 6), Shankar Viman Mandalam (near Sangam), Alopibagh Chungi, Georgetown neighborhood, PD Tandon Park (near civil lines bus stand), Ashok Nagar, and Manmohan Park, according to Anupam Dikshit, district president of the samiti.
Every second Sunday of the month, a group of about a dozen volunteers from the samiti go to the statue early to clean it. They bring brooms, shovels, cleaning supplies, and other items, and they work for about two hours, clearing out unwanted weeds and shrubs from the miniature garden that surrounds the magnificent statue.
The volunteers span a wide range of ages and social classes. Gopal Tiwari, a 76-year-old devotee of Sri Satya Sai, who had both of his knees operated on, can be seen cleaning the area with the same fervor as Akhileshwar Singh, the 58-year-old Additional Chief standing counsel for the state at Allahabad High Court. Saurav Kamal, 25, uses a shovel to clean the garden area as Sujoy Chatterjee, who is cleaning the water kiosk extensively, works on the water kiosk.
According to the additional chief standing council, Akhileshwar Singh, "We are least concerned about what the government plans to do or when would be premises of the statue be repaired because for us Bhagwan Sri Satya Baba is the one who was born in the gotra of Bharadwaj rishi and thus this place is very sacred for us and it is our moral responsibility to keep it clean".