Satsang When and where the First Ever Saibaba Mandir was constructed?

Part 3

In a few days Pradhan built a small temple near his house
at Bhivpuri and ceremoniously installed the statue of Baba;
regular worship was started. This temple is located in a
place which is green with trees and beautiful to the eye. In
the silence of the night the sound of the temple doors
opening would sometimes be heard. Baba’s form would be
seen coming out of the temple and resting under a tree in
the front yard. The sound of the temple doors closing would
be heard again at three in the morning. All these leelas were
experienced not only by Pradhan and his family but also by
their guests who stayed overnight. Pradhan had no doubt
that Bhivpuri was indeed his Shirdi and he became an even
more ardent devotee of Baba. The temple was developed to
include an inner chamber, a big hall in the forecourt, a
verandah and guestrooms for the use of visiting devotees.

Sri V. V. Gupte, Pradhan’s son-in-law, took an active part in
conducting the various affairs of the temple and helped further
develop it. Sri Gupte had first visited Shirdi in 1936 and
experienced bliss at the sight of Baba’s samadhi. He prayed
fervently to Baba to make the temple at Bhivpuri as glorious
and awesome as the Samadhi Mandir at Shirdi. Baba answered
his prayers and the Bhivpuri temple became famous with more
and more devotees visiting it.

Pradhan passed away in 1939 and responsibility for the temple
fell on Gupte’s shoulders. He started an organization for running
the temple called the “Sri Sadguru Sainathuni Seva Sanstha”.
The rush of visitors increased and the existing facilities became
insufficient. Funds were inadequate to do all that was necessary
to meet the huge influx of devotees. Finally, Baba’s help was
sought. A devotee called Narayan Purohit started the formal
reading of Saibaba’s life. On the fourth day Baba came to him in
a dream and said, “Where is my dhuni? How can this be Shirdi
without a dhuni? How can my temple be complete without a
dhuni?” As he had the dream twice, Purohit informed Gupte
and it was decided forthwith to build a dhuni as instructed by
Baba. Sri Valvalkar, the grandson of Sri Hemadpant (author of
Sri Sai Satcharitra – Baba's life story and leelas), first lit the dhuni
on the Ramanavami day of 1949. Ramanavami and Baba’s
samadhi festivals are celebrated here with great fervor and glory.

--Saileela Masik September 1976