At Dwarkamai, one can still see the place where the strange bed of Sai Baba was hung - it was hardly a bed, more of a swing / jhoola hung from the celing between the Dhuni and the Nimbar. All devotees of Sai Baba were curious about this bow shaped bed.
In Dwarkamai, Sai Baba would sleep on a wooden plank, which was like a narrow strip, wide as two poles, as tall as him. It was difficult to comprehend how he slept on it, considering the narrowness of the berth, which was like a plank the width of one's palm. Sai tied both ends of the plank with rags and pretty much hung it, like a jhoola from the roof of the mosque. Since the mosque walls and ceiling was dilapidated and almost in ruins, the jhoola hung awkwardly like a bow shaped object. This narrow berth was given to Sai Baba by Nana Saheb Dengle.
This image of Sai - sitting in concentration on that plank or sleeping on it, with diyas at the foot of this bed and at the head of the plank - is a picture that most people recall as an iconic image of Sai Baba. To this day, people wonder how Sai Baba managed to climb on it, let alone sit or sleep on it.
At that time, it piqued everybody's curiosity; people started flocking to the mosque at night to see this curved and suspended plank for themselves. Soon the curious crowded that would come to visit Sai Baba's bed became a nuisance and disturbed Baba's sleep, not to mention the peaceful environment of a mosque where one comes for meditative peace and quiet. So one day, Sai grew tired of the attention / disturbance around it, dismantled and let go of this bed. But if you go to the Shirdi Dwarkamai, you will still be able to see where the bed was placed, just ahead of the Nimbar and after the Dhuni. Jai Sai Ram.
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