Sindhi spiritual leader Dada Vaswani dead

Pune, July 12: Sadhu J.P. Vaswani, an eminent spiritual leader, philosopher, and philanthropist of the Sindhi community, died here on Thursday following a brief illness, an official spokesperson said. He was 99. “Dadaji breathed his last at 9.01 a.m. today. He was 99. His body has been kept for final darshan at his ashram, Sadhu Vaswani Mission,” the spokesperson told IANS. He was admitted to a private hospital here a few days ago for treatment of age related issues and had been discharged on Wednesday. His ‘mahasamadhi’, or last rites will be performed at the Sadhu Vaswani Mission on Friday evening, the spokesperson said here on Thursday.

Vaswani’s body has been kept for viewing by thousands of his devotees who have started thronging here from Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar and other parts of the country. On Friday at 2 pm, the body will taken out in a procession starting from SVM, and traversing through prominent localities like Council Hall, Poona Club, Quarter Gate, Irwin Road, Babajan Chowk, MG Road, Nehru Memorial Hall, Shanti Kunj, before returning to the SVM. At 5 p.m., his last rites will be performed in the SVM premises followed by 10 days of prayer ceremonies in his memory, said the spokesperson. Vaswani passed away amid mega-plans for his 100th birthday on August 2, which his devotees from all over the world were expected to attend. He was born on August 2, 1918, to a Sindhi couple Pahlajrai and Krishnadevi Vaswani of Hyderabad (Sindh) in undivided India, Dada Vaswani. (IANS)