Lakhs of devotees from home and abroad poured into Puttaparthi to have a last glimpse of Sathya Sai Baba whose body has been kept in a hall, even as police tightened security for crowd control.

With grief writ large on their faces, the devotees, both young and old, made their way to the Sai Kulwant Hall at Prashanti Nilayam Ashram to have a darshan of the 85-year-old Sai Baba’s mortal remains.

Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Praful Patel and cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar along with wife Anjali were among those who paid their last respects on Monday to the Sai Baba who died on Sunday after battling serious illness for nearly a month.

The body will lie in state at the hall till Tuesday to enable devotees pay their last respects.

Sai Baba will be buried at the Sai Kulwant Hall on Wednesday in line with the practice adopted for spiritual leaders in India, contrary to the Hindu custom of cremating bodies.

Police have set up barricades all over the town to control the surge of devotees flocking the area.

DIG (Rayalaseema range) Charu Sinha said, “We have put up the barricades for the convenience of devotees. We have been told to ensure that devotees manage to have last darshan of Sai Baba. Traffic restrictions have also been imposed for the convenience of the devotees”.

Anantpur District Collector Janardhan Reddy said food and water have been made available to the devotees who have arrived from near and far.

Foreign devotees also flocked the Ashram to pay their last respect to Baba. “I feel sad as Baba is no more with us. However, he is in my heart and he is everywhere…,” a foreigner said.

A devotee from Karnataka said, “Baba has not gone anywhere. He will soon come back in a new avatar”.

Expecting a large number of devotees to converge here, police have made elaborate arrangements at the Puttaparthi airstrip and railway station.

Two temporary helipads have been constructed to allow VIP landings.

PM to visit Puttaparthi on Tuesday

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Puttaparthi on Tuesday to pay his respect to the late Satya Sai Baba.

He will leave in the morning and return the same day after paying his homage to the spiritual leader who died on Sunday, official sources said.

Expressing “deep and profound sadness” over Baba’s death, the Prime Minister had said that he was a spiritual leader who inspired millions to lead a moral and meaningful life even as they followed the religion of their choice.

“Sri Sathya Saibaba as a preacher of the highest human values was an iconic figure for over five decades. He endeared himself to the people through various institutions, with headquarters at Prashanthi Nilayam, that promoted egalitarian values, education and public health,” Singh said.