'The idol was not being worshipped for years. We decided to immerse it respectfully in the Ganga.'
A Sai Baba idol at a Shiv temple in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal was removed early on Tuesday morning and immersed in the Ganga, temple authorities said.
A Ganesh idol will be installed at the temple on Ganesh Chaturthi, the temple authorities said.
The decision was taken last week by the temple committee and devotees, citing that Sai Baba 'has no place in Hindu scriptures or tradition'.
The temple priest, Acharya Pandit Avneesh Shastri, said, "Sai Baba's idol has been completely removed. There is no mention of him in our scriptures, Vedas or texts."
"Worship of any fakir or individual should be restricted to private spaces, not temples. Even great saints and philosophers like Adi Shankaracharya or Tulsidas don't have idols in temples, so why should Sai Baba? He was installed here in 2011, and after 14 years, we decided on immersion with the committee's approval," Shastri added.
Temple devotees supported the move, saying the idol was neither worshipped nor maintained in recent years.
Neeraj Kumar Gupta, a local devotee, said, "Sai Baba has no place in our religion or scriptures. Hardly anyone worshipped him here. On Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesh's idol will be installed in his place."
Another devotee, Jagdev Kumar Gupta, said, "The idol was not being worshipped for years. We decided to immerse it respectfully in the Ganga."
Hindu Mahasabha Sambhal city President Kamlakant Tiwari said, "The idol was removed with everyone's consent. There was no opposition or controversy."
The temple, built in 1992, saw the installation of the Sai Baba idol in July 2011.