" 

  
 Here is the lead paragraph before it was drastically cut down. Needs improvement and reduction, certainly: 

 {{cquote|Sathya Sai Baba (born Sathya Narayana Raju on November 23 1926 — or later than 1927Nagel, Alexandra (note: Nagel is a critical former follower) Een mysterieuze ontmoeting... Sai Baba en mentalist Wolf Messing published in Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie 368, vol. 72 nr 4, December 2005, pp. 14-17 (Dutch language) — with the family name of ""Ratnakaram"" Haraldsson, Erlendur, Miracles are my visiting cards - An investigative inquiry on Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian mystic with the gift of foresight believed to perform modern miracles (1997 revised and updated edition published by Sai Towers, Prashanti Nilayam, India) ISBN 81-86822-32-1 ) is a South Indian guru often described as a GodmanWoodhead, Linda & Fletcher Paul, Religion in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformation. Routledge (UK), ISBN 0-415-21784-9Lochtefeld, James G., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. I ISBN 0-8239-3179-X, New York Rosen 2002 and a miracle worker.Hummel, Reinhart, German article published in Materialdienst der EZW, 47 Jahrgang, 1 February 1984, Translation by Linda W. Duddy and is reprinted by their permission, available online on the website of the Dialog Center, a Christian Anti-Cult Site According to the Sathya Sai Organisation, there are an estimated 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 130 countries world-wide.Sathya Sai Org: Numbers to Sai Centers and Names of Countries The number of Sathya Sai Baba adherents is estimated between 6 million to 100 million.AdherentsBrown, Mick,Divine Downfall, The Telegraph, October 282000, onlineNagel, Alexandra ""De Sai Paradox"", 1994, nr. 29. published by the Free University Amsterdam, (1994) Several hundred books and media articles have been published about Sathya Sai Baba. His followers and the organizations he founded are involved in many service projects around the world. They provide free education through schools, free healthcare through two state-of-the-art hospitals in Puttaparthi and Bangalore and two water projects serving millions in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.  Puttaparthi, where Baba was born and still lives, was originally a small village where one can now find an extensive University complex, a World-Religions Museum (Chaitanya Jyoti), a Planetarium, a railway station, an airport and more. High ranking Indian politicians, like the current President Dr. Abdul Kalam, Manmohan Singh (Former finance minister and current Prime Minister), and Atal Vajpayee (Former Prime minister) have been official guests at the ashram in Puttaparthi. 

 Sathya Narayana Raju was born into a poor agrarian family in the remote village of Puttaparthi located in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. In the 1940s he proclaimed himself to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba and subsequently took the fakir's name. Sathya Sai Baba claims that he is the second in a series of three Avatars (incarnations) of Shiva Shakti, the future incarnation being Prema Sai Baba.Gurupournima Day, 6 July 1963, Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks III 5, 19., Available onlineInterview given by Sathya Sai Baba to R.K. Karanjia of Blitz News Magazine in September of 1976, Available online He claims that he is an embodiment of love with divine attributes such as omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence SSB as quote in Narayana Kasturi's authorized biography Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Vol 3 page 315. Sathya Sai Baba teaches the unity of all major world religions and says that they all lead to God. He preaches a foundation of five basic human values: Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Non-Violence. 

 Sathya Sai Baba's followers report many, sometimes spectacular, miracles of various kinds which they attribute to him. He is observed to allegedly manifest vibuthi (holy ash) and small objects (rings, necklaces and watches) daily. Sathya Sai Baba explained the phenomenon of manifestation as an act of divine creation, but refused to have his materializations investigated under experiment