Early Meherabad: Gulmai, Gilori Shah and Meher Baba

Growing up, one of the stories that my grandfather told me was of being with Baba on His last visit to Meherabad in 1962. Incidentally, the occasion for His visit was the burial of Gulmai Irani, whom Baba called His spiritual mother. At the burial, my grandfather (Prem Khilnani) said to Baba, “Someday Meherabad will be like Benares, a place of world pilgrimage.” Baba nodded, “Yes, you are right. It will.”[I] And it was no coincidence that this site for world pilgrimage belonged to Gulmai and her husband Kaikhushru. In 1923, exactly a hundred years ago, Meher Baba arrived in Arangaon for the first time to fulfill Gulmai’s deep yearning and to set the village up for her inimitable destiny.

Arangaon literally means Forest Village, although Ghani, Baba’s close disciple, referred to it as Hyran Gaon which means “Hardship village.” Nonetheless the village is associated with many spiritual legends. Vithoba, the Hindu Perfect Master, is said to have stayed there. Buaji Bua, a Hindu Saint, also lived there and performed miracles. Closer to Baba’s time, Gilori Shah, a Mohammedan saint, resided there and made an important prophecy.

On April 19, 1923, Meher Baba left Manzil-e-Meem Ashram, in Bombay, for Ahmednagar. Baba stayed at Khushru Quarters at Gulmai’s residence in anticipation of Rustom and Freiny’s wedding on May 9. During this time, Baba spent time walking around the city and visiting Happy Valley. While Gulmai had invited Baba to Arangaon during His Manzil days, there was no plan for Him to go there until after the wedding. But the Master’s plans and timings are always His own.

On the morning of May 4, Baba abruptly started walking rapidly through the city with a few of His mandali. After treading six miles to the south, they saw some dilapidated buildings and a small village nearby. When they entered the property, they learned from a watchman that during World War One, some army units had been stationed there and that Khansahab Kaikhushru had bought these abandoned structures at an auction after the British military had deserted the property. As they came within sight of the village of Arangaon, Baba sat down on a masonry parapet which surrounded a neem tree on the east side of the road. He admired the quiet atmosphere of the place and pointed out the ready but unoccupied tomb of Gilori Shah. He then observed the neglected buildings, a small water reservoir and a concrete platform.[II]

The long walk had rendered the mandali hungry and thirsty. Baba sent them to the village to fetch some food. A carpenter named Gungaram Pawar supplied them with simple millet bread and a bucket to draw water from the nearby original well. The old man would become Baba’s first disciple from Arangaon, as well as His first Christian follower. Baba gave him the nickname “Ajoba,” which means “respected old man.” That night, Baba and the mandali slept under the Neem tree. Gangaram brought them a kerosene lantern to use, and the Master blessed him saying, “May there always be light in your house.”[III]

Adjacent to the railroad tracks was a small, well-constructed stone building that had been the army’s post office. On May 5, the Post Office building was swept and cleaned and used by Baba and the mandali to stay the night. After Rustom’s wedding, Baba and the Mandali repaired the Mess Hall in Arangaon for their use. But as soon as they moved there for the night, Gustadji found a snake under his pillow. Walking back to the Post Office in the dark, Baba said, “Arangaon is not such a good place. It’s no good remaining here now.”[IV]

Before leaving the village, Baba named it “Meherabad”—meaning a flourishing colony for Meher. A large signboard was painted and nailed between two poles and planted near the railway tracks.[V] Baba was to come back and claim this place as His ashram and eventual site for His tomb shrine, but at the time no one knew Meherabad’s future, except through the foretelling of Gilori Shah.

One night early in 1923, Gulmai had dreamt that Gilori Shah was a baby in her arms, pleading with her, “Mother, you still haven’t given me my place to rest.” The very next day, Gilori Shah came to Arangaon with some of his devotees and pointed to the spot where he wanted his tomb to be built. They questioned him about choosing such a desolate distant spot when some of his wealthy Muslim followers had offered much nicer sites near the city. He replied, “You are like children. You know nothing! In a short time, this place will turn into a garden of pilgrimage. A great one will come here, and this land will one day belong to the people of the world! Only then will you understand why I am buried here.”[VI]

 

[I] Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p.4813
[II] Lord Meher, By Bhau Kalchuri, Volume two, p.510
[III] Lord Meher, By Bhau Kalchuri, Volume two, p.511
[IV] Lord Meher, By Bhau Kalchuri, Volume two, p.521
[V] Ibid
[VI] The website for Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Trust; the “Historic Meherabad” page