Sai Baba, one of the foremost saints of modern India, lived in the little village of Shirdi in the State of Maharashtra for sixty years and elevated it to the status of a great spiritual center. He never stepped out of that village during this long period except for visits to two villages, Neemgaon and Rahata, three miles on either side of Shirdi. He never preached, toured, nor discoursed.
He never advertised himself. He rather shunned and discouraged unnecessary publicity. Yet by the sheer brilliance of his spiritual fire he did draw innumerable devotees to him from all over the country, irrespective of their caste or creed. When he took samadhi in 1918 (i.e, left off his physical body) he never installed anyone as a successor to his spiritual throne at Shirdi.