The stadium was completely packed, by 8:30AM, yet people continued to pour in. At 11:20AM, Swami arrived in seated in a golden Chariot, clad in a light creamish coloured robe.

The morning programme included songs by Shankar Mahadevan, Hari Haran, Suresh Wadekar, and others. The governor of Andra Pradesh spoke. The Mayor of Chennai spent some time talking about the great deed Swami did in getting water to Chennai.

Six speakers from village communities spoke --they had benefited from Swami's water supply projects, His medical care, His recent flood relief project in Orissa, and His program to help to Gujarath after the massive earthquake 2001.

Sri S.V. Giri, former Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, announced the Vidya Vahini project. Current Sai Schools in India and the internet willl be used to help write and collect human-values-based lesson material for all topics in the educational curriculum and made available for use in all rural schools. Ratan Tata, whose Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is helping with the project, was present.

It was declared that free food for a year would be given to every village visited by the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital.

In the evening, the programme featured Bhagawan's past and current students singing songs, each dealing with one particular aspect of the Sri Sathya Sai Avatar.

Dazzling fireworks and a Laser Show concluded the evening.

For a full report, see www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/85thbirthdayreport2010.html