Shankaracharya of Dwaraka-Sharda Peeth Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati on Sunday blamed the worship of Shirdi Sai Baba as the cause for drought in parts of Maharashtra.

Shankaracharya, who is on a 15-day visit to Haridwar termed worship of Sai Baba who was a "fakir" and not a God, as "inauspicious". He even quoted scriptures to corroborate his stand.

"Calamity strikes where those unworthy of worship are worshipped," the seer said.

Shankaracharya further added that "such places suffer drought, flood, death or fear, and Maharashtra is facing all of these." His fresh row of allegations follow the line of criticism the Shankaracharya has staged against Sai Baba in the past.

On previous occasions too, he has appealed to his followers to take down Sai Baba's photographs and remove his idols from the places of worship where according to Shankaracharya "he gets pride of place with Hindu deities".

The 94-year-old seer also condemned the act of women entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Shani Shingnapur temple, saying "it will bring bad luck to them", The Times of India reported .

According to Shankaracharya, "Shani is paap grah (planet of sins). Worshipping him will lead to rise in crime against women."

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