Bhagawan first started an ice cream unit near the VIP entry gate for ladies way back in early 1980s. Joy, a famous ice cream manufacturer used to sell their Ice Creams here. Subsequently, a full-fledged Ice cream unit was started by the Bhaktha Sahayak Division. This unit buys the basic ice cream mix from Hyderabad to make the ice cream. Can anyone believe that a yummy delicious 100 ml cup of your favorite flavor of ice cream is worth only Rs. 5.00? For that matter, can you believe that a juicy stick ice cream of any flavor costs only Rs. 5.00? The ice cream stall is located near the exit door of Shopping Complex adjacent to the Main Kiosk. The devotees can relish every flavor while sitting inand enjoying the beautiful lawns opposite to the Main Kiosk. There is also a second Ice cream unit near the North Kiosk. This unit specializes in selling Sundaes and Ice cream milk shakes.

Today, there are over 16,000 items sold in a huge three storied complex spread over 27,000 sq. ft. offered at the lowest possible prices. One can easily challenge and say that ALL the items in the complex are available at rates that are LOWER than the MRP.The fundamental rule with which Bhagawan started the Shopping Complex was that, “this Shopping Complex is not here for making profit, it is but to serve the devotees”.He insisted that profit or business orientation should NEVER be given importance at any stage. Instead, high quality products must be offered at the lowest possible prices to the devotees. This is one of the main reasons why the Shopping Complex alone attracts a footfall of more than 6000 devotees every single day, inspite of the limitationof its operating/shopping hours.

The Shopping Complex was started by Bhagawan originally in the early 1970s.He haunderstood the great hardship the devotees had to go through in the early days for getting items of daily use. In the 1950s and 1960s, when Puttaparthi was still a small hamlet bereft of a convenience store, the residents of Puttaparthi used to travel all the way to the near-by town Bukkapatnam and purchase their daily needs. Sri. PeddaVenkamarajugaru, the blessed father of Bhagawan Baba, thought of a genuine service for the devotees of Baba who came from far off places and stayed in Puttaparthi for Baba’s darshan. He used to collect the lists of items the devotees needed, then went himself to Bukkapatnam, purchased all those materials, bring and distribute them to the devotees back in Puttaparthi. He took it upon himself this task as a service to the devotees of Baba. This was how the idea of opening up a convenience store in the Ashram came up.Over time, as the needs of the devotees grew, the shopping complex also grew in size. Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi General Stores – popularly known as “The Shopping Complex” is one of the biggest attractions that the devotees of the Ashram visit after Bhagawan’s Darshan in Kulwant Hall.

The Sri Sathya Sai Gokulam was started to take care of the cows as a benevolent gesture by Bhagawan Baba. The Gokulam is a shelter for cows that houses over 400 cows.There are about 100 milking cows and this milk is consumed in the canteens and other institutions such as the primary school hostel, higher secondary school hostel, and the university boys hostel. The other by-products that the Gokulam produces are vermi-compost which is used by the farmers from neighboring villages as manure which is sold at extremely cheap rates. The Gokulam also houses a biogas plant which is used for generating alternate fuel for cooking food by the adjoining university boys hostel.Bhagawan has been always concerned about the cows at Gokulam. He says,“ ‘Gomatha’ or Mother Cow should be considered as one of the mothers that a man has. Every person on this earth, has 5 mothers.They are – DehaMatha(the mother who gave birth to the Body), Desha Matha(One’s own Country), Gomatha (the Cow), Veda Matha (the Vedas), and Bhoomatha (Mother Earth). He says in Telugu “Nee tallivruddhuraalaindaniaamenuvadileystaavaa?” which translates to, will you throw away your own mother from your house just because she has become old? Adhering to Bhagawan’s instructions, all the cows, whether young or old, milking or non-milking – all are taken care of very lovingly by the personnel serving in the cowshed. Many a times, Bhagawan has said that it is not easy to get such a great opportunity to serve gomatha; one has to have a pure heart and acquire a lot of punya to serve the cows.Keeping in mind his teachings the highest reverence is accorded to the cows. The cows which have become barren and old are not discarded or given away for slaughter, but cared for at Gokulam till they are alive.Each year during Krishnashtami, a few cows and their calves are taken to Kulwant Hall in front of Bhagawan in a procession by the boys from the university as well as the higher secondary school. Each year Bhagawan lovingly feeds these cows that are brought for His blessings. In the earlier years, Swami used to visit the Gokulam quite often and has even entrusted some of his students to manage the cowshed too. He used to lovingly call these boys the “cow boys”.

The LPG Cooking Gas Supply unit was started to cater to the permanent residents within the Ashram premises.In addition to the residents of the Ashram, the unit supplies cooking gas to all the Canteens, the primary school hostel, the higher secondary school hostel, the university boys hostel, and also the Super Specialty Hospital (Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences) near Puttaparthi. The LPG Supply offers cooking gas cylinders at the rates fixed by the government. The Ashram residents do not have to wait in long queues or wait for weeks together to receive the refills. The delivery of the cylinder is made within 24 hours of booking. This is the biggest advantage for the residents and institutions which get the gas cylinders from the Ashram LPG Supply. The permanent residents of the Ashram are staying in the Ashram primarily for their spiritual development. They need a calm going life to concentrate on the higher goal. They should not be bogged down by day-to-day problems. Hence, this was one of the facilitiesthat was given to them by Bhagawan Baba