Bhopal: Mauni Baba, who used to count among his devotees Amitabh Bachchan and many high-profile politicians and whose counsel had reportedly been sought before Abhishek got engaged to Aishwarya Rai, passed away late on Saturday night.

Ujjain was in mourning on Sunday when the last rites of Mauni Baba, one of the well-known spiritual gurus of the temple town, were performed.

As his name suggests, the spiritual guru had taken a voluntary vow of silence. In the last seven decades or so, Mauni Baba had reportedly not spoken a word, communicating by writing on a slate with chalk.

Some of his devotees said Mauni Baba had lived till 108 while others said his age could be between 90 and 100 years.

Nobody in Ujjain seemed to know Mauni Baba's actual name and family details except for the fact that he came to settle on the banks of the Kshipra river 80 years ago. Another legend relating to Mauni Baba was that he never had cooked food or food grain.

In Ujjain, Mauni Baba used to draw almost as many devotees as the famous Mahakaal temple of Shiva.

Besides the Bachchans, actress Rani Mukerji and politicians Ajit Jogi, Arjun Singh, Amar Singh and Uma Bharti were Mauni Baba's devotees.

At the time of Aishwarya's engagement with Abhishek in January 2007, Amar Singh, then close to the Bachchans, had visited Ujjain to seek Mauni Baba's counsel. The spiritual guru had reportedly organised a grand yagna to ward off Aishwarya's alleged Mangal dosh - the evil eye of Mars - in her horoscope that had cast a shadow on the planned marriage.

Mauni Baba is believed to have convinced the late Arjun Singh that he had the Raj Yoga (royal sign) in his horoscope, which meant he was destined to be Prime Minister. The prophecy did not come true as Arjun died a disillusioned man in March 2011, having been dropped from Manmohan Singh's cabinet.

Old-timers claim it was on Mauni Baba's advice that Arjun, soon after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, risked his political career by taking on P.V. Narasimha Rao.

As communications minister under Rajiv Gandhi, Arjun had granted two telephone connections to Mauni Baba, then a symbol of pride and status.

An Indore-based Hindi daily had then run a screaming headline: " Jab Baba bolta nahin to do telephone kyon (Why give two telephones to Baba when he does not speak)."

Mauni Baba passed away on Saturday at a Pune hospital. His devotees said minutes before his death, Baba wrote on his slate: " Mrityu yadi hai, koi dunia ka doctor bacha naheen sakta (If death is inevitable, no doctor on earth can save)."