Baba's body was lifted with the carpet on which it lay. With loud declarations of "Avatar Meher Baba ki jai!" the carpet was lowered onto the board, with Baba's head to the north and his feet at the steps leading down to the crypt. A pillow was placed under his head. Baba's hair was gently brushed. The scarf wrapped round his head and over his ears and chin was rearranged. The bedsheets wrapped around him were folded neatly, and then blocks of ice were put in the space between the wooden board and the crypt wall. The ice surrounded Baba on all sides and yet did not touch his body. A garland was put around Baba's head, and with his eyelids closed, he appeared, at first glance, to be sleeping peacefully. It was starting to get dark so a Petromax lantern was hung in the Tomb. Strains of Begin the Beguine wafted from inside his final resting place.

The men and women mandali returned to Meherazad before midnight. Padri and Chhagan stayed inside the Tomb the entire night as scores of people lined up to take darshan. Adi was at his office in town sending out telegrams and making telephone calls to various Centers and individuals in India and abroad. All India Radio mistakenly announced Meher Baba's passing at 10:00 P.M. on the 31st. The next day, announcements were made on the radio several times during the day; BBC also broadcast the news.

News had already reached Bombay by the evening of the 31st, and lovers rushed to Ahmednagar by all available means. Several had arrived soon after Baba's body had been placed in the Tomb. Sarosh had gone to Bombay that morning (with Baba's prior consent) and he immediately returned to Meherabad. Meherjee too was in Bombay, but flew back to Poona and then drove to Meherabad that night, along with the Jessawalas.

When Mohammed Mast was informed that Baba had dropped his body, he said in Marathi, "Dada has gone, but he will come back."

Most lovers, whether they were in the East or West, could not believe the news when they received the telegram. They thought it was a cruel hoax, as they were planning to come to Poona for darshan in a few months. All that night Adi's office was overwhelmed with telegrams and telephone calls from those seeking to verify the news. When they discovered it was true, a dark cloud descended over their world.

Baba's lovers and devotees poured into Meherabad from different parts of the country to take the last darshan of their hearts' only Beloved. They had been informed that Baba's physical remains would be interred at 10:00 A.M. the next day, 1 February, so those from distant places sent telegrams and phone calls requesting that the interment be postponed until their arrival. Those Westerners and Easterners from abroad also tried to reconfirm the news, but they were discouraged from coming because of lack of proper accommodations. Dr. Ginde advised interring Baba's body as soon as possible, because the body was not embalmed, and in his opinion should be buried within 20 hours, even if it were kept on blocks of ice. Another reason was the high levels of urea in Baba's body, which causes even more rapid putrefaction, Ginde said.