Who was Anandnath Maharaj and what's the story of how he came to Shirdi?

Anandnath Maharaj was a disciple of the renowned Swami of Akkalkot. His journey to Shirdi was quite spontaneous, as described in Chapter 0. While he was in Savargaon, a group of devotees from Shirdi, including Madhavrao Balwant Deshpande and Dagdu Bhau Gaike, came for his darshan. As these devotees were preparing to leave for Shirdi, Anandnath Maharaj suddenly ran, sat in their cart, and declared, "I am coming with you." Despite attempts by the people of Navargaon and Yeola to stop him, his decision was final, and he accompanied the group to Shirdi.