Visit to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple over a weekend – One of the most visited temples after the famous Tirupati Balaji temple of Andhra Pradesh and the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala, definitely has to be the Shirdi Sai baba Temple in Maharashtra. It is said that around 60k to 90k people daily comes to the temple to offer their prayers. Situated very close to Shirdi is also the famous city of Nashik in Maharashtra which is popularly known as the Wine Capital of the country. As a traveler we wanted to visit both these places for a long time, but as soon as we got an extended weekend, we did not want to miss the opportunity to go for a trip covering both the places. In this blog we will talk only about our visit to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple and on our next blog we will talk about how we planned to go to Nashik following this.
Things to know about Shirdi
Shirdi is a quaint little town located about 250 km away from Mumbai and around 190kms from Pune city in Maharashtra. It is considered to be the one of the most popular religious places for Hindus in India. Shirdi was known to be the home to the saint Sai Baba, who spread his religious preaching’s and love to people all around the world. According to him “Sabka Malik Ek” which means God is one for all religions. His preaching’s and tales have united people from all religions to visit the famous Samadhi Sthal every year in the count of millions.
How to reach
There are plenty of communication options available from major metro cities in Maharashtra being so closely situated.
By Railways
Multiple trains available by Indian Railways to reach Shirdi from all major cities. Sainagar Shirdi Railway Station on the Puntamba Shirdi link which connects Shirdi to the main line of Manmad Daund of the Solapur Division of the Central Railways is the nearest of the lot.. There are daily, weekly and bi weekly trains to Shirdi from major cities of Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, Tirupathi and New Delhi. There is another railway station called Kopargaon Railway station which is located around 15 kms away from the Shirdi Sai Baba temple can also be opted incase you are unable to book a train directly to Sainagar Shirdi. You would easily get buses, auto rickshaws and private vehicle to reach to Shirdi once you get down.
By Roadways
Shirdi is situated on the Manmad Ahmednagar highway and has frequent buses from all parts of Maharashtra and interstate buses from Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc. These can be private or state run with options to choose from ac sleepers or seaters to non ac sleepers or standard buses.
By Airways
The nearest airport is the Kakadi ariport to the southwest of the town of Shirdi. There are direct flights from Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi and from all major cities.
Tales of Sai Baba
Shirdi Sai Baba was a spiritual guru dear to Hindu and Muslim devotees throughout India and in far flung countries of foreign soil as well. The name Sai Baba comes from sai, a Persian word to denote a holy person, and baba, is a Hindi word for father. Once he arrived in Shirdi, for almost close to 5 years, he took shelter under a neem tree and was often found wandering in the jungle. Slowly multiple visitors would come to meet him as he grew popularity with time. He was very fond of cooking and whatever he used to cook, ensured to share across with his devotees. He never believed in religion and caste and his main mantra was ‘Sabka Malik Ek “, God is one for all religions.
Few interesting facts about Sai Baba
- It is believed to have no known birthplace for Sai baba and how he arrived in Shirdi, which makes his life and teachings even more mysterious and intriguing.
- The Saibaba Temple is one of the richest temples in India, with an annual revenue generated of over Rs. 500 crores.
- The temple offers food to all devotees free of cost every day as Prasadam, which is considered to be a blessing from Saibaba.
- Inside the temple premises has a holy fire called ‘Dhuni’ which is believed to have been lit by Saibaba himself and it is still burning continuously for over a century.
Where to stay
There are plenty of accommodations to choose from, in Shirdi depending on where you start your journey from. We came directly from Pune city and arrived in Shirdi via 11041 Dadar – Sai Nagar Shirdi express at 9:40 am in the morning. Shirdi has excellent accommodation’s in terms of both the Sansthan accommodations and private hotels as well.
The Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Trust provides hotel options for travelers, which includes the Dwarawati Bhaktiniwas, and the Sai Baba Bhakta Niwassthan. You can contact them directly or book online. However, be cautious as Shirdi has lot of brokers, so its wise not to talk to any of them and book hotel from your home itself before arriving.
We chose to stay in a private hotel which we booked online – Hotel Krishna Sai Kutir, which was situated very close to the temple at a walking distance of only 10 minutes from the back side of the temple, near Gate 3.
Visit to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple – Day 1
Upon checkin in to our hotel, we had our breakfast and took some rest, as our train was at 3:30 am at night. Always remember, if you are planning to visit the Sai Baba temple – weekends, Mondays or any religious days will be too much crowded. Hence try to visit the temple over a weekday when comparatively is less crowded. We chose to visit the temple on a Friday evening. as mornings are crowded compared to evening timings.
VIP Passes – There are two ways you can choose to visit the temple Garbhagriho or the inside premises. You can either choose to book an online VIP travel pass or stand in the general queue. The online pass from the website will cost you Rs 200 per person. You have to choose the date and time and upload the details of your national verification id.
Tip – Dont forget to carry a printout and the national identity card , whose details you have provided.
We had our lunch at a nearby restaurent and came back later to freshen up. You will get mostly vegetarian options in Shirdi, but non veg options are also there is few restaurents here and there. After that we went straight to the temple to get a glimpse of Sai Baba at around 4 pm in the evening.
You need to submit your shoes, watches, mobile phones, leather belts and all your belongings before entering the premises. We kept our belongings near Gate 3 and walked up to Gate 6 from where the vip entry goes through.
Upon verification at the gate we were allowed to enter the premises. It was almost empty being a workday. We witnessed that the samadhi or burial is built with white marble stones. Around it, a railing is built covered with ornamental decorations. The statue of Shri Sai Baba, which shows him seated on a throne, is made of an Italian marble by Balaji Vasant in 1954.
Once you come outside the Garbhagriha, you can witness the famous Neem Tree where Baba spent most of his time. The temple premise is beautifully decorated. There is also a mosque in the temple premise which is a very unique thing which we saw. It is located adjacent to the temple and known as Dwarkamai Masjid which still holds historical significance as it was the place where Saibaba spent a significant part of his life. There is a museum as well where you can get a glimpse of utensils and clothes which Baba used during his lifetime.
The temple opens for devotees at 5.15 a.m. in the morning with Kakad Aarti and remains open till the end of Shejarti. The temple has its own organized dining halls, where free meals are served to all devotees. Every day almost thousands of people are fed here, irrespective of their caste, and creed.
Once you come outside the main temple, there are plenty of restaurants and small shops available, where you can spent the evening at leisure, just like we did. Or if you finish the darshan at the first half of the day you can travel to Shani Shingnapur temple which is located around 70km distance from the Shirdi. This temple is dedicated to Shani Dev and is known for its unique feature of having no doors or locks for the houses and shops in the entire village in this area.
Visit to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple – Day 2
You can start your day early morning and visit the Shani Shingnapur temple on this day as well and return home in the evening. However, we had a different plan to choose from and hence rather than going there, we chose to visit the famous city of Nashik which we will discuss in our upcoming blog. Again there are plenty of buses, trains and local transport available to get you back from where you started off to complete the tour.
Conclusion
We completed this beautiful tour and took blessings for Baba himself which was truly auspicious and remarkable. You should definitely once in a lifetime visit this beautiful place. There are few things to keep in mind if you are planning a visit to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple :
- Please be mindful of what you are wearing inside the temple. Clothes like shorts, mini-skirts, tank tops, sleeveless shirts are strictly prohibited.
- Please do not comment and talk about religions based on your affiliations. The main mantra of Sai Baba is all religion is equal, so please be mindful and respect here preaching’s.
- Please do not litter inside the temple premises
- Do not communicate or bargain with brokers outside the temple to get an entry inside.
- Please carry your id proof along with you and beaware of pickpockets and chain snatchers.
- Avoid using your mobile phone within the temple premises, as it is generally prohibited.
If you want to plan for a trip to Pune, Mumbai or Aurangabad please read our blogs here.
