Shirdi Sai Baba Temple

Shirdi Sai Baba temple placed in Shirdi (Maharashtra State) is a very holy, powerful and important place of pilgrimage in India. This is the place where Sacred Body of Baba is resting in Samadhi.

Dwarkamai (Masjid): Baba stayed at this place continuously for 60 years. Countless devotees got blessing of Baba here. The Shila (Stone) on which Baba used to sit is located nearby.

Chawdi Mandir: On every alternate day Baba used to proceed in procession from Dwarkamai to this place at night & halt & sleep here.

Lendi Baug: At some distance from Gurusthan, there is the Lendi Baug. This garden was made and watered daily by Baba himself.

In addition 3 other Temples are in Temple’s premises complex: 1) Shri Ganesh Temple, 2) Shri Shani Temple & 3) Shri Mahadev Temple.

This article consists of Baba history, Shirdi Location, Transportation and Places to visit around Shirdi.

History of Shirdi Sai Baba Timple

Once upon time, at the beginning of eighteenth century a young bearded man with luminous eyes took shelter in a mosque, in Shirdi Village (of Maharashtra State, In India). Nobody knew from where this stranger had come who hardly spoke a word and stayed there.

Shirdi Sai Baba Temple

Gradually the interested villagers started offering food to the man, but he never asked anything from them. Sometimes he shared his food with the animals like dogs and cows. Soon the young fakir, as he was started to be addressed, started expressing his view points with few elderly villagers. His simple language of expression and his special power of solving the problems of poor needy and insolvent soon made this less known fakir, known as Shri Sai Baba. As the days passed, devotees started streaming into Shirdi in ever increasing numbers. The village was fast becoming a centre of pilgrimage. As gifts and presentations flowed in, the display and ceremony of Sai worship were developing. Everyday Sai Baba would be a pauper having distributed all among the needy and the poor. But Sai Baba’s life of a Fakir remained calm, in peace, unchanged and therein is the saint’s Spiritual glory.

Shirdi Location

Shirdi is a town and falls under the control of municipal council popularly known as Shirdi Nagar Panchayat, located in Rahata Tahasil (i.e. taluka) in Ahmednagar District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is easy to get to via the Ahmednagar – Manmad State Highway No.10, approximately 83 km from Ahmednagar and 15 km from Kopargaon. It is located 185 km east of the Western Seashore line (the Ahmednagar – Manmad road), which is a very full of activity route. Shirdi is best known as the late 19th century home of the popular guru Shirdi Sai Baba.

Transportation

Helicopter Services

Shirdi is located approximately 296 km from Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra in India. It is called the Land of Sai. Helicopter services are available to Shirdi. The helipad is owned by Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust. One has to take the permission of the trust to land here.

Construction work for airport has commenced this year. Shirdi will have its own airport by 2012. It is to be located at Kakdi (Kopargaon Tahasil), some 14 km towards south-east of Shirdi.

New Railway Station

Shirdi now has a new railway station called “Sainagar Shirdi “The new railway station is located just 2 km from Baba’s Temple in Shirdi. The Shirdi Sansthan also provides bus transportation from the train station to their guest houses for those devotees that have chosen to reserve a room and stay at the newly constructed Sansthan guest houses (for most updated information pertaining to this, please see the Shirdi Sai Sansthan website). As of 2010, there are trains from Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Visakhapatnam via Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and other cities/states that have Shirdi railway station as their terminal stop. This means that devotees can get off the train at the Shirdi railway station and reach Baba’s Mandir in less than 10 minutes. Most trains arriving at Shirdi now have air-conditioned class, first class, second class and third class compartments, thus providing different levels of comfort and convenience according to the needs and affordability of the devotees. Trains also run from Manmad station which is 58 km from the heart of Shirdi, alternatively from Kopargaon station which is 15 km from Shirdi, or Nashik city, which is 119 km from Shirdi or Nagarsol. Daund railway station is 200 km from Shirdi.

Bus Services

Buses and taxis work from these railway stations and locations to and from Shirdi. Shirdi can be reached by bus from any of the following cities in Maharashtra State (India): Mumbai, Pune, Vashi, Panvel, Thane, Nashik, Akluj, Dhule, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

Places to visit around Shirdi

Shani Shingnapur which is a holy place located near Shirdi, is famous for temple of Lord Shani. Sai Baba Sansthan Trust has started work for a new “Sai Garden” based on the life & teachings of Shri Sai Baba on a 25-acre (100,000 m²) campus at Nimgaon-Korhale near Shirdi. It will provide devotees a glimpse of life of Sai Baba along with laser shows, live shows etc.

Image Attribution: By taken by friend (got from net) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons