Shirdi - Land of Devotion and Spirituality
Shirdi is a holy town situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. It is a drive of 83 km from the city of Ahmednagar and well known as the place of Sai Baba. He is popular among the global travelers as spiritual guru, Shirdi Sai. There are direct trains from Mumbai, Chennai and Visakhapatnam arriving at the newly constructed Sainagar Shirdi railway station. It is just 2 km away from Sai Baba Temple. It takes 4-5 hours by bus to reach from Mumbai to Shirdi. The town of Shirdi is not only a revered pilgrimage place for Sai Baba devotees but also a weekend getaway for people from Mumbai and Pune. The Samadhi (burial place) is where millions of pilgrims pay their tributes every year. Peak tourist season in Shirdi is during guru poornima, Dussehra and death anniversary of Sai Baba.
Places to see in Shirdi
Since it is not a large town, most of the tourist attractions are located within walking distance of one another.
Shirdi Sai Baba Temple - Situated in the heart of the town, this shrine is dedicated to Guru Sai Baba. It is 2 km from the railway station and accessible by bus and taxi from any part of the town. The temple is built adjacent to his place of burial and was established in 1922. Sai Baba lived in Shirdi until his death in 1918. There is a long queue on weekends especially and it might take up 2-3 hours for devotees to get a glimpse of his samadhi. On Thursday, there are special pujas held at this temple.
Gurusthan - Devotees after visiting the samadhi ground, visit Gurusthan or the tree under which Sai Baba was seen meditating by the local people of Shirdi. This place is within the temple complex.
Dwarakamayi - This is the mosque complex where Sai Baba lived for around 60 years. Dwarakamayi is situated adjacent to the Sai Baba Temple. This is one reason why he is popular among both Hindus and Muslims. The dhuni or lamp is always kept burning outside the mosque entrance.
Khandoba Raya Temple - This is the temple where Sai Baba was first welcomed and honored as a saint.
Chavadi - Just adjacent to the mosque is Chavadi, the place where Baba is believed to have slept on alternate nights and every Thursday his foot prints are taken from Dwarakamayi to Chavadi in a procession and again brought back.
Excursions from Shirdi
Other places that you can visit from Shirdi include:
Shani Shingnapur - A quaint village located 35 km away from Ahmednagar, Shani Shingnapur is a place well known for its Shani temple dedicated to the planet God Saturn. Special puja is held here every Saturday. The 5 feet high rock is the image of Shani Dev and there are images of Lord Shiva and Hanuman at the temple. Another interesting thing to explore here is the houses that have no doors and people do not keep their valuables locked. They strongly believe that God despises theft. Pilgrims throng during amavasya (day of the new moon) and Shani Jayanti is another important festival here.
Ahmednagar - You need to cover a distance of 83 km from Shirdi to reach Ahmednagar. There are several places of interest here such as Chand Bibi Palace, Ahmednagar Fort, Vishal Ganpati Mandir and Harishchandragarh.
