Shirdi: A devotee’s heaven
Shirdi is a small town which is located in Rahata Taluka in Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra. It is approximately 242 km from Mumbai and 188 km from Pune.
With the arrival of ‘Dusshera’ –“9 day festival”, many of you would like to visit Shirdi (where the great saint used to live) on this auspicious day. Although, keep in mind that it is during this time that Shirdi is jam-packed with devotees.
Getting a ticket to Shirdi and entering Sai Baba’s temple is another challenge during the festival season. Be prepared to wait long hours in a queue to get a quick glimpse of the idol for a couple seconds, especially during Dusherra.
It is during this auspicious event of Dusherra that devotees from all around the country gather to pay homage to the Saint. If you are planning to spend more than a day, we would advise you to carry your identity proof along for hotel bookings.
There are several places to visit once you reach this divine destination;
Sai Baba Mandir
Consider your journey incomplete without having visited the Sai Baba temple. This beautifully built temple is located in the center of the town; the temple hosts a ‘samadhi ‘(burial site) of the great saint Sai Baba. This timings are; 5:00 am to 10:45 pm.
Sai Baba’s life size idol made of marble will leave you in awe mainly because of how realistic the face looks in the sculpture. The marble statue is prepared by sculptor Sri Talini who belonged to the city of Mumbai. This was the place where Sai took his last breadth and is now lying in peace. This was earlier called as ‘Buty Wada ’and later on this temple was constructed around it.
Dwarkamai
The picture above shows the place where Sai Baba spent most of his time of the day and the stone which he used to always carry with him is still preserved here.
There is always a special place for Dwarkamai in the hearts of his devotees. This is basically a mosque, wherein the saint spent almost 60 years of his life. There are several impressive oil paintings of Sai Baba in this magnificent mosque.
