10 BEST PLACES TO VISIT IN SHIRDI AND NEAR BY

Shirdi is a city in the State of Maharashtra is one of the places of deep faith & belief. It is believed that whosoever offers a leaf, flower, fruit or water with selfless love is willingly and readily accepted by SAI BABA who is the revered spiritual leader. Devotees who are attached to him with heart & soul feel happiness after taking his darshan in Samadhi Mandir where he is sitting in the form of his idol to spread love and blessings. Apart from Samadhi Mandir, there are 10 more places to visit in Shirdi and near by which attracts devotees even more to Shirdi. Even after spending 2 days in Shirdi, devotees feel that there is much more to see.

10 Places in Shirdi to quench your hunger for soul food!

Dwarkamai

Dwarkamai is the holy place where Sai Baba lived for more than 60 years including his last moments and therefore it is known as heart of Shirdi. People of all faiths look up to Baba and believe in what he preached.

When Sai Baba moved into this mosque, it was a small abandoned dilapidated mud structure. There were no iron bars around the mosque or the dhuni like today, and there were deep holes and pits in the ground. Part of the roof had collapsed so it was a hazardous place to live. Old masjid was repaired and devotees started coming to pay homage to Satguru Sai Baba. Dwarkamai has a portrait of Baba and a huge stone on which he used to sit.

There is one more portrait of Shri Sai Baba adorning the Masjid which was made by famous devotee of Baba, Shyam Rao Jayakar in those days when Baba was living in Dwarkamai. Baba held the portrait to His Heart and is reported to have said, “This picture will live after me”.

Chavadi

Chavadi, situated close to Dwarkamai is also very significant to Sai devotees as it played a major role in the inception of formal worship of Baba. Around the time that Dwarkamai was renovated, Chavadi was also upgraded. Baba used to sleep every one day in Dwarkamai and next day in Chavadi. This alternate sleeping routine in both these buildings continued till Baba’s Mahasamadhi. When it was a night that Baba would be spending in the Chavadi, people flocked to the Masjid and sang bhajans in the courtyard of the Masjid for a few hours and then used to carry on with the procession.

To know more about Chavadi Procession, Read Chapter No. 37 of Sai Satcharitra https://shirdibooks.com/sai-satcharitra-chapter-37/

Chavadi too has a portrait of Baba painted by Ambaram from Nausari in Gujarat.

Gurusthan

As it is said, real Paramartha is possible only as the result of the teachings of the Guru. Rama and Krishna had to submit themselves to their Gurus Vasishtha & Sandipani respectively for getting self realization. Guru is the helmsman who carries us safely and easily beyond the worldly ocean. Sai Baba manifested himself as a young lad of 16 years with the knowledge of Brahman. Gurusthan in Shirdi is a place where Baba spent most of his time under a Neem Tree when he first came to Shirdi. He called this place as his Guru’s place and used to guard it well.

गुरू ब्रह्मा गुरू विष्णु, गुरु देवो महेश्वरा !
गुरु साक्षात परब्रह्म, तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नम !!

Bajrangbali Temple

Maruti Mandir is one of the oldest temple in Shirdi located between Dwarkamai & Chavadi. It is said that during Chavadi Procession, Sai Baba used to stop at Hanuman Temple and wave his hands showing some gestures and used to stand quietly there for minutes. It is really a nice place to relax, unwind and meditate. When you approach towards Gate No. 3 of Shirdi Temple, you can see this temple right opposite. Saints used to stay here including Devidas, whom Baba would occasionally visit during his earlier years in Shirdi. This is a small temple with a Big statue of Hanuman Ji in a hall. As this temple is south facing, it is also known as Dakshinmukhi Hanuman temple.

Heritage Village

Sai Heritage Village is the first ever pilgrimage and picnic based theme park which offers a unique combination of Baba’s blessings and nature’s goodness. Its a landmark village reflecting life during Sai Baba’s time, with historical statues & activities. Devotee can easily go and visit the place by taking public transport in just 10 minutes as it is located 3 Kms away from Samadhi Mandir of Lord Sai who is the presiding deity of Shirdi. Kids too get attracted towards the place due to the availability of ropeway and monorail. To know more about this wonderful place, click on http://saiheritagevillage.com/

Khandoba Temple

Khandoba is knwon as the presiding deity of the town and is considered to be another form of Lord Shiva. It is located on the main road of Shirdi and is half a kilometer away from Sai Mandir. One can easily reach there using the lane from Dwarkamai which is connecting towards the main road. Sai Baba came to Shirdi with the marriage party. All of them alighted at the foot of Banyan tree in Bhagat Mhalsapati’s field including Baba. Bhagat Mhalsapati who was a main priest of Khandoba accosted him as “Aao Sai” and hence he became Sai Baba of Shirdi and never returned back. Blessed is the place where he lived, laughed and stayed.

Panchmukhi Vishnu Ganpati Mandir

Panchamukhi Vishnu Ganapati Temple is one of the popular pilgrimage destination situated in Kankuri Village located 2.5 Km away from Shirdi. A small, but powerful vibrational place of worship. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu Ganapati. Cab or auto service can be taken from Shirdi to reach there in just 15 minutes. Mr. Bejan Daruwalla, a famous astrologer and staunch devotee and believer of Lord Ganesha installed a 7.5 feet height Panchamukhi Vishnu Ganesh idol in new temple on June 13^th, 2002 at 12 PM with step by step holy chants by priests.

Sai Teerath Devotional Theme Park

Sai Teerath is a religious theme park featuring attractions and experiences related to Hindu Faith. It is opposite to Wet and Joy Waterpark. The four major attractions of theme park are Dwarkamai, Lanka Dahan (5D show), Sabka Malik Ek (Movie), Teerth Yatra (Temple Ride). Atleast 2 hours of spare time is required to enjoy the bliss. It has in house restaurant too which provides food at reasonable prices. If you wish to visit the place and do not want the hassle of standing in line for booking tickets, you can do the same by visiting https://www.saiteerth.in/

Shani Shingnapur

At a distance of 72 km from Shirdi, Shani Shingnapur is a village in Nevasa taluka of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. Shared tourist vehicle or private cars can be taken to reach there. It is known for its popular temple of Shani, the Hindu god associated with the planet Saturn. Devotees come in large numbers to take darshans of Lord Shani especially on Saturdays. So, whenever you plan a trip to Shirdi, keep this place in your go to list.

Sai Prasadalaya

ॐ नीलांजनं समाभासं रविपुत्रम् यमाग्रजम्। छाया मार्तण्डसंभूतम् तं नमामि शनैश्चरम्।।

Sai Baba not only healed giving his dhuni to devotees but also did a noble cause of serving the impoverished during his lifetime. During his stay in Shirdi, he himself cooked food and fed the starved ones as well as animals. He also entrusted duty to 2 of his devotees to take care of individual needs of the one who have gathered to eat. Carrying the legacy of Sai, Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, built up the famous Shri Sai Prasadalaya in 2009 in Shirdi. This Prasadalaya exhorts Sai’s principle of free food to all and is considered to be Asia’s largest Prasadalya.

Important: Shirdi attracts many devotees and therefore it takes hours and hours to be in que for taking darshan. Online darshan tickets can be booked from the website of Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan which is https://sai.org.in. Sai Baba Sansthan also has given facility to watch live darshans online by typing the given url : https://sai.org.in/en/live-sai-darshan.

He gave few promises when he was in body and is fulfilling those even now by taking care of his devotees well. Sai Baba was not an ordinary fellow. He was a diamond in reality. Shirdi was fortunate and meritorious to have this jewel and Shirdi folks were blessed to have a chance to play with him, talk to him and get valuable teachings from him. Even after leaving his mortal coil, he is spreading message of Faith and Patience amongst all.

It is said that whosoever comes to Shirdi soil, his sufferings come to an end. Baba ask his devotees to keep faith and patience. By following his teachings, one can attain salvation. We wish our readers a great and blissful stay in Shirdi. We also request you to keep sparing time to shower love on us by reading our psots on regualr basis at www.trendingplatter.com
OM SAI RAM !

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