Shirdi is a town in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, state in western part of India. This is a major pilgrimage site dedicated to saint Sai also called Sai Baba. In the name of saint Sai this town is also known as Sainagar, Sainagari, Shirdi Nagari and Sainagar Shirdi. A large number of people gather daily here at Sai Baba temple complex in Shirdi to honor his legacy. At the temple premises Sai Arti is held in the evening which every devotee wants to attend and it is worth seeing. Sai baba temple in Shirdi is one of the busiest temples in India. Every year lakhs of devotees come here from all over India to take blessings of Sai Baba. Every year people donate to the temple according to their capacity and these offerings make this temple one of the richest temples in India. Although there is huge gathering everyday at the temple, Thursday is the day dedicated to Sai Baba. So on thursday everyone wants to attend the Arti of Sai Baba.
My trip to Shirdi actually began during my Mumbai visit. To read my Mumbai travel blog please click here. After visiting some places in Mumbai I suddenly changed my plan and decided visiting Shirdi. I discussed this with my hotel receptionist and he arranged a bus ticket for me. That was a private tour and travel company and services were available for many cities. I had to pay 50 rupees more than the actual fare between Mumbai and Shirdi and this was realized when I reached at pickup point of the bus. That was the company office also. So keep this in mind and if you are going to take a bus for your travel, book your ticket at the company office or from website to save some money. Well, after some time the bus came and all the tourists that were going to Shirdi boarded the bus. A new journey from Mumbai to Shirdi by bus had been started and I was really excited. I got window seat and that is my favorite, so the enjoyment was going to be double. The bus picked up many passengers from different pickup points. The real adventure started when the bus left Mumbai and started running on highway with beautiful greenery on both sides. Bus was good and there was a TV in the bus for passengers for their entertainment.
Nature scenery always attract me so I was lost in those natural scenes of Thal Ghat. I suddenly realized that bus was taking roadside stop. 4-5 hours had been past and then bus took its first refreshment stop at a restaurant. After deboarding the bus I came to know that this was the same travel company's restaurant as was the bus. Bus stopped there about half an hour. Maximum passengers took lunch, snacks etc and freshened them up. After some time bus started again for its destination towards Shirdi. In between it rained slowly and that made my journey to Shirdi more beautiful. The nature was at its peak and I was enjoying natural beauty of Maharashtra. My bus journey from Mumbai to Shirdi was via Nashik although there is another route that connects Mumbai and Shirdi without reaching Nashik. Some passengers deboarded at Nashik and bus started again its journey to reach final destination.
Finally, my bus reached Shirdi in the evening. That was a long journey of 6-7 hours from Mumbai to Shirdi by bus. I needed some rest after tiresome journey so I had to search an hotel. In between my search for a good and budget hotel in Shirdi the Sai Baba Aarti had been started. So I attended that aarti with my luggage and after that I again started searching a budget hotel. After half an hour I found an hotel that was cheap and best type. I had to negotiate for best prices and I succeeded. That hotel cost me 400 rupees for 24 hours. To find best budget hotels in Shirdi is not hard nut to crack. You need to negotiate with them and you can avail cheap prices for a good hotel. I was tired very much so I decided to take some rest and after some refreshment I went outside to take dinner. There were many restaurants and dhaabas around the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After having dinner and some walk I returned my hotel. My hotel room was much spacious than I thought and had all the basic facilities like attached bathroom, TV, fan etc.
Next day, I woke up a little bit late because of quality sleep after getting tired the whole day. After completing compulsory tasks of the morning (hope you understand) and getting ready I went to the Sai Baba temple which was very near from my hotel. I stood in queue to do darshan of Sai Baba. The queue was long so it took time and some effort to get blessings of Sai Baba. There were so many devotees that it was hard to manage. Finally darshan was completed. After that I went to see the holy tree under which Sai Baba used to worship. That tree is in the Sai Baba temple premises so every devotee goes there after Sai Baba darshan. There are other temples and holy places also in the temple premises that you should visit to. All this took 2-3 hours and after that I was free. So I decided to visit another place that was near from Shirdi and the place was Shani Shingnapur. Many devotees go there after visiting Sai Baba temple.
Shani Shingnapur: Shingnapur is a small town in Maharashtra. It is famous for Shani Dev temple and is said to be the only temple of Shani Dev in India dedicated to Shani Dev only. In the respect of God Shani this town is called Shani Shingnapur. The town is very beautiful and so is the way to Shani Shingnapur from Shirdi. The distance from Shirdi to Shani Shingnapur is near about 70 kilometres and it takes 1 - 1 and ½ hours to reach there. The road is very good and the views are so beautiful that you will be forced to come out from your car or whatever vehicle you would be traveling by. Now I tell you how to reach Shani Shingnapur….. There are many taxis outside the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi those ferry between Shirdi and Shingnapur. The fare between Shirdi and Shingnapur was 40-50 rupees that time, now it must be increased. After having darshan of Sai Baba I hired a shared taxi to Shani Shingnapur and went to visit Shani Dev temple. You can find a taxi easily around the Sai Baba temple. There are many taxi owners standing outside the temple with their taxis. You can hire your private car also if don't want to share the ride with others. I enjoyed the nature and scenery very much on the way. We all devotees took one stop at somewhere and enjoyed the view. There are lots of food and drinks stalls on the way to Shani Shingnapur from Shirdi where you can eat and drink. I reached Shingnapur in 1:15 hour and after reaching there it took me around 1 and half hour to offer my prayers to Shani Dev. After completing darshan of Shani Dev and visiting the temple I got back to my taxi and other devotees also had come one by one. Taxi owner confirmed that all the people had come then he started driving back to Shirdi from Shani Shingnapur.
It was almost evening when I reached Shirdi. I explored the market around the Sai Baba temple, enjoyed night view and purchased souvenirs. After having dinner at dhaaba there I came to my hotel and slept. Next morning I booked my seat with the same travel agency in their bus and came back to Mumbai. My Shirdi trip was over and I traveled again to Mumbai from where I had booked my train ticket to Delhi. Read my Mumbai journey here.
How to reach Shirdi: Reaching Shirdi is very easy. All the three modes of traveling are available. Now, let's talk about them one by one….
By air: There is an airport in Shirdi so if you want to go there by air, book your flight ticket and enjoy your traveling. In view of lakhs of devotees visiting Sai Baba temple in Shirdi every year government decided to make an airport in Shirdi. Finally, the airport was started in 2017 and another fast and convenient mode of traveling was available for people. The airport is located at Kakdi, 14 km from Shirdi. Other nearest airports from Shirdi are Aurangabad and Pune and distance of these airports from Shirdi is 115 km and 186 km respectively.
By train: This is the best way of traveling if you want to keep your budget low. This is my favorite mode of traveling. Some years back there was no railway station in Shirdi. Because a great number of people visit Shirdi every year so the government decided to make a railway station in Shirdi. The station became operational in 2009. The name of railway station in Shirdi is Sainagar Shirdi and station code is SNSI. Trains are available to Shirdi from many major railway stations in India. If there is no train from your source station to Shirdi, two other options are available one is Kopargaon and Manmad. Distance from Kopargaon railway station to Shirdi is 18 km and from Manmad railway station to Shirdi is 60 km. Almost every train on this route stops at Kopargaon or Manmad.
By road: Shirdi is easily accessible by road. Roads are very good. You can reach Shirdi by road via Ahmednagar-Manmad state highway. Distance of Shirdi from Mumbai is approximately 250 km via Eastern Express Highway. The distance between Shirdi and Pune is approximately 200 km.
Food in Shirdi: This is the basic need of every traveler. You needn't worry about food in Shirdi. There are many restaurants and dhaabas in Shirdi near Sai Baba temple. You can enjoy variety of foods. Many restaurants are around the temple that offer good taste.
Stay in Shirdi: To find a comfortable stay after reaching your destination is first priority for any traveler. In Shirdi there are many hotels from budget to luxury. There are many budget hotels which you can approach after reaching there. If you want luxurious stay in Shirdi, hotels are available there with various amenities. Sai Baba temple in Shirdi has its own trust named Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust which provides accommodation in Shirdi. You can book your stay at their website (www.sai.org.in). You can search some cheap hotels in Shirdi after reaching there or book in advance through various travel portals.