Shirdi City Guide - Shirdi Travel Attractions

Shirdi City Guide – Shirdi Travel Attractions
Shirdi is a small town located at about 75 km from the city of Nasik in the sate of Maharashtra, India. It was the abode of the popular saint Sai Baba for eighty years. This tiny town is about 2 sq km in area. It could be rightly called as a pilgrimage center as most of the tourists visiting the place come here for a brief ‘darshan’ (view) of Samadhi Mandir (the tomb of Sai Baba). The streets of this mystic town are paved with shops selling memorabilia of Sai Baba. The town has a dry climate and the temperatures vary from 7° C during the winters to about 40° C during the summer seasons. Although pilgrims flock to Shirdi throughout the year, the best time to visit this mystical town is from June to August. Some of the important places to see in Shirdi are as follows.

Samadhi Mandir

Samadhi Mandir is a temple built around the burial place of the saint Sai Baba. While the temple is built of stones, the Samadhi itself is a beautiful white marble structure with wonderful ornamental decorations. There is an idol of the saint behind the Samadhi. Any one can visit the temple between 5 AM and 10 PM every day. Special events occur during the Thursdays.

Dwarkamai

Dwarkamai is a holy mosque, which is in the right side of the Samadhi Mandir. This is the place where Sai Baba lived all his life after coming to Shirdi. It is also the place where the saint met his devotees and solved their problems. ‘Dhuni’, the sacred fire lit by Sai Baba has been constantly burning for more than hundred years now. This is where the ‘Udi’ the sacred ash is distributed among the devotees every day. There is also a life-size portrait of Sai Baba at his sitting place inside the mosque.

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Gurusthan

Gurusthan means the resting place of the God. Sai Baba himself identified this spot, which is under a neem tree, and it is considered to be the resting place of his God. This is why the place is called as Gurusthan. A portrait of the saint is kept her on an elevated platform.

Lendi Bagh

Lendi Bagh is a flower garden situated to the northwest of the Samadhi temple. It was once a waste land and the saint himself had converted it into a beautiful flower garden. Watering the plants and meditating in the garden was a part of the saint’s daily chores. It has been maintained till date by his devotees and has an amazing collection of flowers.

Transport and Stay

Aurangabad is the nearest airport to the holy town of Shirdi, and it’s about 144 km away from the town. Nasik is the nearest railway station, and it is about 123 km away from Shirdi. Being situated on the Ahmadnagar–Manmad road, Shirdi is easily accessible through road. There are regular bus services to Shirdi from nearby cities. As the town itself is very small, getting around is not a problem. There are rickshaws and auto rickshaws that help tourists and pilgrims in local transportation.

Although Shirdi has a limited number of hotels, it can provide a comfortable accommodation to every kind of visitor. All the hotels of the town are located close to the temple. Some of the hotels are Hotel Sand-n-Sand, Hotel Goradia, and hotel Lodha.