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Best Places to Visit in Shirdi

Rightly at the top of “places to visit in Shirdi,” this temple of Sai Baba - who is considered as one of the greatest saints ever known to mankind, meets approximately 25000 to 30000 devotees from across India on any regular day. During festivals and other special occasions, the temple gets flooded with a count of not less than a lakh.

Here, prayer songs are sung all day long, right from 4 am to 11 pm. The two main pujas - The Abhishek Pooja and Satyanarayan Pooja are conducted in three and five batches of 7 am, 9 am and 11 am and 7 am, 9 am, 11 am, 1pm, and 3 pm respectively.

Location:  Shirdi Taluka, Rahata District, Ahmednagar.

Timings: 5 am to 12 pm and 4 pm to 9 pm.

Known as India’s first ever spiritual themed park, Sai Teerth Theme Park is a fully air-conditioned park that offers 4 different types of shows. This includes a movie space, 5D Show, an artificially created setup of Dwarkamai and a train ride.

The shows educate devotees of Sai about his life in a very appealing and entertaining way while the train ride showcases all famous temples of India. There is also a restaurant inside which takes care of hunger needs.

Location: Near Sun-N-Sand hotel, post - Nighoj, Taluka - Rahata.

Entry fee: INR 390 for children and INR 470 for adult.

Timings: 10 am to 6 pm every day.

Gurusthan meaning “seat of a teacher” is the place where Sai Baba was first seen to the world as a 16 years old boy. He sat under a Neem tree here, where today, a shrine is built. From the roof of this temple, the branches of the neem tree make their way out.

A huge portrait of Sai Baba is placed, along with a Shivling and Nandi bull. There is also a marble statue of Sai Baba with pictures of 12 jyotirlingas in the same shrine. Devotees of Sai Baba believe that lighting incense sticks at Gurusthan can heal all their ailments.

Location: Gurusthan is situated in Kopargaon - a town 14 kilometers from Shirdi.

Timings: 5 am to 10 pm on all days.

Sai Heritage Village is a relatively new add on to the list of Shirdi tourist places. Only opened in the year 2014, this village is a theme park for devotees of Sai, that works as a pilgrimage cum picnic spot for all. This theme park has gained popularity as it showcases the various incidents and stories from Sai Baba’s times.

One can learn about Sai Baba and the villagers’ life here which makes it top places to visit in Shirdi. The park also has a play area for kids to have fun along with a small restaurant that takes care of hunger needs!

Location: Sai Heritage Village is located 3 kilometers from Sai Baba temple.

Entry fee: INR 150 - adults and no fee for children aged below 5 years.

Timings: 9 am to 11 pm on all days.

This miraculous temple of Lord Shani holds no deity-like any other temple. Here, the lord is believed to be present in a simple black stone who protects his devotees from evil. His devotees in surrounding villages trust his power so much that they don’t have doors or locks at their houses.

They believe that Lord Shani will take care of the thieves and will save them from all sorts of danger. The stories and history of this temple are pretty interesting which makes it one of the best places to visit in Shirdi; especially for curious souls.

Location: Located 65 kilometers from Sai Baba temple.

Timings: 12 am to 12 pm.

Wet N Joy Water Park as the name suggests is water and amusement park that can be counted in the list of popular Shirdi tourist places. Meant for anybody and everybody, this park is the go-to place for experiencing a relaxed, fun-filled day.

With a variety of rides that take care of every age group, this park can be your ideal one-day picnic spot with loved ones. The best time to be here is during summer holidays as the park gives one the opportunity to beat the heat by offering exciting offers on entry price.

Location: Situated close to Sun-n-Sand Hotel at Post Nighoj, Taluka-Rahata, Ahmednagar, Shirdi.

Entry Fee: INR 450 - per child on weekends.
                  INR 700 - per person for adults on weekends.
                  INR 400 - per child from Monday to Friday.
                  INR 650 - per person for adults from Monday to Friday.

Timings: 10 am to 6 pm every day.

This Baug - meaning a garden is where Sai Baba used to come to water plants every day and rest under a neem tree. Devotees believe that Sai Baba had dug a pit of 2 feet depth and had placed an earthen lamp in the pit. Today, a marble enclosure with a lamp inside remains lit at all times, in memory of many episodes of Sai and his followers.

At the entrance of this park are Samadhis of Baba’s devotees - Abdul Baba, Tatya Kote Patil, Bhau Maharaj Kumbhar and Nanavalli. On a visit here, tourists can also visit Gurusthan which is one of the many other places to visit in Shirdi and is closely located.

Location: Mauli Nagar.

Timings: 4 am to 11 pm.

Dwarkamai is a place where Sai Baba lived until the very end of his life. Before Sai Baba’s arrival in Shirdi, this place used to be a mosque in poor conditions. Later, Sai turned it into Dwarkamai where he started healing, curing ill people. He solved all their problems and helped them with solutions to their worries.

Here at Dwarkamai, there are two levels. Level one has two rooms with Sai’s portrait and a huge rock on which he used to sit. While level two has a square shaped stool made of stone, which Sai is believed to have used for bathing. The highlight of Dwarkamai is an oil painting of Sai Baba in which he is sitting on a wooden carved shrine.

Location: Pimpalwadi Road, Rahata, Near Samadhi Mandir.

Timings: Monday to Sunday - 5:30 am to 9:45 pm.

One of the oldest temples in Shirdi, Hanuman Mandir also known as Maruti Mandir is an unusual one. It faces the south and has two idols of Hanuman side by side with a few dumbbells played in a corner; as Hanuman is considered to be the strongest of them all.

This mandir is where sadhus used to live and where Baba used to visit occasionally in the initial days of his arrival in Shirdi. Here, at this temple, two Hindu festivals of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti are celebrated in grand grandeur.

Location: Located near Chavadi and Dwarkamai mosque, Mauli Nagar.

Timings: 7 am to 6 pm on all days.

Jangli Maharaj Ashram is a coeducational, residential school for children in Shirdi. It is owned by a spiritual guru named Om Gurudev. It is well maintained and can be visited by tourists wanting to seek some spirituality. The ashram is a quick drive of 7 kilometers from Shirdi and can be visited on the same day. 

Location: Post - Jeyur Kumbhari, Kokamthan, Kopargaon.

Timings: Monday to Friday from 12 am to 8 pm.

Dedicated to Lord Khandoba, this temple is one of the 13 very highly regarded temples of Khandoba. The main one located in Jejury, close to Pune; while this one in Shirdi has two shrines inside the premises. One consists of Sai Baba’s idol with his padukas arranged together and the other one has Lord Khandoba’s horse - Shyamsundar’s idol placed in it.

It is said that Khandoba was Lord Shiva’s avatar. Moreover, the temple also has icons of Banai and Mhalsai. It is located at a walking distance of 5 minutes from Sai Baba temple and can be considered as one of the historically important places to visit in Shirdi.

Location: Sai Nagar, Nimgaon Korhale.

Timings: 5 am to 10 pm on all days.

A thorough follower of Sai Baba would surely have heard about Laxmibai and her importance for Sai Baba. Ever since Sai had come to Shirdi, he used to ask for food in the neighborhood. It was Laxmibai - Baba’s only female devotee who served him food every single day and for whom Sai always felt grateful.

Here, at the house of Laxmibai Shinde, devotees can take a glance at the displayed collection of nine silver coins which Sai had presented to Laxmibai at the time of his death. The house is situated in the nearby vicinity of the main Sai temple and Dwarkamai and is easy to reach.

Location: Palaki road, Tajimkhan Baba Chauk, Mauli Nagar.

Timings: 7 am to 10 pm on all days.

Located close to Dwarkamai mosque, Baba Chavadi is a Hindu temple where Sai used to spend alternate nights during the last 10 years of life. Here, you can observe the space in which Sai used to meditate and gain spiritual focus and also see the wooden bed on which Sai, is said to have taken his last bath.

The room has two partitions - for ladies and gents. Moreover, what makes this place worth visiting is the weekly procession that takes place as respect and tribute to Sai Baba, which is held every Thursday evening. If you want to attend one, make sure you reach a little before time in order to get decent visibility.

Location: Mauli Nagar.

Timings: 5 am to 12 pm and 4 pm to 9 pm on all days.

Abdul Baba Cottage is a tiny cottage that used to be the home of Abdul Baba - a true follower of Sai. They say Abdul Baba served Sai all his life and shared a special bond with him. Here at his cottage, devotees and tourists can see rare articles of Abdul and Sai, along with a picture of Sai Baba with Swami Chinmayanand.

There are also many other collections that give devotee a glimpse into how Sai Baba lived his life which makes this cottage an important one amongst other places to visit in Shirdi.

Location: Opposite to Chavadi, Mauli Nagar, Shirdi.

Timings: Monday to Sunday - 7 am to 10 pm.

A charming little museum, Dixit Wada Museum is home to some of the rarest black and white images of Sai Baba and villagers. These images are very interesting for devotees and tourists who want to understand the lifestyle of Sai Baba’s days.

The museum also displays a few items of clothing of Baba, along with a Kafni and leather Padukas meaning chappals that belonged to him and his smoking pipes. Except for these, one can see the cooking utensils, water tumblers, gramophone records and a number of other items that were used by Sai Baba.

Location: Sanstha Complex, Mauli Nagar.

Timings: 10 am to 6 pm on all days.