Visiting shirdi was always a great releif for me.This year in midst of lot chaos we finally made it to shirdi during the final week of of feb.Getting train tickets to shirdi was always a head ache..and it was no different this time..sai baba has always been a ray of hope in my life i was very sure of making this trip happen at any cost.So we decided to start on 27th of feb and be back by 1st of march.sadly shirdi has not got a station for its own.Kopargaon is the nearest to shirdi & karnataka express which runs between bangalore & delhi is the train which we took.The train runs on all the days of the week.The train started at 7:oopm from bangalore and it reached kopargaon at 2:00 pm the next day..Even though feb is not the best time to travel in north india mainly because of the hot weather in those parts of the country especially if you are not traveling in ac.but then given the amount of rush in shirdi in other months feb was a better choice because of the school exams & stuff like that which happens across the country at that time.After reaching kopargaon you can hire a auto to shirdi..it would be almost 20 kms distance & they would charge you any thing between 150 to 170.& also you can opt for share auto which would be a little more economical especially if you are traveling alone.
Shirdi is a small villiage blessed by sai baba and is exsistance is solely attributed to him.We reached there at around 2:30 in the afternoon,We stayed at Dhantra(Tel: 255890, 255895)which is a decent hotel in shirdi which is a little bit on the higher side but then its very close to the temple hence going to the temple in the early morning can be a lot easier and yeah not to forget the restaurant in this hotel is by far the best you can find in shirdi.There are several poojas whcih are done in shirdi but the main being the kakkad aarthi performed early morning then the afternoon pooja and then the dhoop pooja done in the evening.after reaching shirdi we had a quick lunch from dhantara made ourself fresh and rushed for the dhoop aarti at 5.getting darshan in shirdi is no joke..but this time we were lucky that we got a nice darshan in the eve without having to wait for too long.After finishing darshan we roamed around the small shops around shirdi and got some statues & photos for our house.The next day plan was to go for the kakkad aarthi which was at 5 but then the Que for the same would start from the mid night.we planned to get up @ 2:30 in the night but then by the time we reached que,it was already 4:30 in the morning & it was obvious that we were a little too late.We finally got the darshan @ around 7 in the morning & that was a tiring 3 hours of waiting.But once in front of baba we just forgot every thing we had gone through & it was a feeling of eternal bliss which we had.once we came out of darshan we visited the near by hanuman mandir & took part in the aarthi which was taking place at that time & then had a quick walk around again to find some thing to shop.Here i would like to warn any one going to shirdi that if you are going for the 1st time or even if you are going nth number of time please don't forget to shop around because you would find bizarre differences in prizes for the same item in shops which are just adjacent to each other.The more you shop around the lesser the chances of you getting ripped off.after buying a few things we rushed to our hotel room to grab some sleep & then left for kopargaon around 3:00 in the afternnon.the train was supposed to arrive at 4:20 but then KK express as it is comonly known kept the tradition of indian railways alive and came 2 hours late.after waiting for 2 long hours in a place were there were hardly any amenities i was dying to get some rest with all hopes as soon as i entered my sleeper coach what i saw jolted me..there were 10 people sitting in a place were only 6 were supposed to..I was too weak to protest & then taught would better wait for the ticket checker.But then by the time TT turned up it was 8 in the night and also he was a new guy who hardly knew to talk.finally after a long wait food arrived i stuffed in what ever i could & then jumped on to the upper berth to sleep only to find that there was lot of garbage lying out there..with little options at my hand i ended up cleaning up all that shit,Finally by the time i got some sleep it was around 12:00 mid night.We reached bangalore the next day around 2:00 pm and it was nice to be back home.
All this time there was one person who was calm & understanding and tolerating all my tantrums with patience and that was my wife.In this way we both made our second visit to shirdi after marriage.
OM SAI RAM.
Shirdi is a small villiage blessed by sai baba and is exsistance is solely attributed to him.We reached there at around 2:30 in the afternoon,We stayed at Dhantra(Tel: 255890, 255895)which is a decent hotel in shirdi which is a little bit on the higher side but then its very close to the temple hence going to the temple in the early morning can be a lot easier and yeah not to forget the restaurant in this hotel is by far the best you can find in shirdi.There are several poojas whcih are done in shirdi but the main being the kakkad aarthi performed early morning then the afternoon pooja and then the dhoop pooja done in the evening.after reaching shirdi we had a quick lunch from dhantara made ourself fresh and rushed for the dhoop aarti at 5.getting darshan in shirdi is no joke..but this time we were lucky that we got a nice darshan in the eve without having to wait for too long.After finishing darshan we roamed around the small shops around shirdi and got some statues & photos for our house.The next day plan was to go for the kakkad aarthi which was at 5 but then the Que for the same would start from the mid night.we planned to get up @ 2:30 in the night but then by the time we reached que,it was already 4:30 in the morning & it was obvious that we were a little too late.We finally got the darshan @ around 7 in the morning & that was a tiring 3 hours of waiting.But once in front of baba we just forgot every thing we had gone through & it was a feeling of eternal bliss which we had.once we came out of darshan we visited the near by hanuman mandir & took part in the aarthi which was taking place at that time & then had a quick walk around again to find some thing to shop.Here i would like to warn any one going to shirdi that if you are going for the 1st time or even if you are going nth number of time please don't forget to shop around because you would find bizarre differences in prizes for the same item in shops which are just adjacent to each other.The more you shop around the lesser the chances of you getting ripped off.after buying a few things we rushed to our hotel room to grab some sleep & then left for kopargaon around 3:00 in the afternnon.the train was supposed to arrive at 4:20 but then KK express as it is comonly known kept the tradition of indian railways alive and came 2 hours late.after waiting for 2 long hours in a place were there were hardly any amenities i was dying to get some rest with all hopes as soon as i entered my sleeper coach what i saw jolted me..there were 10 people sitting in a place were only 6 were supposed to..I was too weak to protest & then taught would better wait for the ticket checker.But then by the time TT turned up it was 8 in the night and also he was a new guy who hardly knew to talk.finally after a long wait food arrived i stuffed in what ever i could & then jumped on to the upper berth to sleep only to find that there was lot of garbage lying out there..with little options at my hand i ended up cleaning up all that shit,Finally by the time i got some sleep it was around 12:00 mid night.We reached bangalore the next day around 2:00 pm and it was nice to be back home.
All this time there was one person who was calm & understanding and tolerating all my tantrums with patience and that was my wife.In this way we both made our second visit to shirdi after marriage.
OM SAI RAM.
