10 Results found for Search: religious destinations
1. Abdul Baba Cottage, Shirdi.
Abdul Baba was one of Sai Baba’s most fervent followers. His small, green-colored cottage opposite Chavadi in Shirdi, is an interesting collection of memoirs. A tour of the house takes you to the main room comprising exhibits of Sai Baba with Abdul. You will also come across a photograph of Baba with Swami Chinmayanand.
2. Chavadi, Shirdi.
Located close to Dwarkamai mosque, Chavadi is a humble two-room house where Sai Baba used to sleep after returning from the procession from Dwarkamai to Chavadi. Devotees hold this place dear to their hearts because Baba during the last decade of his life spent alternate nights here, also his body was bathed for the last time at Chavadi before his funeral. Make a brief trip to this place and see the asan (seat) on which Sai Baba used to sit - a wooden plank and a wheelchair bought by him are also placed at Chavadi.
3. Dwarkamai, Shirdi.
Located on the right side of the entrance to Samadhi Mandir, Dwarkamai is a holy site where Sai Baba spent most of his day hours. This is believed to be the site where Baba met the distressed people and solved their woes. Legend has it that, he would distribute prasad (holy sweet) to the devotees which would cure their maladies and bring an end to their miseries. Dwarkamai is actually a mosque spread across two levels. In the first level, you will see a portrait of Sai Baba and a big stone on which he used to sit.
4. Gurusthan, Shirdi.
A site of immense religious significance, Gurusthan is the spot where Sai Baba took to meditation after first arriving at Shirdi as a 16-year-old child ascetic. He is believed to have sat in deep contemplation under a shady Margosa (Neem) tree in this site, and it is this Neem tree which is referred to in ‘Sai Sat-Charitra’. The place is called Gurusthan (meaning the place of the Guru) because it is also the shrine where Sai Baba’s spiritual leader took samadhi (gave up his body). The Neem tree, under which Baba sat after first coming to Shirdi, is said to have absorbed miracle powers.
5. Jangli Maharaj Ashram, Shirdi.
Located on the Shirdi-Manmad State Highway, the Vishwatmak Jangli Maharaj Ashram is about 7 kilometers (4 miles) from Shirdi. The ashram runs under the guidance of spiritual guru Vishwatmak Gurudev Janglidas Maharaj. This spiritual-cum-socio-educational centre aims at teaching, preaching, guiding, and experiencing the soul. It also runs a co-educational residential school for children.
6. Khandoba Mandir, Shirdi.
A very old temple, Khandoba Mandir is located on the Ahmednagar-Kopergaon road near Shri Sainath Hospital in Shirdi. Khandoba is the presiding deity of the Shirdi village, and the temple has sculpted icons of Khandoba, Banai and Mhalsai. It is believed that Sai Baba had stepped here in Shirdi at the foot of a banyan tree near Khandoba Mandir to attend a marriage procession. And on seeing him the head priest of the temple, Mhalsapati, called out “ya Sai”, thus the friar without a name began to be called Sai Baba.
7. Maruti Temple, Shirdi.
The old Maruti Temple was of special significance to Sai Baba as he used to come here religiously. It is located half way between Dwarkamai and Chavadi, just a few minutes from Abdul Baba’s cottage. Sai Baba would hold satsangs (religious sermons) here along with Devidas, a bal yogi (young devout) who used to reside in this temple about 10-12 years before Baba’s coming to Shirdi. It is believed that Maruti Temple is the only temple besides Khandoba in the Shirdi village to have direct association with the life of the benevolent saint, Sai Baba.
8. Samadhi of Abdul Baba, Shirdi.
Abdul Baba was one of Sai Baba’s most ardent followers, and used to read out the Quran to him. His samadhi (memorial) is located within the premises of the Shri Sai Baba Temple. Abdul Baba’s Samadhi gets a lot of visitors who come to view the photographs and various things that were once used by Sai Baba.
9. Shri Sai Baba Samadhi Mandir, Shirdi.
The great Shri Sai Baba Samadhi Mandir is located at the heart of the quaint town of Shirdi..The temple complex highlights the mausoleum of Shri Sai Baba constructed in pure white marble by a wealthy Sai devotee Shreemant Gopalrao Buti from Nagpur in 1917-18. He wished to set up the idol of Muralidhar (a Hindu deity), but legend has it that there came a makeover of Baba on the Muralidhar idol, and thus came to be the samadhi (memorial) of Sai Baba. The temple comprises exquisite silver pillars adorned with elaborate designs.
10. Upasani Maharaj Ashram, Shirdi.
Upasani Maharaj Ashram is located off the Shirdi-Ahmednagar State Highway. Upasani Maharaj was an ardent follower of Shri Sai Baba, and had three spiritual heirs. The samadhi (memorial) of the Maharaj and the samadhi of one of his disciples are placed inside the ashram. You will see people queue up with flowers to pay tribute to the great saint of the 20th century.