Shirdi trip with family and experiences - Shirdi Sai Baba

Hi Everyone… Om Sai Ram! Going to Shirdi Sai Baba Temple has almost become a routine trip for my family last 5 years, we always plan to visit shirdi on every 26 January (independence day) due to holiday with 1-2 office leaves., I get to go there at least once a year. This year, as usual, it was an on-the-spur-of-the-moment-decision, and off we went, with a private bus hired at the last moment. We started at around 10:30PM, and without halting anywhere enroot, reached Shirdi at around 8:00AM.

We finally reached Shirdi at 12 PM which meant we had a whole day to spend in Shirdi.

Shirdi is a holy place which was blessed by the appearance of a modern day saint, Sai Baba, some 120 years ago. Through His blessings, He liberated people of their sufferings and sorrows and also performed numerous miracles.

After spending 65 years in the service of mankind, Sai Baba took Samadhi in Shirdi itself, where a huge temple stands today - The Samadhi temple - from where the Baba continues to inspire new hopes and happiness amongst His believers. We have captured this scene in video as our memories. Watch now here:

Video about Samadhi Temple taken by Mobile phone from outside Shirdi temple

Where Should We Stay (Accommodation)?

Let me tell you there is no shortage of accommodation in Shirdi. But it is suitable to book your rooms in advance if you are planning to visit on special Thursdays, weekends, festivals and holidays. We checked in into our pre booked room at sai ashram bhaktniwas which is situated at a walking distance of 5 min from the Samadhi temple. The rooms are quite spacious and clean, the service good.

Where Should We Eat?

Now talking about eating in Shirdi then there is number of hotels on the way of road side. It depends on your budget. Apart from that The Sai Devotees take the food as Prasad with great satisfaction. Many generous Sai devotees with trustful involvement donate meals for all the Sai Devotees with free of cost during the time of heavy rush.  The facility of Prasad bhojan of the "SHRI SAI PRASADALAYA" which was earlier situated next to the samdhi mandir, has been permanently at walking distance.

At present, in the Sai prasadalaya, everyday 25 to 30 thousand Sai devotees take meal as a Prasad. During the time of vacation and festivals of Lord Saibaba the number of Sai devotees hikes up to 55 thousand. Free Prasad meals are served to poor, blind handicapped & sages. Like this, approx 1000 persons are served everyday with this facility. Expenses for a plate of Prasad meal is around Rs. 15/-. Saibaba Sansthan provides Prasad meals to all Sai devotees to Rs. 10/- only. Apart from this, Children below age 10 are charged Rs 3/- for the same. The prasadalaya’s yearly expenditure is Rs 30 cores.

How to reach Shirdi?

Shirdi is well connected by roads to most cities in Maharashtra. It is situated at a distance of 400 km from Indore, 190 km from Pune and about 100 km from Nashik.

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Tourist Attraction and Best Places to Visit near Katra

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Katra is the holy place for the devotees who are traveling the sacred shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and its surrounding place. The expedition to the shrine from Katra is a walking distance of around 14 km and is full of amazing views. Tourist can easily connect through Katra, a small town in Udhampur District, from Jammu city, which is around 45 km away. Dotted with numerous hotels, restaurants and Dhabas, Katra is a prime destination of Jammu and Kashmir tourism. Being associated with Mata Vaishno Devi journey, most of the tourist attractions places in near Katra are places like Maa Vaishno Devi Mandir,Ban Ganga, Ardh Kuwari Cave, Bhairavnath Temple, City Shopping, Ranbireshwar Temple, Chenab River, Sanasar Lake,  Dera Baba Banda, Agar Jitoo.

1. Maa Vaishno Devi Mandir

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2. Ban Ganga

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3. Ardh Kuwari Cave

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4. Bhairavnath Temple

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5. City Shopping

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6. Ranbireshwar Temple

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7. Chenab River

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Hope the above valuable information will help you during journey. You may leave your review comments. If you want to add more information then please go ahead.

Wishing you & your family a very happy journey. :)

A Sweet Journey to Vaishno Devi Temple, Jammu India

     चलो बुलावा  आया है ! माता ने बुलाया है !!  ---    Let's have a call! Mother called!!

The Intention of writing this blog is to make all you devote aware as to how to reach Vaishno Devi. This blog probably will help you to explore the option to reaching there & will make your journey more comfortable.

 It is a big belief by every devotee that the holy tour to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi starts after the call from mata (Vaishno Devi). You may have analyzed these inner feelings of faith but it is more than belief and many pilgrims have gained experiences regarding this.

Mata Vaishno devi mandir is a holy place of Hindu Religion situated in Trikuta hills of Himalaya in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir. This temple also a famous pilgrimage destination. Vaishno Devi, also known as Mata Rani, Trikuta and Vaishnavi, is a manifestation of the Hindu Mother Goddess Mahalakshmi. The words "maa" and "mata" are commonly used in India for "mother", and thus are often used in connection with Vaishno Devi.

How to reach Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple by Train?

Mata Vaishno Devi temple is 12 Kms away from Katra. Katra is well connected by Road to Jammu. Jammu is very well connected by Train, Road, and Air from all metros of India.

If you are planing to visit by train go through http://www.irctc.co.in IRCTC does have package for Vaishno devi yatra. A Rajdhani Train also runs from Delhi - Jammu route on every Friday.

Where to Stay in Katra?

When you arrived to Jammu railway station then you can then reach Katra Station by bus or you can hire a taxi. Katra is 40 Km from Jammu & Travel time would be around 2 hrs. The journey is a bit tiring and you will need to freshen up after reaching there.

It is always suggest taking a hotel for your stay there, it takes a day to go to the vaishno devi shrine and come back and more importantly one cannot carry all the luggage. The place Katra is covered with Hotels. Your Bus will drop you at Katra Bus station. Hotels of all budgets are available in Katra. When you arrive Katra you will find yourself surrounded by many agents for rooms.

So I would suggest you to not to listen them all. Be calm & search hotel as per your requirement with bargaining (Indian people good always in mol-bhav) . If you booked for hotel online then it is also fine. I come to know there are many hotel rooms booking websites which provides online facility for hotels. You can do some googling for this J.

The Average Room Rent in offseason is INR350 (Non A/C Room) & INR600 (A/C Room). In Peak Season this figure would be around INR500 & INR750 respectively.

Before You starting your Yatra..

Before You Being your Yatra, first thing you need to go is to get Yatra Parchi from Shrine Board office which is located on Katra Bus Stand.

Have a good bath & if you want take a short nap then go ahead. Have a meal & start your Journey.

You can to cover 12 km yatra by following options:

1. Helicopter

2. Pittu

3. Horses

4. Rickshaw

5. Walking

You can rest at bhawan. With free Blankets service are also available there. For every blanket you need to deposit INR100 as a Secuirty.

Hope the above valuable information will help you during journey. You may leave your review comments. If you want to add more information then please go ahead.

Wishing you & your family a very happy journey. 

Jai Mata Di.........