State: Maharashtra
Distance: 307 km from of Mumbai
Journey Time: By road 7hrs. By rail 5 1/2 hrs + 1 hr by road
Location: In the far north of Ahmednagar district, south-east of Nasik

Shirdi is a place where Sai Baba Reside.The temple serves meals at the Bhojan Griha at Sai Prasad No. 1 for a nominal cost of Rs 5 between 10 am and 10 pm.Shirdi is a vegetarian town. Restaurants do not serve non-veg. Alcohol is forbidden

Nearest Place

Shani Shingnapur (66 km)
The moment you see a house without a door, it means you have entered the village of Shingnapur. This is because the villagers implicitly trust that Shaneshwara, the resident deity, will protect them from all harm, robbery included. Their confidence is rooted in a simple truth: Shaneshwara, or planet Saturn, has chosen their village as his abode on earth.

The other unique feature of the town is the ‘temple’ of the deity. Shaneshwara, a solid, black pillar-like rock, embedded at the centre of a raised platform, has no structure over it because the villagers believe that nothing should come between Shaneshwara and his home in the sky. And like him, the villagers too refuse to be confined by doors or windows.

A line of bare-chested male pilgrims waits patiently to personally perform puja over the deity, who apparently loves being caressed with sweet oil. Women pilgrims sit in a enclave nearby. To get to Shani-Shingnapur, take the road to Ahmednagar from Shirdi and the first left for Belapur. You reach Shani Shingnapur 3 km before you hit the Ahmednagar-Aurangabad state highway.

When to go

All year round. As one devotee said, “You don’t choose when you go to Shirdi; you go when Sai Baba calls.”