Shirdi / Sai Baba temple

"SABKA MALIK EK HAI" meaning there is only "ONE GOD FOR ALL" 

1. Shani Shingnapur 2. Grishineshwar (Jyotirling temple)  3. Ellora caves 4. Bibi ka maqbara 5. Triambakeshwar 6. Bhimashankar (Jyotirling temple) 

We had been to SAIBABA temple at Shirdi on August 14. as we did not get a direct train to Kopargaon (Karnataka Express), our journey was through Lokamanya Tilak (Kurla Express) from Bangalore to Daund and from there we took Daund Nanded fast passenger till Kopargaon (for more help please visit www.erail.in or https://www.irctc.co.in) We took a share auto to reach Shirdi, charges per person was 30/- (if there are more people). One can rent a complete auto (tata ace) for four people as a single family but then rates would be 300

If the plan is to go by train to Shirdi it is always adviceable to book tickets as and when the dates open in IRCTC i.e., minimum 2-3 months before (there are direct trains to Shirdi from Bangalore), also there are lot of buses to Shirdi and moreover bus routes are faster and they take less time, we can plan as per our own convinence 

There are number of hotels available we stayed in a hotel that is at the backside of the temple (Baija Maa Hotel), on our way back to bangalore we came to know through one of our co passengers that there is online booking for darshan and also there is ashram built by the temple trust wherein rooms are available for pretty moderate rates the rooms can be sought through prebooking, there are more than 500 rooms well maintained with hot water provision with cafeteria and provisional stores also and it is few minutes from temple (should be preferred)

For economical benefits it would be good if we can cover Shani Shingnapur and Grishineshwar on a single trip that costed us 2500/- and Bhimashankar (Jyotirling temple) Ellora caves, Bibi ka maqbara, Triambakeshwar on another trip costing us 3500/- rates mentioned are by Maruti Swift vehicle, we tried lot of variations to visit Bhimashankar temple but found that it would require more than 4 or 5 days excluding journey time, this would be different if one is planning to visit by air, our second trip was stretched it would be necessary to get a good cab and good driver. 

Our journey to Bhimashankar temple was awesome in the early morning hours, the temple located at Sahayadri hills enjoyed travelling through clouds and mist. It was drizzling adding beauty, we enjoyed the journey very much, there are regular abhishekams and pooja performed to the Lord, we got a slot booked for abhisekam charges 1500/- at 1130 am i would say this was the most unforgettable experience as we spent more than 30 minutes inside the moola sthanam, then we had been to Bibi ka maqbara, Ellora caves, but had to rush at the end to Triambakeshwar temple as it would close by 930 pm, we left shirdi in the morning at 600 am and returned night 100 am 

We returned bangalore through Karnataka Express on Monday 19.08.2013, overall it was a very good experience.

for any queries mail : karthee16@gmail.com