The village of Shirdi

The village of Shirdi

Verily Shirdi is my Pandharpur and Sai Baba is Lord Vittal. Pure and unalloyed devotion (which flows at Shirdi) is the River Chandrabhaga; mindful awareness in the hearts of devotees in Shirdi is the holy locus where Bhakta Pundalik is ensconced. Attention one and all! Come, come quickly and make obeisance to Sai Baba! 

--Das Ganu Maharaj (Shirdi Noon Arati, psalm No. IV)

Roughly halfway down the Indian subcontinent, in the state of Maharashtra, about 300 kms inland from the state capital of Mumbai (Bombay), lies the small town of Shirdi. Little more than an overgrown village, Shirdi is situated in the heart of the sugar-cane belt of Maharashtra. In the Rahata Taluka of Ahmednagar District, Shirdi is home to about 22,000 people and is the pilgrimage destination of a further eight to ten million a year. It is said to be the most frequented place of pilgrimage in India after Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. And why do people come to this dusty rural corner of India in such vast numbers? To seek the blessings of Sri Sai Baba, as they have done for more than one hundred years!

Before we explore the Shirdi of the second millennium, let us take a brief look at the village as it would have appeared to a contemporary of Sai Baba.

When Sri Sai Baba came to Shirdi in the mid-nineteenth century, it was a rustic hamlet of about a thousand people (mostly labourers and artisans), with approximately 200 houses, one village well, a few shops selling basic provisions and some small, rather run-down temples. The village was partially bordered by prickly cactus, and the present Lendi Gardens was an area of wasteland with a grove of trees and two streams running through it. The state of Maharashtra did not exist (it was created only in 1960), the area being divided up under British rule into the Bombay Presidency, and the Nizam's Dominions, which were independent. 

By 1910 the village of Shirdi had become slightly more prosperous, though Mrs Tarkhad, a Sai Baba devotee and regular visitor from Bombay, still found it "little more than a neglected hamlet without any lighting, sweeping or other conveniences of civilization... The streets and passages were all dark and unlit at night." By then, Baba's mosque had already taken on the character of a darbar (royal court), which it was to retain till the end of his mortal days.

The sacred Godavari River, which has its source a few kilometers away from nearby Nasik, flows not far from Shirdi. Pilgrims coming from the direction of Manmad/Kopergaon have to cross the river near Kopergaon. Visitors to Shirdi often take a dip in its holy waters. Geographically, Shirdi is also linked to the pilgrim sites of Nasik, Pandharpur and Gangapur. Maharashtra itself has a long and rich tradition of poet-saints - Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath, Tukaram (several of whose psalms have been incorporated into the Shirdi aratis), and Sufi saints, so it is fitting that Sri Sai Baba should have appeared here and further blessed the land.  Any visitor alighting at Shirdi today will find it abuzz with devotional activity and energy, day and night. Moreover, many new buildings have been constructed in the last few years and the Sri Sai Baba Sansthan recently completed its grand master-plan for the reconstruction of the Temple Complex. What emerged is an elegant and spacious complex, fulfilling the purpose of paying homage to Baba and enabling visitors to experience his presence in a more congenial environment. Though still not much more than a village, Shirdi these days is filled with hotels, lodges, places to eat, travel agencies, booths broadcasting devotional music, and small shops selling flower garlands, incense, puja materials, books on Sai Baba, cards of Sai Baba, pictures of Sai Baba, statues of Sai Baba... and an ever-expanding variety of souvenirs: in short, everything to facilitate a pilgrim's visit - for life in Shirdi revolves almost exclusively around Sai Baba.  Wherever you turn, you are reminded that this was where Sai Baba spent his life; it was here that the saint settled; it was from here that he influenced and moulded the lives of countless human beings; and it was from here that a divine influence has emanated, so powerful, so mysterious and so irresistible, that it drew - and draws - millions to it. Pulled by the magnetic force of Sai Baba, a tangible sense of the sacred, and a thrill of recognition that the divine is immanent and is responding to our prayers and needs, the number of pilgrims visiting Shirdi is increasing at a phenomenal rate. When G. S. Khaparde, one of the prominent contemporary devotees of Sri Sai Baba, remarked, "Sai Baba fulfils my idea of God on earth," he was expressing the sentiment and experience of many. This continues to be the reality for those who are fortunate enough to come into contact with Sai Baba, and Shirdi is the place where this reality can be most deeply and immediately experienced.