An amazing trip to Shirdi

Two weeks back we had gone to Shirdi..took a sleeper "Volvo" and travelled overnight to the holy town..The trip was just amazing - we put up at a hotel called Kalpataru right infront of the gates of the Shrine. The 100 or so yard strip of road in front of the Shrine is the thoroughfare of Shirdi - choc-a-bloc with tourists, shop keepers, beggars and squatters. But the best part was that we were graced with two darshans to Sai Baba's samadhi, and multiple visits to other places in the complex, including the Chavadi, Dwarkamai Mosque, Lendi Baug and nearby buildings, etc.

We reached Shirdi on Saturday morning, at about 8.30AM. The journey was good - couldn't have asked for more. The bus was like a couple of double beds on wheels - very comfortable. And with multiple stops all the way, we couldn't have asked for more.

On reaching Shirdi, we took a rickshaw to Kalpataru, and waited for a few hours to check-in. Got to know that there are daily power outages of 6-7 hours there (and perhaps across most of Maharashtra). Anyhow, nothing could have been done, and we cared less. We left the confines of the hotel in a few hours and started for a darshan. I had been to Shirdi once before, but didn't remember much about it. So, we joined the long queue that crawled slowly through the large hall that has barricades to keep the queue in order, and that has episodes from Baba's life adorning the walls (everything in Marathi though). After about an hour, we reached the end-point of the hall, only to take a flight of stairs down to a basement and then a flight upstairs leading up to the Sanctum. The main hall housing Baba's samadhi is adorned with gold and silver, and in the middle of the wall on the opposite side of the entrance is Baba's majestic statue. In front of the statue is Baba's tomb, and then two priests chanting prayers as devotees pass by, touching Baba's tomb, offering their prashad or donating some money..the exit is quick. The best part is - you can feel His presence in the place, and infact in whole blessed town. After all, He took alms on the streets of Shirdi, watered the plants of Lendi Baug, leaned on the walls of Dwarkamai, slept in the Chavadi and died in Dikshit Wadi.

After the darshan, we went to the complex housing a museum (we saw the Kaafani and the kurta Baba wore that still has stains, some of his cheelums, a grindstone He used to make flour, and other objects of His daily use...amazing), went to a bookstore and bought some books (I bought Baba's biography in Urdu), went to Lendi Baug and to the well from which He used to  draw water and water the flower plants and shrubs he had planted.

We stayed for much of Sunday as well - some of our friends were to join us that day - and then went for a darshan again (this time, there was no queue and it seemed as if Baba was beckoning us and cleared the entire path for us!). 

We caught the bus back to Indore late Sunday night. The return was eventful as some of our reserved seats had been resold by some unscrupulous agent. Oh yes, that happens in India sometimes. But it was a blessed experience and we are thankful to God , to Baba for everything that we've got.