Shirdi Pilgrimage

                                     SHIRDI    SAI DARSHAN  PILGRIMAGE

 1. There is lot of Package Tours available for Shirdi Darshan combined with Shani Shinganapur
     and nearby temples.
 2. As suggestsed earlier Elderly People can chose Operators offering with Food & Accomodation.
     Be sure that minimum 24 hours stay in Shirdi and accomodation in Shirdi if by Train.
 3. Just like Tirupathy all amenities area avilable at Shirdi. But unlike Tirupathi we have language
     problems if we do not know Hindi. 
 4. Online booking for darshan/Arthy darshan with pre timings through Browsing center or Our 
     system.We have to scan our Photo and Identity Proof for getting Darshan Tickets through
     online. We have to take original Id proof  when we go to the Temple.
     the darshan will be hastle free if we do like above. But due to security reasons the Shirdi
     Samasthan has restricted the number of tickets issued per day.
5.  Like TTD, here also we should utilise only Sai sansthan genuine web sites for bookings.

One can go easily to Shirdi through Sai Nagar express from Chennai to Shirdi.
At Shirdi accomodation can be availed in Sai sansthan choultries near Bus Stand. there are
lot of rooms at concessional rates - very nice accomodations.We should have Id Proofs 
originals with address & Photo for bookings.
Sai Darshan can be had very easily even on Thursdays within 3 to 4 hours , thanks to the best
que system maintained there. While going we can Purchase Sweets etc as Prasad and if we give
to the Pandits near Samathi, they will return after placing the Bags near the lotus feet of Sai Bagwan.
The sweets can be Had as Prasadams.
In Shirdi Sai Sansthan Campus we should have darshan of the following without fail:
  Samathi Manthir/Samathi - We can have feww minutes meditation in Sai samathi Hall after entering
                                            from  Mukthi darshan Gate at back side.
  The Nanda Deep/Neem Tree - While coming out of the samathi manthir at the back side of the
                                                   Sai Bagvan/Samaathi . the neem Tree shall be done prathakshanam
                                                   and the light also.
  The Museum - where the Sai Charithra miracles/ actual things utilised by Sai Bagwan are being
   displayed The Meditation Hall                - Where we can mediatate and can read Sai Charithra                                                                             Episodes   if we took the book there.
  The Samathi Temples of Associates of Sai Bagawan - in the same campus .
  Lord Shiva, Lord Hanuman, Lord Ram Sitha and Lord Shaneeswar - small temples within the
                                                                      campus.
  Uthi Packet shall be ontained. Only one packet will be available.If need more, we can give                                            donation  in the Trust Office Room and we will get receipt and  few extra                                             packets of uthi.
 The Medium sized Hanuman temple at the back side of the Campus near Mukthi darshan gate                                     shall also be seen.
  The Dwaraka Mai - temple / The Chavadi / the Dhuni - All near by in the Campus shall be seen.                                    All are  associated with Sai History.
  From local enquiry we are informed that there few Families of the Persons who are Blessed by                                       Baba in his life time still in the village.  since the Whole Shirdi - once a village                                   - is now turned out as a commercial spot with full of lodges,  hotels & shops -                                     the residences have dis appeared. But we can see few houses and also we can                                    see  coins given to an old lady by Shirdi Baba - still preserved by the family                                      and also few places where Sai  Bagwan had done miracles.
  Shree Vittobhaa Mandhir Opp Sai Sansthan Campus. the Shiva Mandhir - of which Priest has                                          named The Baba ( previously known as Fakir in his lifetime) as Sai and later                                    known as Sai Baba. Incidentally
  Sai in Marathi means "mother" also. The Present Priest is also said to be from the family of                                            same priest.
  
Sai Sansthan Canteen Daramshala provides Food , Cofee & Tea at a very low prices. Both South Indian & North Indian Food available against pre paid takens. ONly self service - very neatly
maintained very nice dining place.
Devotees should make it compulsory to take at least once in the Daramshala/Prsadalaya  the Food affered by The Sai Bagwan. It Is " genuine" prasadam of Sai.  The Oven ( Aduppu)  fire is being started by spark being taken from Sai Dhuni , the flame which is from Sai  Bagwan lifetime.

Costwise Murugan travels/Traveltimes are economical & reasonable.
Almost all operators operating 4/5 days tour from Chennai and advertising are offering without food etc and they are not dependable in few angles. 
If the operator is personally known, you can select but the pilgrims shall be with in 20 and the Guide shall be with you always. While going by Train Except  Namagiri Travels, trichy(while by separate coach) and Traveltimes ( IRCTC) all others including Murugan Travels are making fuss in getting Tickets confirmed and getting lower berths for elderly invalids. they assured while booking but not doing so in most of the Times . This turns into Problems in Non Tamil areas where Railway staff could not be convinced .
Within rs 10000/= one can go by Flight from Chennai through Vasanth Travels ( Sholapur) having office in Chennai and Akshaya Travels. We have to book well in advance. The  Vasanth Travels is very nice with good accomodation at Shirdi/Good Darshan/  Very good transportation arrangements from Chennai & Pune and also very good south indian food.

TEMPLES IN MAHARASHTRA NEARBY;
1. Nasik, Panchavadi,Thrayambakeswarar  jothilingam, Balaji Mandir
2. Ajantha, Ellora Caves- Bhimashankar Jothilingam Temples
3. Ashtaganapathy Temple, Sona lakshmi Mandir - Pune
4. Sholapur,Devi Mandir,Duljapur Bavani Mandir , Akalkot Samarthaguru Ramadoss Samathi
    Pandaripuram Vital temple and nearby Places. 

PILGRIMS ARE KINDLY REQUESTED TO DO BEFORE VISITING:

 To Read About Pandaripuram and the Leelas by Lord Vittalan with all Namasangeerthanees
 like Sri Nathamuni, Sri Goraknath, Sri Ekanaathar, Sri Gora Kumbar, Janaa Bhaai,
 Sri  Naamadevar etc . In fact Vitaalan has served all his Bhakthas in many ways, doing normal
 household works, other small repairs of the their houses etc.
 ________

To  read  Sai Charithra and know the Shirdi Bhagwan Leelaas and Life history.
To  read  Akalkot Samartha Ramadoss Swamikal  Leela Stories .It is said that Samatha
                Ramadoss Swamikal is reincarnation of Lord Hanuman and the voice of
                Swami is still hearable from his Samaathi at Akalkot.
________














  

PACKAGE TOURS

                                              PACKAGE  TOURS FOR TEMPLES

All the submissions are my personal experiences or the personal experiences of the Pilgrims
who have narrated their experiences so.

Package Tours Operated :

1. There are professional agents who have been arranging tours for the past many years from
    Trichy/Madurai. In the selection of Operators please chose
     a) only operators who offer with food etc and complete shall be preferred. Normally these
         opearators are very economical and they provide only dormitary accomodation in choultries
         etc.,.But if  we inform them earlier through the guide who will accompany till return, they will
         arrange  lodging to our taste maximum possible available in that place. Even though we can
         not expect variety in Food during Tours - Madurai Murugan Travels/ IRCTC through
         Traveltimes Madurai, Namaagiri Travels Trichy are few who offer Package Tour with
          food etc. Their guides are also enough care takers of the aged and Traveltimes have in
         Train doctor.
       
         There are few Local Operators offering tours in South India in Deluxe Buses. The main
         problem with them is the journey in Bus will be tedious whatever comfortable the Bus will
         be in luxury.Their temple visits will also be restricted to few as per schedule. It is also
         highly ridiculous that Few Vaishnavie Operators will visit only Perumal Temples in the
         Pilgrim Places and they will not go to any Shiva or Other Temples popular in the nearby
         areas. Or they will give few hours for the Devotees intereted to see the Other Temples
         on their own.

 2.    There are many operators who are advertising in Medias who have supports from Religious
        People and there are few Godmen like Poojya Shree Ravishankarjee or EEsha Jaggi Gurujee
        or Baba Shiva Sankarjee who have been arranging limited numebre of devotees. All these
        are highly costly and only effluent people who can afford can go there. Usually Tours by
        Godmen are like 5 star luxury tours where you will have no inconvenience regarding anything
        except restrictions of your movements within their limits.

 3.    Similarly avoid Package tours without provision of  Food & Accomodations.

 All the above are only people who donot know Hindi / who are elderly. If there is any youth in the
 Team any place can be visited conveniently using many online booking services for buses/trains/cabs/
 lodges. In populat tourist places all over India you can demand cab driver knowing Tamil through
 online. In places like Haridwar/Rishikesh  language is no problem as most of them know Tamil and
 Malyaalees/Tamils have shops there.
 Similarly in tOurist spots you can prefer staying in Area where Tamils are present. Eg - Varanasi
 at Hanumanghat/Harischadra Ghat Area. Near Visalakshi Amman koil etc, In Allahabad near Darya Ganj,
 In Big Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta you can book lodges through online where Tamil Food available
 in Tamil Area. they will also have Cabs for Touring around.
 Internet is very useful and you can search for temple priest contact numbers for any temples and you can
 arrange tours by yourself. They will arrange pick up from Railways and drop at destination.
 Also please dont be attracted too much by advertisements coming in Intenet websites for various temple  archanas or religious homams. They are nothing but commercials. may be useful for NRIs residing abroad.

 Contact numbers for any temple visits and temples for various parihaarams or slokas will be given if enquired through saicuresall@gmail.com or by posting here the enquiry.
 This is purely as assistance and no benefit is expected for the reply.

                                           TIRUPATHI   BALAJI  DARSHAN

The Highest Records for Devotees Darshan still with Lord Balaji only.

No one can deny that Balaji Darshan will definitely give immediate relief, particularly monetary relief since money is the root cause of all problems.

My Experience in First visit to Balaji is in 1980s through Train & Bus to uphill in the early morning in 1980s. We have to wait for whole night for getting Bus to thirumala from aliperi - adivaram before the gate. I also wondered why so much crowd inspite of these hardships.After getting Darshan and after returning to Chennai the very next day I get Rs 400/- as an incentive ( which is very rare in office jobs) hot cash from my Employer. Rs 400 in 1980 is equivalent to minimum 50000 now. In my second visit also I got an unexpected bonanza immediately after visit.
The most unforgettable evnt in my life is Once we went by Paada yatra to uphill and we three were blessed by Balaji to serve as Sevarthees in Hundi checkings on that day. the whole day we were in the Temple precincts. After return I have to leave the job then working, and join in a new place where I have been still working for more than 3o years with full satisfaction and rewards.
I am still thrilled of Balaji's Blessings. Thirupathi Lord is instant & you need not wait for his reaction to your darshan with difficulty.

From then onwards We have been visiting Him often whenever possible. He has been giving whatever we deserve and we never felt for our Hardships faced in Darshan. But For the sake of convenience The Following Details are given.

Tips For Convenient Darshan.

1. If you are from any part in Tamilnadu and you need only Darshan and return immediately , please contact AndraPradesh Tourism development Corporation Buses offering Package Tours to Tirupathi and having agents all over Tamilnadu. Their Package Tours will safely take you to Thirumala ,their guide will provide assistance in getting laddus etc and assured of safe return. They offer the tour by Push Back Buses/ Ac & Volvo also. darshan also due to their arrangements with TTDevasthanam  will be within two hours.

For tonsuring heads, arranging "kaathu kuthal" "thulaapaaram" also The guides will arrange smoothly.  Devotees are requested to see only APTDC  packages since due to Political & other reasons the packages offered by other states & devotees coming through other operators have not been giving  preference as to APTDC.

Similarly if the Devotees Family want to visit Thirumala exceeds 4 -They can arrange Cabs, They can book online for any Seva Darshan/ as well as accomodation well in  advance and have a nice / crowd free Darshan by booking 50Rs Tickets with pretimings as per rules & with two days stay in the Thirumala itself. Food etc is available at APTDC restaurants irself and there is a Woodlands & other restarantsalso in the uphill.

If they need more number of days stay & darshan - Devotees can stay in Thirupathi Town where lot of accomodations at affordable costs with all facilities are vailable. There are also good Hotels offering quality food , known to all like - Bheemas,Annapoorna etc.,

If stay is in Thirupathi - they can see the lot ofTemples around thirupathi ( under the same management TTDC of TTDevasthanam) in the Cab. All the nearby temples are connected to Lord Balaji Life and the whole Place & Hill are blessed by Lotus Feet of Lord Balaji. It is a story that Annamaacharaya and SRi ramaanujar (only because of presence of Balaji Feet in the Hills) went up the Hills by Head Down with Hands as Feet.

    

     There are also lot of routine bus services/train services to Thirupathi from all parts of Tamilnadu.Devotees can  conveniently come by any one after booking, stay in tirupathi town and have darshan as they wish and  return to their palces safely.

2. If you are From chennai or suburbs

     Just like above you can chose APTDC,ITDC  Buses offering daily packages to Tirupathi and have  convenient darshan . You can return the same day. All the operators affer break fast and one time food  included in the cost. the food will be of standard quality.

     Journey canbe by Train/Bus through advance booking, stay in lower tirupathi and darshan of balaji and all nearby temples.

     All the Devotees are requested to note the following Please:

          There are lot of Package Tour Operators to tirupathi from Chennai. Except one or two No operator is genuine in services .

          Most of the Online packages are through agents and your online payment goes to the Principal only ,who is not aware of the vehicle condition,driver or guide. In most of these privte operators there will not be guides , drivers acting as guides. If vans they will come only upto adivaram where they will arrange for Uphill bus and go. the private operators liability ends at dropping you at the que complex  for Seegra Darshan Most of the vehicles are not good and the drivers/staff will not be  responsive.These online operators utilise the ignorance of North Indian devotees and cash on them. 

         Devotees are requested not to go for Online Booking through various unauthorised operators in this  field. They are advised to use only Packages offered Government Sector Agencies or TTD itself.

REQUEST TO DeVOTEES

    1. Devotees are requested to Enter for Balaji Darshan ONLY  after  visiting Adi varahar Temple situated near the Temple Tank. This is an important riytual prevailing there. Varaha Perumal is there long before Lord balaji existence. even though God may not mistake or treat it as partiality, it is our duty to see the eldest in the family first before darshan of balaji.

   2.  Please dont have casual talks which lead to uttering non religious words - while standing in the Q. Better to murmur any slokams or govinda govinda while the Q moving.

   3.  Please dont get Paicky while entering the sanctum of the temple since there will be crampedness from  all sides in the Q at that time . Move smoothly , have darshan smoothly return safely.

   4.  Offerings now can be put in any of the Hundis placed inside the Temple. It need not be only in one  Hundi where there is Q. Even the outside Hundi is below Mahalakshmi in Gold and all Hundial offerings will be known to God.

   

   5.   Dont forget to Darshan Narasimhar,varahar,garudan present in the inside Praharams.Similarly round the  Outer Praharam fully before leaving the Temple Premises. 

 

This Blog postings will be only an Experience by us in various tours to Temples in the Past.

 Please note that there is no intention of soliciting or publicity for any third party concerned.

 for Temple Tours.

 If any message - inadvertently - meant as soliciting Readers can take that only as part of postings

 and all are kindly requested to peruse the details further through web or  personally about the contents  for further details.