Sai Baba Temple Remains Open, Despite Indefinite Shutdown in Shirdi

Shirdi in Maharashtra, which is well-known as Sai Baba’s birth place, will remain closed for an indefinite period from today. As state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has decided to develop Pathri town in Parbhani district, calling it Sai Baba’s birth place, Shirdi will be shutdown for few days. However, Deepak Madukar Muglikar, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, confirmed that Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi will remain open today and will not have any impact of the town’s shutdown.

"There are some reports in media that Sai Temple in Shirdi will remain closed on January 19. I want to clarify that it is just a rumor. Temple will remain open on January 19," Mr Muglikar said. "Devotees will not face any difficulty if they come to Shirdi," said B Wakchaure, member of Saibaba Sansthan Trust. Uddhav Thackeray has recently announced that Pathri will be developed as the birthplace of Sai Baba for religious tourism.

A review meeting of the development plans in the Parbhani district has been also conducted. While, the arrangements are being made to develop Pathri, may Sai devotees and other spiritual persons are opposing the decision of Uddhav Thackeray, calling it a ‘political game’ to gain crores of money, making Pathri a religious place. It is well known that Shirdi gets crores of money every month from ardent devotees of Sai. Many lakhs of people visit Shirdi every year.

Now, people believe that politicians want to gain money by making Pathri a place for religious tourism. On the other side, despite the shutdown, thousands of devotees thronged the Sai Baba Temple to pay their respects to Sai Baba. “Thousands of devotees came to the temple to pay their respects to Sai Baba's 'samadhi' and statue. The 'Kakad Aarti' was also done. Approximately 30,000 to 32,000 devotees have arrived so far," Muglikar said.