page_title: Sai Baba of Shirdi
section_title: Worship and devotees
hierarchical_section_title: Sai Baba of Shirdi / Teachings and practices / Worship and devotees
caption_attribution_description: English: Sai Baba
context_page_description: Sai Baba of Shirdi, also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master who is regarded by his devotees to be a manifestation of Sri Dattaguru and identified as saint & a fakir. He is revered by both his Hindu and Muslim devotees during, as well as after his lifetime.
  According to accounts from his life, he preached the importance of realization of the self and criticized love towards perishable things. His teachings concentrate on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace and devotion to the God and guru. He stressed the importance of surrender to the true Satguru, who, having trod the path to divine consciousness, will lead the disciple through the jungle of spiritual training.
  Sai Baba also condemned distinction based on religion or caste. It remains unclear if he was a Muslim or a Hindu. This, however, was of no consequence to Sai Baba. His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived, practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions and took samadhi in Shirdi.
context_section_description: The Shirdi Sai Baba movement began in the 19th century, while he was living in Shirdi. A local Khandoba priest, Mhalsapati Nagre, is believed to have been his first devotee. In the 19th century, Sai Baba's followers were only a small group of inhabitants of Shirdi and a few people from other parts of India.
  Because of Sai Baba, Shirdi has become a place of importance and is counted among the major Hindu places of pilgrimage. The first Sai Baba temple is situated at Kudal, Sindhudurg. This temple was built in 1922. It is believed that Sai Baba gave one rupee to Dada Madye ji with which he built the temple in Kudal.
  Today, the Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi is visited by an average of 25,000 pilgrims a day and during religious festivals, this number can reach up to 100,000. The Sai Baba temple in Shirdi is managed by the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust. Inside the temple, the statue of Sai Baba and the Samadhi are carved out of Italian marble and is seen draped with royal cloth, wearing a gold crown and adorned with fresh flower garlands. The interior is made of old stone bricks. The interior, as well as the exterior (cone) of the temple, is covered with gold. As per rituals and traditions dating back to when Baba was still alive, four Aarti's are held daily (corresponding to the time of the day) inside the Samadhi Mandir.
  Kakad Aarti (The Morning Aarti) at 4:30 (am)
  Madhyan Aarti (The Afternoon Aarti) at 12:00 (pm)
  Dhup Aarti (The Evening Aarti) 6:30 (pm)
  Shej Aarti (The Night Aarti) at 10:30 (pm)
  The Palanquin procession of Sai Baba takes place every Thursday from the Samadhi Mandir to Dwarkamayi, onward to Chavdi and back to the Sai Baba Mandir. Devotees belonging to all faiths are welcome to take Darshan in the Samadhi Mandir and have free meals in the Prasadalaya, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion as these were one of the ideal principles of Sai Baba.
  Sai Baba of Shirdi is especially revered and worshiped in the states of Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. In August 2012, an unidentified devotee, for the first time, donated two expensive diamonds valuing ₹11.8 million at the Shirdi temple, as revealed by Saibaba trust officials.
  In recent years, the Shirdi Sai movement has spread to the Netherlands, Caribbean and to countries such as the Nepal, Canada, United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Singapore.
caption: Sai Baba's Temple in Shirdi
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