A memorable trip to Shirdi

A vow fulfilled. The much looked forward  trip to Shirdi to visit Saibaba`s temple happened  this week. As I had mentioned in another article, though  Perumal (Lord Balaji ) and Vinayaka have been my `Ishta Deivams` ( favourite gods) Baba decided to enter my life 4 years ago. Since then I have become an ardent devotee of Baba, visiting his temple located in the neighbor hood, every Thursday. I also  do `Parayanam` of his abridged biography , translated into Tamil by the well known writer Sivasankari. It was she who  told me that Baba decides to enter people`s lives and bless them, whenever he choses. It seems Baba entered her life fifteen years ago when she was in her mid sixtees.Since then she has become an ardent devotee of Baba.

 I had visited Shirdi in 2002 with my wife Prabha, as a part of our visit to several popular temples across India. I was not a devotee of Babha then. Shirdi was not as crowded as it is now. The temple authorities have obviously learnt a lot from the Tirupathi Balaji Temple to handle the burgeoning devotees who visit the temple every day. A lot of systems and procedures  for getting the Darshan are similar to the ones you experience in Tirupathy. My walking friend Rajamannar accompanied me to give me the moral and physical support. My school mate Sundaresan and his wife drove down from Mumbai to join us at Shirdi. We had  a wonderful VIP  Darshan of Baba on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning arranged  by the travel agent. It ended with a visit to Sai Teerth complex , the Theme park where you can witness four programmes including a film on Baba.

A word about the travel agent  Vasant Kamal who handled the package tour from Chennai to Shirdi and back. The package consisted of  air fare from Chennai to Shirdi and back; one night stay in a three star hotel in Shirdi including three meals consisting of  breakfast, lunch and dinner; Pick up from airport and drop back; cost of two VIP Darshan tickets; use of hotel vehicle for trips within Shirdi, and the services of a guide who is with you from the time he picks you up and drops you back at the airport. Sundaresan used their package for the visit minus the airfare. We were very satisfied with the  very professional way they handled the trip,

Vasantkamal has an office in Chennai and Pune. Mrs Madhavi , the manager of the Pune office handles  all the arrangements. You can contact her directly on her mob no. 95278 44555. or email vkamal21@gmail.com

Jai Sai Ram!