Shirdi

Not to be confused with Shiradi
Shirdi
शिर्डी, షిర్డీ
साईनगर
town

Shirdi
Coordinates: 19°46′N 74°29′E / 19.77°N 74.48°ECoordinates: 19°46′N 74°29′E / 19.77°N 74.48°E
Country India India
State Maharashtra
District Ahmednagar
Elevation 504 m (1,654 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 36,004
Languages
 • Official Marathi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 423109
Telephone code 02423
Vehicle registration MH-17

Shirdi  pronunciation  (Marathi: शिर्डी) is a town and falls under the jurisdiction of municipal council popularly known as Shirdi Nagar Panchayat, located in Rahata Taluka (Sub-division) in Ahmednagar District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is accessible via the Ahmednagar - Manmad State Highway No.10, approximately 83 km from Ahmednagar and 15 km from Kopargaon. It is located 185 km east of the Western Seashore line (the Ahmednagar - Manmad road), which is a very busy route. Shirdi is best known as the late 19th century home of the popular guru Shirdi Sai Baba.[1] It is one of the richest temple organisations.

Demographics

As of the 2011 India census, the population of Shirdi stood at 36,004. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Shirdi has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 62%. In Shirdi, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.[2] But, Shirdi being a pilgrimage centre, it also has a large amount of floating population. On any given day some 25,000 devotees come for darshan. On holidays the number reaches to about half a million people. Due to easy availability of jobs, a lot of migrant population, mainly of unskilled labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana etc. also reside here.

Transportation

Shirdi is located approximately 296 km from Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra in India. It is called the Land of Sai. The closest and most highly connected city from Shirdi is Ahmednagar city.

Rail

Shirdi now has a new railway station called "Sainagar Shirdi", which became operational in March 2009.


As of 2011, there are trains from Chennai,[3][4] Mumbai, Visakhapatnam via Secunderabad, Mysore[5] and other cities/states that have Shirdi railway station as their terminal stop. Trains also run from Manmad railway station which is 87 km and Ahmednagar railway station which is 83 km from the heart of Shirdi, alternatively from Kopargaon station which is 15 km from Shirdi, or Nashik city, which is 119 km from Shirdi or Nagarsol. Daund railway station is170 km from Shirdi.

Road

Buses and taxis play from these railway stations and locations to and from Shirdi. Shirdi can be reached by bus from any of the following cities in Maharashtra State (India): Ahmednagar, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Akluj, Dhule, Nagpur and Aurangabad.Also from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh from where maximum pilgrims reach every day and year to seek blessings from Sai Baba. Currently, four-laning of State highway Nagar-Manmad highway is in progress on BOT basis. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has been assigned to execute the works of internal roads in Shirdi.

Air

Shirdi Airport is being constructed at Kakdi (Kopargaon taluka), 14 km south-west of Shirdi.[6] Root for shirdi airport is shirdi - Nandurkhi bk(4 km)- Korhale(8 km)- Kakadi(14 km). [7]

References

  1. ↑ "Shirdi". Amazing Maharashtra.
  2. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  3. ↑ "New trains will start operations from July". The Hindu. 2011-06-30. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "Coimbatore-Tuticorin Express service from today". Tuticorin: The Hindu. 2011-07-01. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Mysore-Shirdi weekly train from Aug 1". Hubli: The Times of India. 2011-07-29. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Shirdi airport work in full swing: Official". Times of India. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  7. ↑ Timetotravel,Shirdi - How to go, places to visit, things to do,March 20,2011

External links