Misleading Headline: Shirdi bans VIP darshans.
Not really! Still good news for the lay devotee!
Recently I blogged about how Shirdi had changed for me over the years!
Still a place I would love to visit again!
Shirdi bans VIP darshans
You don’t have to make way for celebrities at the Sai temple, thanks to the new system. But devotees, be prepared to shell out a fee to offer prayers during weekends
Santosh Andhale
Posted On Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 02:26:42 AM in Mumbai Mirror
Sai Baba devotees can rejoice. The Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, that manages the shrine, has decided to ban VIP darshan during week days. The decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting of the trust held at Mantralaya.  VIP darshans at the popular shrine has been a contentious issue because devotees regularly faced inconvenience when their queues were stopped to enable politicians and other bigwigs offer their prayers first. The trust has now decided that paid darshan, in which devotees can pay a fee to jump the regular queue, will be allowed on Saturdays and Sundays between 9 am and 12 noon. On a regular day, over one lakh people visit the shrine, which is the second richest in India. On holidays and weekends, the number goes up to five lakh, and during festivals it exceeds eight lakh. Though most devotees are from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, a large number come from other parts of the country. The shrine has been attracting devotees from abroad as well. “To be fair to ordinary devotees, we have decided at our board meeting to do away with VIP darshan because it caused inconvenience. Now we are introducing paid darshan, quite like the Tirupati Sansthan. At the meeting, some trust members suggested Rs 100 for regular darshan and Rs 500 for aarti. We will reach a consensus on the fees very soon. It has also been decided that the number of devotees who will be able to avail of the paid darshan will be limited to 10 per cent of the total number of people waiting in the queue, said Jayant Sasane of the trust. “For instance, if there are a 1000 devotees waiting at the temple, we will allow only 100 people through paid darshan. Once they go out another group will go in. Our intention is not to generate revenue but to avoid inconvenience to ordinary devotees,” added Sasane.  VIPs holding up queues of the regular devotees has been a perennial bone of contention. It is estimated that every VIP visit holds the queue for at least 15-20 minutes - not a pleasant experience for pilgrims, some of whom wait for five to six hours before getting close to the saint’s samadhi. During holidays, the temple town is so packed with pilgrims that no accommodation is available at hotels and charity hostels. The number of pilgrims visiting the shrine has been going up in the last five years and there is also a growing demand for VIP darshan from ministers, political leaders, government officers and celebrities. The trust gets thousands of requests for VIP darshans every day. Temple authorities say that most VIP darshan-pass seekers demand both a regular darshan and a special darshan during the early morning an noon arti. The SSST (Shirdi) is one of the richest trusts in Maharashtra with annual revenue exceeding Rs 240 crore. The trust has invested huge amounts in property and government bonds valued around Rs 450 crore. It also donates money to social causes and relief efforts. Sai devotees are known to devote crores of rupees every year to the trust. Pay for god Hanumant Jagtap, CEO of Siddhivinayak Temple Trust said, “We started the paid darshan system four years ago. We offer a one-time darshan at a fee of Rs 50 to anybody waiting in a queue We also issue a Rs 6000-annual pass for those who want it.” At the Tirupati Balaji temple, 60,000 devotees visit the shrine every day and the trust encourages you to book 90 days in advance for darshan. “There are two types of special darshan,” says the temple website, “Rs 40 and Rs 50.” Devotees speak • Rohit Ugale, software engineer, who regularly visits Shirdi says, “This is one of the finest decisions taken by the trust. Now devotees can offer their prayers easily and do not have to wait endlessly for VIPs to offer their prayers first. The official paid darshan will also help keep things manageable.” • Kiran Kashikar a businessman, who has been a Sai devotee but has not visited the shrine because of the long queues says, “I don’t have the influence for Sai darshan but now if the sansthan is introducing an official paid darshan like Tirupati we definitely will visit Shirdi. It’s a really good initiative taken by the trust.” |
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