[narayans80]

Originally Posted by chipsnchops

1. The road is not "un-drivable".

This is what I found from my drive as well. GMaps avoided the initial bypass stretch coming from Shirdi, which should be aboout 5-6 km and took me through some suburban Nagar roads which were in top shape. So I don't remember seeing stretches like pic 2 and 3. There was an overbridge section that was bad, which is where I slowed below 40.

Crossing at 730am, there was even lesser traffic than those in your pictures. At the most I'd have seen 10 trucks on the opposite side and none on the Pune bound side.

[nec2152]

I took a trip from Pune to Shirdi as well as Shani Shingnapur on Jan 27. We hired a Innova from a known contact for Rs 15/km. Total distance traveled from my house in PCMC and back was 449km.

On the journey, traffic & road conditions, & toll :

• Pune to Shirdi: We took the Nashik Highway and the road until Shirdi was good. We left at 3:45AM and reached Shirdi by 7:15AM after 2 short 15min each stops. Traffic at this time was negligible.
• Shirdi to Shani Shingnapur: After Shirdi darshan, we left for Shani Shingnapur around 9:30AM. Traffic was light. Most of the complete route was broken or non-existent roads (they have started working on relaying the road at many places). Took us 2 hrs to reach Shani Shingnapur (70km distance from Shirdi).
• Shani Shingnapur to Pune: Left Shani Shingnapur around 12:30pm. Had lunch shortly after getting on the highway, but ran into trouble shortly after - punctured the RL tyre twice. First time when entering Nagar, and second time 20km after Nagar. Changing the tyre and then fixing punctures from roadside shops ate almost 1.5-2hrs. Traffic thus increased and we hit a 20min jam near Shikrapur around 5pm. After Shikrapur, took a right turn and also avoided Chakan, drove through Alandi and other shortcuts to PCMC. Reached PCMC around 6:45pm. Spent around 3 hrs more on the road due to punctures & traffic.
• Most tool booths were open but were letting through cars without collecting tolls (even though there was no traffic at tolls). We passed through 5-6 tolls but only once we paid 75INR at toll. Trucks were paying at most tolls though. Shani Shingnapur Entry fee: paid INR 10 for 5 adults.

On Shirdi Darshan:

• Pass:
• As per the new rules, you need to take a pass before you can enter. There is a queue as usual in the general lines on the pass counters. Take Aadhaar card with you. They may check it. For us they checked it only for seniors and validated it through fingerprint before issuing a senior pass.
• Fastest way to darshan are VIP passes (200 INR per adult) or senior passes (free for seniors). Both allow entering from Gate 3. Normal adult passes are free and allow entering from Gate2 and Gate1.
• Pass can also be generated online @ https://online.sai.org.in (I checked 2 days before the trip but the slots available on the day I wanted to visit were evening slots only). I do not know which passes (VIP/Senior/General) are available online.
• Pass counters are also there outside the temple. There is a counter only for senior citizens near gate 3 - passes for seniors are free (I am not sure if the VIP passes are available at this counter). They issue passes for seniors + one adult to accompany senior/seniors. I am not sure if they allow one adult each for each senior, but you can try. IMHO they should, since one adult for each senior might be required in many cases to help the seniors.
• There are counters for seniors, VIP passes as well as general counters near gate 2. Heavy lines on general counters (~50 people in each line on Sunday 27Jan2019 at 7:30AM). 1 counter for seniors (10-15 people in line). VIP pass line empty.
• There is probably another set of counters near Gate1 but I am not sure exactly where.
• Looking at the crowd outside Gate2, I realized it would take us 4-5 hrs easily for darshan. We were with small kids so decided to take VIP passes this time.
  
  Best to take online pass whether you want general free pass, VIP or senior. That saves you 30min to 2hrs walking to the pass counters and standing in the pass line
  
  
• Darshan through Gate 3:
  We took senior and VIP passes and went through Gate3. It puts you directly into the final Darshan hall after a short wait outside. Making thorugh the crowd in the final darshan hall to reach near the idol would take around 10mins. It took us 25 mins max entering through Gate3 and coming out after darshan, most of which was spent waiting outside the darshan hall to get in. Security send us in to the darshan hall in small batches every 10-15min or so.

On Shani Shingapur Darshan:

• Even though it looked crowded, it took us 30min total to walk from parking to chappal stand, then to darshan, taking prasad, back to collecting footwear and to parking. We were constantly nudging along, there were hardly any time we were standing still due to the queue stopping to nudge ahead.

Other general tips:

• Take VIP/senior citizen passes online.
• Cars can go very near to Gate 3 (Gate3 for seniors and VIP pass holders). If you have driver then he can drop your group near Hotel "Dil Punjabi" and go park somewhere else. You can then enter through Gate3 which is very short walk from there. If you don't have a driver then maybe Dil Punjabi hotel will let you park there (there we some cars parked and a few parking slots were empty at 7:30am).
  
• Be wary of touts who always claim they will help you get in the fast line/fast queue for 15min darshan or will get you senior/fast passes for everyone for free. They first take you to their shop so you can buy expensive stuff/chaddar/prasad/coconut for Sai Baba then they take you to the pass counter and disappear.
• The "Laddu Prasad" sale counter had much bigger line than what we saw for darshan. Our party thus split and one person stood in prasad line while others went back to car. We were only able to get 2 packets of Prasad (they enforce limits).
• Even though I tried optimizing, I may have goofed up on the exit path for seniors (we exited from Gate 5) and we had to walk a long way back to car which was getting very difficult for seniors, plus the heavy crowd at some places is risky for them as they may get pushed around and fall easily. Should ask the Hotel for the optimized path for exit after darshan and back to the rendezvous point with the driver. Even then it may be a long walk, so do look into a wheelchair darshan option for seniors (saw wheelchairs also going through Gate 3) in case seniors have difficulty walking ~1km total.
  

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by nec2152

We took the Nashik Highway and the road until Shirdi was good.

By Nasik highway, you took the Sangamner route? If yes, how is the route beyond Sangamner.

[nec2152]

Originally Posted by narayans80

By Nasik highway, you took the Sangamner route? If yes, how is the route beyond Sangamner.

Yes Pune to Shirdi via Sangamner. The road condition is good throughout.

[hserus]

So -

1. General category passes are sold online that let you into the Shani gate and the short line that it has. (Well, comparatively shorter). You get a time slot, try to turn up some half an hour or a bit more before that time slot, and you'll be in the front of the hall for darshan. Try to take the inside line when they split you into two lines entering the main hall, you have a bit better darshan that way unless you're quite tall.

2. Anything such as flowers, chadar etc that you buy from the touts outside will be collected and thrown into dustbins before you enter the samadhi hall. So go there and put your offerings into the hundis provided. Some of the servitors there may ask you for tips after you conclude the darshan, feel free to give them something as you feel.

3. Shani Shingnapur darshan - make sure you buy the til oil for your worship before you reach Shingnapur. Either at a Shirdi grocery or in Mumbai / Pune on the way to Shirdi. The local shops sell cheapest quality til oil at grossly inflated prices, and also add all sorts of other unnecessary stuff for the worship, such as a doll to take away the evil eye, a tin plate with religious symbols etc. All you need is the til oil, so buy that and continue to the temple. If you go to Shingnapur from Mumbai or Pune by cab, you can be 100% sure that the cabbie has "a close friend" or "own cousin" who is running one of those shops, and he'll steer you there for commission.

Originally Posted by nec2152

[*]Pass can also be generated online @ https://online.sai.org.in (I checked 2 days before the trip but the slots available on the day I wanted to visit were evening slots only). I do not know which passes (VIP/Senior/General) are available online.

On Shani Shingapur Darshan:[*] Even though it looked crowded, it took us 30min total to walk from parking to chappal stand, then to darshan, taking prasad, back to collecting footwear and to parking. We were constantly nudging along, there were hardly any time we were standing still due to the queue stopping to nudge ahead.


[*] Be wary of touts who always claim they will help you get in the fast line/fast queue for 15min darshan or will get you senior/fast passes for everyone for free. They first take you to their shop so you can buy expensive stuff/chaddar/prasad/coconut for Sai Baba then they take you to the pass counter and disappear.

[ishan12]

Drove to Shirdi and back last Saturday.

Took the Pune - Chakan - Narayangaon- Sangamner - Shirdi route.
This route was the one showed up on Google maps.
I usually take the Ahmednagar route, but this time, the time difference (between the 2 options) as per Google maps was more than 30 mins.

Road is good till Sangamner and extremely bad for 30 odd kms between Sangamner and upcoming Shirdi airport. After that the road is good again.
Encountered extremely heavy traffic on return in the evening a few Kms after Narayangaon and upto Chakan.

Had taken the the online Darshan pass for 200 Per person. (Worth it)
Do get the pass online to avoid standing in queue later in Shirdi.
Though, the online booking option gives you time slots for Darshan, but practically in the temple you can just go in anytime of the day.
The queue for the paid pass is considerably shorter and we were done with Darshan in just 45 mins. (Entered around 1.30 in the afternoon).

[samhi_22]

Hi all,

If some one could help me with the route conditions, it will be great.

We are planning to do a Shirdi, Nashik and Aurangabad trip. Does any one know about the road conditions in the below routes:

1. Shirdi to Nashik
2. Shirdi to Aurangabad or Nashik to Aurangabad -which is better to travel on road? I have heard Nashik to Aurangabad is pretty bad.
3. Aurangabad to Shani Shingnapur -- How is this route?

[speedmiester]

I am scheduled to drive to Shirdi from Pune next month. I will driving from Bangalore while my wife, kid and FIL will arrive by flight to Pune.
Google Maps shows two routes, one through Sangamner and other through Ahmednagar.
Any idea how are the road conditions along both the routes?
While coming back from Shirdi, plan to visit Shani Shingnapur on the way to Pune. So will have to take the Ahmednagar route on the return leg.

[Who_are_you]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I am scheduled to drive to Shirdi from Pune next month.

Pune - Sangamner -- Shirdi --> Approx 80% 4 lane road. Even dual carriageway portion is patched up recently. After Sangamner it's very narrow village road. Better option would be to go via Sinnar. Via Sinnar its approx 50 km longer but road is good.




Pune - Ahmednagar-- Shirdi--> Road is in good shape. Do NOT take Ahmednagar bypass, its in shambles. Go via the city.

As you would be starting your journey from the Airport, I would suggest taking the Ahmednagar route, as you will have to face Pune city traffic only till Wagholi.

On both routes, beware of vehicles driving on the wrong side (Left Lane).

[jkrishnakj]

I did this two months ago. So long as you avoid the Ahmednagar byPass , you'll be fine. The bypass was in shambles two months ago. I did the mistake of taking it and it was a self drive rental CiAZ and I really pitied the car. I would also recommend to take a hotel ( if you plan a stay at Pune ) near the airport or near the Nagar road. Enables quick exit.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I will driving from Bangalore while my wife, kid and FIL will arrive by flight to Pune.

From Airport, you are better off with Nagar road, since Sangamner route is a detour. Moreover roads are narrow beyond Sangamner.. Nagar-Shirdi is pretty mediocre now, even between October and December the Rahuri-Shirdi stretch has taken a beating.

Google Maps takes you partially through Nagar bypass and Nagar MIDC, which is very much drivable. You can see an update with pictures here (Pune to Shirdi : Route Queries). The Google suggested route doesn't use the entire bypass, just partially and avoids all the traffic & signals in town

[speedmiester]

Thanks.
I am staying near Pune Airport. So I will take the Pune-Nagar-Shirdi route then.

[jkrishnakj]

Awesome. Have fun. And I'm sure you'll relish some maharashtrian delicacies at SMILES dhabha beteeen Pune and Nagar. They have clean wash rooms too.

[hserus]

Aam Aadmi approach will take you over two hours even on non weekdays. On weekends and festivals forget it.

You can book any number of travels buses to Shirdi but why not do what everybody else does here and rent a car from Revv etc. Hotel Keys Temple Tree is where I usually stay and is excellent but a bit expensive.

Originally Posted by drive_angry

Hello All,

I am in Pune these days because of work commitments. Could anybody let me know if there is a good (and Safe) package travels from Pune to Shirdi? Below are the additional details:

1) I would prefer leaving on Saturday and coming back on Sunday.
2) Since I would be traveling alone, it would be nice if there a group.
3) I would be staying overnight there in the Shirdi, so if somebody could let me know a decent accommodation there. If not included in the package.
4) I understand that there are online slots for 'VIP' darshan but how much time does it normally takes if ones goes by 'Aam Adami Approach'?
5) Any other pointers I need to take care of?

Looking forward to your replies. Thanks!

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by hserus

Aam Aadmi approach will take you over two hours even on non weekdays. On weekends and festivals forget it.

What's that supposed to mean?

I visit 2-3 times a year, weekends included. As a norm, we take an online ticket and go. Longest wait time was 1 hour on Christmas Day of 2017, it took more time to park, get in and out of town than the actual darshan.

Has taken like 10-20 minutes waiting time at the most, usually take the 2000 or 2030 slot of online ticket, which is just ahead of the Shej Aarti.