Shirdi

Not to be confused with Shiradi
Shirdi
शिर्डी
साईनगर
town

Shirdi
Coordinates: 19°46′N 74°29′E / 19.77°N 74.48°E / 19.77; 74.48Coordinates: 19°46′N 74°29′E / 19.77°N 74.48°E / 19.77; 74.48
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
Website maharashtra.gov.in

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.

Etymology

As per Indologist Vishwanath Khaire, the name Shirdi is derived from Tamil Seeradi = Seer + Adi. (In Tamil script : சீரடி = சீர் + அடி). (In Devanagari script : सीर् + अडि = सीरडि). — The name in Tamil language means The Foot of Prosperity. [2] [3]

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.[4] But, Shirdi being a pilgrimage centre, also has a large floating population. On any given day some 25,000 devotees come for darshan. On holidays the number reaches about half a million people. Due to the easy availability of jobs, a large migrant population, mainly of unskilled labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana etc. also reside here.

Transportation

Sainagar Shirdi Railway Station (SNSI) falls under the Sholapur division of Central Railway

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,[5][6] Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Mysore[7] 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 ply 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, Telangana 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. Originally operations were expected to start by December 2011,[8] but the construction according to the original plans was completed in February 2016, and the first trial flight landed on 2 March 2016.[9] There are plans to lengthen the runway from 2,200 metres to 3,200 metres.The target completion date is 2017 or 2018.[10]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.