Shirdi

Shirdi is a small town in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra that exists, in its modern form, entirely because of one man. Sai Baba lived here from roughly the 1850s until his death in 1918, teaching from a disused mosque he called Dwarkamai and drawing followers from both Hindu and Muslim communities at a time when that was uncommon.

The Samadhi Mandir, built over his tomb, is now the centre of the town and receives tens of thousands of visitors on an ordinary day. Around it sits a compact complex you can walk in an afternoon: Dwarkamai with its fire that has reportedly burned since his lifetime, the Chavadi where he slept on alternate nights, Gurusthan, and the Lendi Baug gardens.

Most people come for a night or two, timing their stay around the four daily aartis. It is a working pilgrimage town rather than a sightseeing one — the reason to come is the darshan, and everything else is arranged around it.