Shani Shingnapur, Newasa and Devgad from Shirdi
Shirdi · 9 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹2990 for the whole vehicle, up to 8 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹2990 for the vehicle.
- Tata Sumo: Rugged 8-seater. The most room for the money. ₹3490 for the vehicle.
- Innova or Ertiga: The comfortable one on a long hill day. ₹4990 for the vehicle.
The loop every Shirdi visitor is offered, done without the rush
Almost everyone who comes to Shirdi is offered the same trip out: Shani Shingnapur, about 72 km south-east, where Shani is worshipped as a bare black stone on an open-air platform. It is the most-booked cab day in town and it is usually sold as a dash there and back.
This version uses the whole day. Sakori first, five minutes from Shirdi, before the roads fill. Then Shingnapur, timed to arrive mid-morning rather than in the noon crush. From there the road runs on to Newasa, where the Dnyaneshwari was written, and to the Datta temple at Devgad on the Pravara, before swinging back to Shirdi in time for the evening aarti.
You book the car for the day, so the price is flat whether there are two of you or eight, and the driver waits at each stop while you queue. There is no ride-hailing out here and the village taxis at Shingnapur only go one way.
Your day, stop by stop
1. Sakori
Five kilometres south of Shirdi, the ashram Upasani Maharaj founded in 1917 after his years with Sai Baba. Quiet, whitewashed and run by women ascetics, it is the calm half hour before the busiest shrine of the day.
2. Shani Shingnapur
A five and a half foot black stone on an open platform, with no roof and no walls, in the village famous for houses without doors. Fewer doorless houses than the legend suggests now; the queue is very real, and on Saturdays and new moon days it is enormous.
Oil, flowers and offerings from the stalls, if you want them
3. Dnyaneshwar Mandir, Newasa
The temple built around the stone pillar the saint-poet Dnyaneshwar is said to have leaned on while dictating the Dnyaneshwari in 1290. For Marathi families it is the reason for the whole loop; for everyone else it is the quietest stop of the day.
4. Devgad
A Datta temple on the bank of the Pravara, founded by Kisangiri Maharaj, whose samadhi is beside it. It is known across the district for being spotless, and the riverside ghats are the place to sit before the drive back.
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the day
- Pickup and drop at your hotel in Shirdi
- Fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking
- Waiting time at every stop, including the Shingnapur queue
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Offerings, donations and pujas
- Footwear deposit charges
- Meals
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Oil, flowers and offerings at Shani Shingnapur, if you want to make them
- Footwear deposit counters at the temples
- Donations and any puja you book at a temple counter
- Lunch and anything personal
Who this suits
Pilgrim families of any age. There is no climbing anywhere on this route; the effort is standing in line, sometimes in the sun, and walking barefoot across hot stone in April and May. The sedan seats four, the Sumo eight and the Innova six, each at one flat price for the car.
What to bring
Modest clothes that cover shoulders and knees, a cap and water for the Shingnapur queue, and socks or a cloth for hot temple floors in summer. If you plan to offer oil, buy sealed, branded edible oil: since March 2025 the temple accepts only packaged, branded edible oil for offerings, not the loose oil sold in cans along the approach.
Heat, not rain, is the issue
This is dry plains country. From March to May the middle of the day is very hot, which is why Shingnapur comes in the morning. The route runs in monsoon rain. If a road is closed by flooding on the day you get a full refund or a free reschedule.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund, or reschedule free once
- No show: No refund
Safety and the operator
Run by a licensed local ground operator, one driver per vehicle, commercially registered and insured. Shingnapur is extremely crowded on Saturdays and new moon days; keep children's hands held in the queue and agree a meeting point with your driver before you go in.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. It is one price for the whole vehicle for the day. Eight of you in the Tata Sumo pay ₹3,490 between you, not each.
Can women go up on the Shani platform?
Since April 2016 the temple has allowed women on the platform on the same terms as men, after a Bombay High Court ruling. Exactly who may climb and when on a given day is set by the temple administration, so follow the marshals in the queue.
Should we avoid Saturdays?
If you can, yes. Saturday is Shani's day and the busiest of the week, and a new moon falling on a Saturday brings the biggest crowd of all. Weekdays are far easier, and the rest of the loop is the same either way.
Can we do Shingnapur and the Shirdi temple on the same day?
Yes, that is why the day ends at 4:30 pm. You are back with time to rest before the evening aarti at the Samadhi Mandir. Aarti passes are booked separately through the Shirdi temple trust.