This is a very well drafted mail from an Anonymous Devotee who has done wonderful job of providing required information about How to Reach Shibpur temple.
Anonymous Devotee from India says: I am trying to provide best of my knowledge to devotees who wish to visit Shibpur, where no doubt one can feel Baba’s wonderful vibrations and can seek His grace. I shall write about the wonderful people of Shibpur, the pious temple management members in whom I saw Shama, Hemadpant, Mahalsapati and all other blessed ones, who served Baba in His Masjid. I am narrating plain facts, what I saw instead of interpreting anything without any intention to de-glorify anything or anybody. Still I seek forgiveness of esteemed readers with folding hands for any errors. Om Sai Ram.
Wish fulfilled
When Sai Baba summoned me to Shibpur, my joy knew no bounds. I was ecstatic. I immediately decided to do Saptah Sai Satcharitra Parayan and also flashed a message through various channels to contact all Sai Devotees for taking their prayer requests to Baba. I had just 6 days time to make my own preparations and compiling prayer requests etc. Messages started pouring in and they gave me new realization that so much pain is there in this world. I was not the only one. And mine was nothing, when compared to those. They humbled my pride and ego. Why do I find faults always? Why do I blame Baba all the time? Did I ever count my blessings? Am I negative thinker? I decided to do Saptah Parayan for those devotees, who were sending prayer requests instead of my own wishes. This resolution gave me peace. I started reading Sai Satcharitra on Thursday and my visit to Shibpur was scheduled on Wednesday, the seventh day, when the Parayan was supposed to conclude. Baba planned it that way. Next day, it was Thursday and date was 9th February, another number close to our Sai. I was thrilled.
Meanwhile, I got confirmation of seats in Kalka express upto Kolkata with great difficulty. The clerk at the counter told me, “So here you get the last two seats, which were available”. As if they were reserved by Baba for me and my friend, who was supposed to accompany me.
Blind journey to Shibpur seeking Sai
I dug out information from internet about the shortest route to Shibpur and available mode of transport. Information was there, but nothing concrete was found. So we set out on our blind journey to Shibpur without any knowledge. We planned to go to Kolkata and find out the route further from Amit Biswas Ji.
Here I would like to mention that before setting out on our journey, I called up my counterpart in the local district administration, who did not speak very well about Amit Biswas, the chairman of the temple society. I also mailed to tourism department of West Bengal for guidance and it found place in the trash. Amit Ji told us to come to Krishnanagar. I requested him if he could arrange a taxi to and fro from Kolkata to Shibpur, because we were from Himachal Pradesh and had no clue about West Bengal. He gladly agreed and quoted a hefty price of 5000 rupees. I felt that was too much for covering about 150 kms. Distance between Kolkata and Shibpur is approximately this much. We also enquired about lodging facilities from Amit Ji. He informed that there was a small lodge near Krishnanagar and nothing else was available in that area.
Baba’s help
However Baba came to our rescue. I got a phone call from my brother a day before I was supposed to leave for Kolkata. He was concerned for me because the Krishnanagar area was a politically sensitive, disturbed area with unstable law and order conditions. This is a remote and backward area almost bordering Bangladesh. Brother informed me that he had a friend in Kolkata and he could make transport arrangements for us to reach Krishnanagar. I was not very keen to travel in public transport so brother’s friend arranged a taxi for 2 days that too at a reasonable amount of 3500 rupees. It was almost half the amount quoted by Amit Biswas Ji. We heaved a sigh of relief.
Our ordeal begins
We reached Howrah station at 10.30 AM and our journey to Shibpur commenced. We asked Amit Ji on telephone about lodging arrangement and the location of the temple again and again. His consistent advice throughout was to reach Krishnanagar and contact him. The stretch between Krishnanagar and Kolkata was less developed, but certainly it was not backward. It was the highway that leads to Darjeeling and Siliguri. We were told by the driver. However the highway lacked good restaurants and other facilities. Small Bengali Dhabas were available though. Condition of roads was also not too good.
We reached Krishnanagar around 1.30 PM only to realize that lodge was available at Bethuadhari, which was 30 kms away from Krishnanagar. It was simply tiresome to travel 30 kms more after 2 days train journey and 3 hours tedious car journey to Krishnanagar. We were very tired and asked Amit Ji if any other hotel was available in the vicinity of Krishnanagar, where we could take some rest. But there was none available, according to him. We reached Bethuadhari, a small town with unhygienic conditions. A lodge named Utsav was recommended by Amit Ji, so we checked into it. Another lodge named Puja was also there, but we ignored it and followed the advice of Amit Ji. We reached our room at 2.45 PM and relaxed for a while. We were anxious to reach Temple, have Darshan and come back before late evening as advised by locals. It was unsafe to roam around at night. They warned. Moreover we were outsiders, so it was more unsafe. Communal clashes, scuffles between ruling and opposition party workers were frequent, we were told. Loot and plunder incidents were also common, they informed us.
My Predicament
We set out for Shibpur around 4.30 PM. It was 15 km away from Bethuadhari. We enquired many people about the way. It was confusing again. There were two places by same name. They asked which Shibpur? We said Sai temple. Locals feigned ignorance. We are not aware of any such temple. I was shattered how come local Villagers don’t know. I was almost in tears. We moved ahead. An old man wearing white clothes and white beard was standing in front of a shop. For a moment, I identified him with my Sai. And I requested driver to enquire from him. Another major problem was people of that area are uneducated and poor. They speak only Bengali. Thanks to Sai, our driver spoke Bengali fluently. He spoke to that old man and he guided us correctly. Go straight 12 kms and avoid talking to locals (an inner warning). Then you will reach Shibpur. We asked him about temple. He said I am living here since many years, but never heard of any such temple.
I was disillusioned, prayed. Oh Sai, what kind of test is this? People in your area don’t know You, whereas I came from so far to see You. Are You there or I was fooled by some enthusiastic devotees on internet. Was that just a hype created through internet or anything existed at Shibpur. I traveled for three days to see You. Was my effort just a waste? My heart cried and mind wandered.
Blissful destination
Finally we reached Shibpur and a signboard – Sai Temple welcomed us. We felt relieved. Temple was just few meters ahead. All my doubts vanished the moment, I set my foot inside the temple. Sai gave me wonderful experiences. I shall write about those blissful moments in my next post because here I am just talking about Shibpur temple and how to reach here.
Objective of writing this post
I faced an ordeal reaching this place due to lack of appropriate information. Therefore I did a lot of research to guide all the devotees, who wish to visit Shibpur in future. People of this place lack education and exposure. Therefore they could not upload anything on internet. Lack of exposure and vision on the part of Amit Biswas Ji also added to our woes as neither he could guide us properly nor he could promote the place by seeking cooperation with West Bengal government or even local administration. He even failed to get some signboards erected by requesting the local administration, which was not a big deal. After all a place drawing Devotees from nation and abroad and attracting donations worth lakhs of rupees deserves such little cooperative gestures from the district administration. Lack of initiative on the part of Amit Ji was apparent. When we suggested him this, he arrogantly replied that I don’t invite any devotee here. They come on their own. Arrogance was oozing out in his behavior and demeanor. I would also suggest devotees not to believe anything blindly as I observed a lot and certain things didn’t fail our eyes. I am a class 1 gazetted officer in the government with lot of exposure. My friend is a senior journalist in popular English daily. I don’t want to write about that right here. We love our Sai and donate blindly to him, who fills our coffers at our beck and call. But those, who donate, have every right to question how the money was being utilized.
My heart bled to see
One more thing hurt me deeply. I took cash offerings worth 3000 rupees or more in an envelope besides 130 prayer requests and two coconuts with wishes from Devotees. Temple priest asked me to put them at Sai’s feet before Aarti. I did. I know Sai knows all our feelings and pain and He accepted them there itself. But I noticed that they were left unattended in sealed covers during the Aarti. Obviously, it appeared that members of the temple management had standing orders not to touch cash etc till “Bade Saab” counted himself. We remained there till Aarti concluded. Next morning, when we again visited the temple, I enquired Amit Ji about those prayer requests. He replied casually. Haan haan sab ho gaya (“Yes, Everything is done”). How? I failed to understand. Nobody touched them during Aarti. Amit Ji knows neither Hindi nor English. And the temple priest appeared to be an illiterate. We went inside the temple and one more shock awaited me. The sealed covers containing cash were obviously taken care of as they vanished from the sight, but the coconuts with wishes of poor devotees lay there unattended. My heart cried. Of course, Baba knows our wishes and shall take care of everything. But an inner voice cried.
How to reach Shibpur
Now let me discuss about the easiest route to reach Shibpur and lodging facilities for those, who wish to come to this place for visiting Sai and getting some peace.
Devotees can catch a flight upto Kolkata or even by train. For those who can spend money, they can take a taxi upto Shibpur, which can’t be more than 3000 rupees in any case. I hired it at 3500 rupees for two days. There is no lodging arrangement upto Bethuadhari, which is a very dirty place. Journey between Kolkata to Shibpur takes approx 5 hours, but there are heavy traffic jams during early morning hours and night, which can extend this to 7-8 hours. So do not plan to go back to Kolkata on same day.
Next day, after lot of research, we found out that there is a beautiful and famous Krishna temple (Navdeep Temple) of ISCON at Mayapur, which is just 10 km from Krishnanagar. It is a divine place with amazing vibrations. The campus has good accommodation facilities. Even if you don’t want to stay in the campus, there are lot of lodges and hotels outside the campus. The area is clean, beautiful and peaceful and it is worth visiting. There is good luxury bus service to this place from Kolkata. People, who can’t afford a taxi, can conveniently catch a bus from Kolkata to Mayapur. One can stay here and can hire a local conveyance or even taxi which won’t be too costly to reach Shibpur. I kept wondering why Amit Ji misguided us about lodging facilities and that nothing was available upto Bethuadhari, which was 30 km whereas Mayapur was only 10 kms away from Krishnanagar. Though it is on a different route, but it is much convenient and approachable for those having a conveyance.
In internet, there is information that you can reach Bethuadhari through local train and local autos ply upto Shibpur. I suggest don’t even think of this. The local auto is a very strange conveyance. A big wooden plank fitted on a rickshaw manned or automated on which you can sit in a Padmasan in the middle or sit on the corner with your legs down. However, for those devotees, who can’t spend much, local bus service is available from Kolkata upto Krishnanagar and from there they have to reach Bethuadhari. After that, there is this strange so-called auto service, which can be seen just here and nowhere else on this planet.
In case any devotee wants more information, they can write to me on my email id maaya@saimail.com
Om Sai Ram!
© Devotees Experiences with Shirdi Sai Baba
there are in our country some so called custodians of religion who will, do what they should not do..Well we are not here to judge or make any allegations on anyone, but if what is written here is true, which i know it is ..it is appauling..
Well we leave it to Sai to take care of it..
THis guide to shibpur will be very benefitial for the new visitors, baba made you a medium, so that those devotees, who may not have as many means as you can also reach shibpur conveniently..
I have heard a lot about this temple as well…what is the significance in particular, I dont know..hetal jee can you please throw some light on it.(I know every sai temple is special for a sai bhakt)
I would wait for your experience that you had, when you stepped into the temple…
Beautiful experience to read, baba took care through and through….
Thank you for sharing your experience. Your experience and feedback will help greatly for devotes who plan to visit in the future. May the beautiful sai baba be there with us always.
Sai ram
Very nice experience. Its an eye opener for many things happening around us. Thanks.
I dont know what to say.. Being a devotee of Baba why should ppl behave arrogant? And why is baba keeping quiet?
Thank you for this detailed post. Believe it or not i was looking for route to this temple.i had asked Baba to guide me for certain questions on mind and here comes Baba's aadesh in the form of your blog post. Thank you. Sai thank you for clarifications. This clears my mind.
Thanks ji for posting ur experience,but after reading ur experience I was really shocked.
Very nicely drafted with this your guideing to saidevotees
to reach that temple baba wil bless you with lots of happiness ,just waiting for your experience which you had ones u steped into temple.
om sai ram
Hello everyone,
Please do not judge Anything by one single experience.
We need to know all the sides of the story.
For me in personal, shirdi is the only holy shrine of babaji. All other temples come after that and are equal.
If anyone is misusing it., babaji will take care if it. Let us all just pray and Leave it to him
Dear Hetalji ,
The above experience is really horrifying , Baba is everywhere , why should we go to a particular temple of Baba where the people are not courteous and haughty . I am happy to pray in my own home where my Sai resides . As he himself has said "If one thinks that I am only in Shirdi , they have not understood me at all"
The shelter given to me by Sai is itself is his temple, I am happy to pray here .
I too want to add my experience here. I went to Shibpur temple last year and I belong to Kolkata yet I faced many difficulties reaching there as the author of this experience mentioned , the roads are dirty and narrow and dusty etc and u will feel u reached very backward place. I did call up Amitji however as there is another Shibpur within Kolkata city itself whereas this temple is in Nadia district.I remember it took me better part of the day to go and return same day. Amitji on phone was a bit curt but realised later that his small kid was in hospital in Krishnanagar so I could excuse him. Could not meet him so dont really know but rest of ppl at temple were simply very nice and darshan was also good. The money I gave was also given a receipt and they didnt seem too bothered as to who will receive it, they all seemed equal to me. Perhaps it also helped that I spoke the language.I agree getting there is a problem but every local I asked could guide me and knew of the temple, dont know why u didnt meet anyone like that.Journey is tedious of course.Mayapur as an option was not pointed out as even though it is near it is different diety and place and other side of Nadia district.This all is to the best of my knowledge.
Dear Brother,
Jai sai Ram. You have beautifully composed your version of Journey to Shibpur Temple and very much appreciate for speaking out the facts.
What makes me feel sad was, you have taken pain of travelling 2 days to find this temple and at last the chairman of the temple did not respond well to your queries. You have rightly said that if temple takes donation then devotees have the right to ask how that money was spent. Not with an attitude but out of concern.
Anyway, we will leave it to Baba to decide. If things are definetly wrong out there then Baba will certainly teach them a lesson.
Awaits your experience with temple.
Servant of Baba
OM SAI RAM JI
I am not here to pinpoint anyone..What i learned from this post is "if we want to help any1 or make any donations,then we should donate people who seems to be in need…Sending large amount of money to organizations is not worthy at all..Instead we should help people we actually know, i mean people around us who are financially weak….or Distrubuting food in one's own care…
OM SAI RAM
OM SAI RAM.. I have been trying to get the information from many people who are familiar to the place.But all i was able to get to know was that it is 3-4 hrs from the airport.One thing is for sure that if there is some desire in the mind of a devotee Baba makes it sure to grant it. I would like to thank the devotee for all the information posted to enable all the devotees to reach Shibpur without any difficulty and meet our Sai Baba.May Baba bless everyone and shower his blessings so that all Sai devotees come together and work together for a good cause …..after all this is what baba has taught us.
That was neatly explained. Let us only hope that all is well at Shibpur.. only that they may need to be more organized. Baba is watching all of us.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Regards
Krishna
Dear Sai Devotee from Himachal Pradesh,
Thanks for the details to help other devotees who might want to visit Shibpur. It is just the same faith towards BABA, Devotees would like to visit BABA's place just like visit to Shirdi.
I have a question: If the Shibpur temple is receiving such a huge amount of donations , how come Shibpur management would not have accommodations for the visitors? Is not it shameful?
And I have read about Amitji to be very kind person, but here we get a different picture. I hope he is a TRUE SAI DEVOTEE carrying out BABA's message and do not show himself as an arrogant person. LOVE and KINDNESS do not need any Language.
So even if he does not know Hindi or English, he could shower his kindness to Sai Devotees visiting the temple from far or near!
I agree with the Sai Devotees who say about feeling Sai at his/her home and not to bother visiting such far away places for the reason to VISIT BABA! BABA is with you always each and every moment. I believe that too. This time we went to Atlanta visiting my son's family, my daughter in law said she will make it possible to take me to Sai Temple, and I told her not to worry for the specific visit. If it was convenient for all of the family to go as an outing, yes, we would go but for me it is perfectly ok if we could not make it!
And really both my son and his wife were so very busy with their job related projects to be handled that they did not have a time to breathe, I can say. BABA knows my heart and I have peace always thinking of BABA.
Jai Sai Ram.
Jai Sai Ram,
Even i have been to Shibpur and went through the same issues to reach there…you are right people in the neighbouring villages ,,even 10 kms away do not know about the temple…fortunately my brother in law can speak Bengali so we could manage… as for the donations part…i will not disagree with you… i took 2 dresses for Baba,,, 1 was offered very casually,,,but then may be that is how Baba wanted it to be… same with the money… I simply told Baba that it is for you and you please take care of it… my trip was too short…i would like to go again…only and only for Baba..and I understand what you are trying to say that we are so madly in love with him, keep trying to follow his words… and then there are a few who are soo soo close to him and when you do not see that love there,,,you just wonder,,,but then may be its because we are humans that we do not..may be there is something more to it,,,something v cant see… Baba sees all , everything…that is all :))..Jai Sai Ram
Dear Devoteee..please and please post your experiences of Baba…Jai Sai Ram
Also to add to the above post,,i think Amitji is not very informed of the routes by road that is why he does not mention it to anyone…coz it was from somebody,,,while asking the way to Shibpur that we also got to know about it and then we asked Amit ji if it was not too far from Mayapur and if we could stay there..to which he later said that yes it is a very good place with lots of options for accomodation. Jai Sai Ram
Om Sai Ram,
Om Sai Ram,
Om Sai Ram,
Om Sai Ram,
Om Sai Ram
Thank you for providing this guide and advice for any Sai devotees who wish to visit Shibpur! Hopefully, with more people going to Shibpur, the area will become more developed with more facilities. Om Sai Ram!
Thank you for your advice, but listening to everything you went through, the trip itself sounds daunting. and the way temple officials seem very lax about the pilgrims, is discouraging after you been through so much to get to the temple. yes, they might be in a bad mood, but i can never imagine devotees like shama or mahalsapathi having a careless attitude when so many different kinds of devotees came to visit Baba during his lifetime. Well, Baba will know what to do.
Sairam to all fellow devotees,
From my limited conversations with Mr. Biswas, i came to know of his work in fighting a continuing battle against drug smugglers in the area who are spoiling the youth of the area. This is only one among his several social missions which he undetakes with full zeal but a mission in which he hardly gets any cooperation from the local administration. I too am associated with a govt. office and i cd understand the kind of resistance he gets from the local admn. and amid which he continues his good work. We city people can only imagine the hardships he and his fellow members face there. I would like to submit that very little is known about his scocial activities, may be due to lack of adequate help for spreading information through the internet.
When we as human beings continuously face hardships, be it in personal or professional lives, these experiences harden our nature or character, whichever way one would like to understand it. I feel the same thing has happened to him. Morever, the district admn. is not too helpful in matters of Sai faith as the people of Bengal as such are new to this faith. So one really cannot expect a change in people's attitude in 4-5 years…its a long process.
I would request everyone to bear with Sh Biswas, and if necessary, frankly discuss the problems with him and if possible, extend help to him by physically being present with him and understand and tackle the problems he faces there, and not just by sending donations.
Thank you
Dear Devotee,
Thank you for the valuable info and your rough but honest facts. I also planned to make a trip with my mother and sister to this holy pilgrimage next month. But after reading your experience I am debating whether I should go or not. I don’t know how safe it would be to go there with mother and sister with no proper place to stay nearby. It is very sad and hurtful to have this kind of experience when you go there from far places with so much faith and hope. A recent mail from Shibpur temple regarding devotee donations receipts also mentioned that last year temple authority had problem receiving donations from western union as it had crossed the limit of transactions. With so much donations pouring in, not having any or limited accommodation and proper route & lodging info for devotees coming from far flung areas leaves a question mark. With all the miracles stories and donation info on the temple website, detail info about route, lodging facilities and different transportation means (besides taxi costing Rs.5000) to reach there would certainly help devotees a lot and would be a better use of temple website as well. We leave it to baba to take care of it.
Thanks for posting this experience.
I just wanted to add that I sent Rs.12,000 donation to this temple and never received a receipt or even udi. When asked for receipts or udi, they were not at cooperative at all. I sent them transaction details etc., but they never replied. Please do not send any donations to this temple.
dear devotee,
I am really amused to read the experience and after reading your write up it looks like you were more interested about making us aware about the road condition, political/social status of west bengal /krishnanagar/shibpur, which like many, I am also least interested to know. Like you, so many devotees from different parts of the world comes to meet BABA (including me),faces the same thing you experienced, of course sans the hyped things that no one helps to find out roads, everyone looks suspicious, not safe to go out, many of us have had just the opposite experience, so why to generalise?
I am also an outsider who is visiting the temple for last 2 years (never tempted to write anything but couldnt help after reading this post), and i can vouch for the hardship Amit and his team is facing since last 10-12 years to bring this temple to this stage what it is today, they may be illeterate and can't speak English/Hindi like us and are not exposed to the world of luxury you & me are in, but I think their DEVOTION is 100 times more than us.
Also i would suggest, let the devotees of BABA face the hardship to reach to him, and take it as BABA's instruction. So let's not discourage fellow devotees by frightening them like this, BABA is there to take care of all us, may be he wanted to test our SHRADHA & SABURI like this.
I would request you to be a member of SHIBPUR SAI SAMITY, if possible, stay their for prolonged period, mix with the villagers & Amit, be a part of the reform which Amit has undertaken in the village, i am sure, it will be enriching exprience and your next posts will be different. Amit is alone & he needs helps from us. Don't keep so many DOUBTS (money/coconut & other things) in MIND when visit a holy place, when you have given it to BABA's feet, he is the malik.
Also please note, SHIRDI & SHEGAON(place near Pune) was once upon a time was a small viallage with all the difficulties of life which Shibpur has today, but with BABAs presence & blessings, it is now what we see. Watch out SHIBPUR also, it will change in next 5 years with BABAs blessings & miracles which will be beyond our imagination.
JAI SAIRAM… may BABA keep everybody Happy & in good SPIRIT of a TRUE DEVOTEE of HIM and have SRADHA & SABURI.
Baba instill some sense in this so called devotee of yours from Himachal Pradesh. What he/she is trying to do here is wastage of time by involving everyone in a controversy of sorts. Hetal ji , i used to visit your blog for spiritual leanings, not to read such rubbish. May good sense prevail over everyone here. Dont drag our baba in this. I request you.
Dear Sai Devotee
After reading your post, i felt that it was written mainly to malign this person who u call Amitji.
Please,I am requesting you NOT to use this spiritual forum to take out your personal grudges against others.
As our SAIBABA has always taught us, we should all try to be good human beings.
may BABA bring peace all around.
OM SAI RAM
Hetal ji, why do you even entertain such people??
amit is facing so many hardships there.i have personally talked with amit ji and probhat ji.they are really nice persons.hum to unke ehsan kabhi nahi chuka sakte jo hume na jante hue bhi hamare liye din raat pray karte hai.i felt really sorry after reading this experience because baba lives there baba talks with amit ji directly.please try to understand they all are living in very remote areas.may baba bless them all and give them courage.om sai
Let us not bother who plays in the name of sai. Sai has showed us a way that we should not entertain such ppl. Thanks Hetal ji for posting everyone's experience irrespective of the content in it. THanks a lot
Devotee who sent the post hasb just honestly what he felt there and its his rights to tell what he felt he is not telling every one to belive, those who want to let them belive those who don wanna believe don believe its as simple as such, its we ppl who are makin an issue out of it, so lets stop it here, all this arguement is happening because of our unecessary ego's and clevernes, so lets jus stop here and Baba knows who is what so lets jus stop here , let sai judge who is what who are we to judge any one and comment on any one's frankness or feelings
it is one thing to be frank and another thing to do a smear campaign against someone….and you cannot be frank to the point of hurting a persons sentiments….this is so against BABAs philosophy….let HIM decide who is right and who is wrong.
OM SAI RAM
Dear all,
This post has created a lot of controversy. I donot know who is right and who is wrong. But being a resident of Calcutta and having to travel frequently to Bethaduari on business, there are certain things I can vouch for. Firstly, its always more convenient to travel by train to Bethuaduari,which takes only 2 hrs as compared to 4hrs by road. Secondly, when one travels from Calcutta to Bethuaduari and back, any travel agent/car rental charges you between Rs.4900 and Rs.5000. So I am amazed how this person got this service for only Rs3500,and that too with overnight stay included. I would be very obliged if he/she can forward me the phone number of the agency, who run their business at such subsidized rates.
Or is it ,as someone has already commented, just one side of a story?
OM SAI RAM.
Dear Brorher/ Sisters,
I think every one have vouched thier opinions out. Lets leave it to Sai to decide. Our whole purpose is to worship Baba and spread his messages of Love, kindness. mercy, charity, forgiveness….etc.
Taking it further will only lead to controversies. Since the first devotee has shared his experience, lets also see what others will say about their visit.
These days Baba temples are built almost every where in India while some people interest is mainly to make money by using Baba. Shiridi Santhan is constantly informing devotees to be cautious and be careful in this regard.
Any way, i think Amitji should be given some time and chance to improve and overcome the challenges he is currently facing. But on contrary, if there is definitely some wrong doings by Amitji as some devotees mentioned in the forum then the real truth will be out soon.
So i kindly request all sai devotees to end this here and lets move forward to read and experience other devotee experiences by our Father Shri Sainath.
Glory to the King of Kings Shri Shiridi Sai Nath.
Servant of Baba.
Dear SAI devotees,
I have been to Shibpur SAIBABA temple twice and each time have found Amitji to be most helpful and courteous.This inspite of me having made no donations. Amitji has been doing selfless service to the Sai devotees and the villagers of Shibpur. It is very wrong to accuse him of such misconduct.
Looks like this person has made a very good self-analysis when he says at the very beginning that "WHY DO I FIND FAULTS ALWAYS?" That seems to be the true nature of this person. ALWAYS SUSPICIOUS.
I pray that BABA bless this person with some sadbuddhi.
OM SAI RAM
Baba knows what is right & what is wrong. Just leave everything to BABA. He will take care of it.
OM SAI RAM
Freedom of Expression doesnt mean right to hurt sentiments of millions of devotees of Sai. I hope this class 1 gazetted officer in the government with lot of exposure does understand the basics. All are equal in eyes of baba.
Dear All, I was the one to post the experience about sending donation to the temple. By Baba's grace, I received an email from Mr. Amit Biswas this morning apologising for not sending any acknowledgement for more than 6 months. He has promised to send me a receipt as soon as possible.
May Baba bless us all!!
Sai Ram.
Dear Class One whatever Officer,
Let me introduce myself… An American Educated woman in one of the leading universities on my way to being a CEO of an international company. Traveled the world and seen many THUGS! – Thats the level of my so called exposure. ( Not out of EGO but to give you an idea who is writing in)
Amitji is not a thug nor is he anyway you described here. He is someone with the sole purpose of fulfilling Baba's order to build a temple. Now I agree there are many temples in India but the sheer grace of Baba is to see the work done in such a remote part of India. I have been to Shibpur myself and seen the place. It is truly a divine experience. I urge devotees to know the facts before passing comments on someone truly spreading the word of Baba. Amitji gave up his job and career to pursue Baba's work. I know what a big sacrifice that is.
As far as everyone worrying about their petty donations – Let me tell you since 2009 to 2011 the place has transformed from a thatched roof with Sai in it to a concrete structure housing two temples. Sri Raminijee Baba's well know devotee who gave crores to Shirdi has also by Baba's order sent in a big marble statue for the temple.
Your experience is horryfying because you made the wrong choices – why go by a cab that does not know the way. You thought yourself too smart and landed yourself in the mess. Did you know that the lodge you lived in – that area has a police station and hence is safer than the the other place – since you are so concerned of political unrest you should be grateful for the advice you were given.
Madamji, I am all for free speech not for slander. It is a matter of opinion about what thinks a man's demeanor should be. To openly slander a man on a forum shows your attitude as haughty and proud.
Lastly, It is a village – Did you expect a Grand Hyatt 5 star accommodation or a Marriott by the beach? Of course it is going to be dusty and messy with limited facilities being a govt. employee you should know that.
It amazes me you write the priest was illiterate… Who needs a formal PH.D to be a priest? I have met this man and he is a simple hearted volunteer who works in the fields by day and serves Baba whenever needed. Such is their devotion.
My advice to you… when Baba is kind enough to fulfill your desire be grateful. Do not turn around and slap people with your words.
You need to grow up and swallow that EGO!!!
Dear devotee nice that u have made it clear that Amit ji is indeed a good man …. but your post is full of anger … not needed in this platform
Sairam devotees, this is Aditya from USA who work voluntarily with Amtji to reach and help out other devotees who seek information on this temple. I would like to make some cemments and make few things clear here. I am hoping people would consider my write up –
– I am very happy to hear that you were so fortunate to visit the temple and see Baba there. Baba says that only his wish will pull his devotees to his temple- be it Shirdi or Shibpur [just to let you know, it seems that there was a person residing just beside the temple but never entered the temple as baba had not called him there], so just imagine your good fortune
Meanwhile, I got confirmation of seats in Kalka express upto Kolkata with great difficulty. The clerk at the counter told me, “So here you get the last two seats, which were available”. As if they were reserved by Baba for me and my friend, who was supposed to accompany me.
Blind journey to Shibpur seeking Sai
I dug out information from internet about the shortest route to Shibpur and available mode of transport. Information was there, but nothing concrete was found. So we set out on our blind journey to Shibpur without any knowledge. We planned to go to Kolkata and find out the route further from Amit Biswas Ji.
– You would have emailed shibpurtemple@gmail.com. You would have got a positive response for sure
– Shibpur is a very remote village that time has left behind. People have only recently started visiting the temple and there are no signs on the street like cities (limited though). It is not just Shibpur but when you try to reach any remote village in India you will be faced with similar hurdles or may be worse.
– Amitji might not have all the information about redundant routes available to the temple from Kolkata or any other parts of the country but, I would say whatever it is on the website is after some research by him as he is all by himself managing the temple activities, praying for people and looking out construction work. He usually communicates to few people living abroad who voluntarily (NO PAYMENT BUT LOVE OF HEART) do this work despite their busy schedule – FYI a person from Andhra builds the website to push in the information. So just imagine the loop it goes through.
– I agree with you that there might not be well defined or concrete information on the Shibpur website and not to forget are the devotees like thee who provide the temple with their journey experience which indeed give us more information on how to reach Shibpur. We express our humblest gratitude to you for this.
CONTI…..
“Here I would like to mention that before setting out on our journey, I called up my counterpart in the local district administration, who did not speak very well about Amit Biswas, the chairman of the temple society. I also mailed to tourism department of West Bengal for guidance and it found place in the trash. Amit Ji told us to come to Krishnanagar. I requested him if he could arrange a taxi to and fro from Kolkata to Shibpur, because we were from Himachal Pradesh and had no clue about West Bengal. He gladly agreed and quoted a hefty price of 3500 rupees. I felt that was too much for covering about 150 kms. Distance between Kolkata and Shibpur is approximately this much. We also enquired about lodging facilities from Amit Ji. He informed that there was a small lodge near Krishnanagar and nothing else was available in that area.
Baba's help
– Madam, was it so required to call the tourism dept there? I think it’s in vain to do that, you would have better asked the people who have already visited the shibpur temple. And just to let people know that there is an email id shibpurtemple@gmail.com where people can email anything they have regarding the temple. This email is for us literate people who can very well speak English and cannot communicate in any other language. I myself manage that email id and never seen any email from you. Had I ever seen that I would have done my best to help such a big personality? I would strongly recommend you doing that from next time! I am sure people will agree to this!
However Baba came to our rescue. I got a phone call from my brother a day before I was supposed to leave for Kolkata. He was concerned for me because the Krishnanagar area was a politically sensitive, disturbed area with unstable law and order conditions. This is a remote and backward area almost bordering Bangladesh. Brother informed me that he had a friend in Kolkata and he could make transport arrangements for us to reach Krishnanagar. I was not very keen to travel in public transport so brother's friend arranged a taxi for 2 days that too at a reasonable amount of 3500 rupees. It was almost half the amount quoted by Amit Biswas Ji. We heaved a sigh of relief.”
– As someone who has visited Shibpur, I know that Amitji does not run his own taxi nor has his own car that he might help any of the devotees to pick/drop. An acquaintance of Amitji has a friend who runs a taxi within Krishnanagar. He being turned into a Sai devotee recently, delivers this service to help visitors up and down Shibpur from Kolkata. So, now if you want a ride from Kolkata, the taxi needs to drive all the way empty to Kolkata then pick any visitor drive back the long way to Shibpur come back to Krishnanagar. Next day do the same that is pick visitor up form Shibpur and drive all the way to Kolkata and coma back alone. So would it not be fair on his part to talk about that price 5000/-?. The distance between airport/ station in Kolkata and Krishnanagar is XXX Kms. Infact, I had rented this cab when me and family visited from Hyderabad to Shibpur and the journey was very peaceful
– If I am not wrong, Amitji might have mentioned to you that if you take the taxi from Kolkata, it might surely cost you less I believe it would be less than Rs.3000 as well. Also, amitji would not like to take any risk by hiring some guy from Kolkata who he doesn’t know and then ask him to drive the taxi to shibpur. What if that driver loots you?? Still people would say this as amitji’s fault!!! He had advised me the same when I flew from US to Hyderabad and wished to visit Shibpur but I chose to take a cab that would drive me straight to the temple with no hassles. So, I guess it is the choices we make that determine the ease with which we travel to our goals.
– I will request the reason for the taxi charges be added to the website and let devotees know that there is a great probability of getting lost when travelling with a driver who does not know the temple route.
continued….
“We reached Krishnanagar around 1.30 PM only to realize that lodge was available at Bethuadhari, which was 30 kms away from Krishnanagar. It was simply tiresome to travel 30 kms more after 2 days train journey and 3 hours tedious car journey to Krishnanagar.”
– I totally agree with you that after travelling so much in train it would be so hectic for you to cover the rest of the little route but imagine how people would have reached Shirdi in the earlier days
We set out for Shibpur around 4.30 PM. It was 15 km away from Bethuadhari. We enquired many people about the way. It was confusing again. There were two places by same name. They asked which Shibpur? We said Sai temple. Locals feigned ignorance. We are not aware of any such temple. I was shattered how come local Villagers don’t know.
I was almost in tears. We moved ahead. An old man wearing white clothes and white beard was standing in front of a shop. For a moment, I identified him with my Sai. And I requested driver to enquire from him. Another major problem was people of that area are uneducated and poor. They speak only Bengali. Thanks to Sai, our driver spoke Bengali fluently. He spoke to that old man and he guided us correctly. Go straight 12 kms and avoid talking to locals (an inner warning). Then you will reach Shibpur. We asked him about temple. He said I am living here since many years, but never heard of any such temple.
– Shibpur and its surrounding areas are very remote and there is not much connection between areas. When someone asks you regarding a temple out of your area would you be able to answer? Then how can you expect the people staying away 30-40 km from Shibpur to know about this temple. I don’t think you are aware of the fact that West Bengal is a state where KaliMata is primarily worshippedand they bow to none other to Devi maa. There are very few people in WB and Kolkata vicinity who have faith in and know about Sai Baba. Also Shibpur, being such a remote village it would not be right on our part to assume that there will be strong means of communication between any two villages!! Who knows there might be people who are opposing this great cause and don’t want other people to reach there. I have myself heard about this form the people of Shibpur when I visited the place. So do not worry if you hear this again Baba has taken you there and you need to have faith in him, then he will show you the way as he did.
– Sir, I agree lot of information is missing about what might be various routes to reach there, where can the devotees stay and all. The reason being that it’s a one man army there, people of shibpur are obviously illiterates but that does not stop them from doing them the unconditional seva that those people do there voluntarily. Its obvious that people lack the exposure there when there is no means of communication. Have you had the chance to go around the village and look at the plight of the villagers there? But not to forget is the love they throw at any devotee that comes in to visit the temple. I was in tears when I saw them – the love shown in my visit.
Conti
Therefore I did a lot of research to guide all the devotees, who wish to visit Shibpur in future. People of this place lack education and exposure. Therefore they could not upload anything on internet. Lack of exposure and vision on the part of Amit Biswas Ji also added to our woes as neither he could guide us properly nor he could promote the place by seeking cooperation with West Bengal government or even local administration. He even failed to get some signboards erected by requesting the local administration, which was not a big deal. After all a place drawing Devotees from nation and abroad and attracting donations worth lakhs of rupees deserves such little cooperative gestures from the district administration.
– Its funny when you generalize and connect this small village and its temple to the nation and abreoad see why would the state administration care about this temple in any way? This is a non-profitable organization and I do not see any reason for the govt or administration being a part of this. There were a lot of political people who visted the temple but whatever service is done in this temple is NOT a paid service. Every villager does a voluntary service for this temple. I would strongly request any devotee to go there and see the plight. In my visit I saw village ladies to rubbing wet sands on the floor of the temple to keep it new after the rains. Let me not forget to mention that there are few devotees abroad who voluntarily help for this temple. It not in terms of lacks of donations but in terms of time and understanding the issues with the temple and to make it a better place to devotees to visit there.
– I am so thankful to you that you brought all these points up so that now amitji and his samity can take a look at this. Do you think amitji can understand all that we are discussing here? No, its we who have to communicate him regarding all the loopholes. Buddy I am so glad that baba showed us the way to clear it now through you.
– Regarding lacks of donations, let me make this clear if there were lacks and lacks of donation coming in the temple gopuram would have done long back so dear its not the case and who are we to donate. PLEASEDO NOT forget about the fact that baba mentioned that its only his will that you donate for the temple and its NOT by our wish.
– I do not understand what is important here to build the temple first or to build the room for visitors? Please comment!
I understand both are important here but, things need to be prioritized first. The concern is here to complete Baba’s
order to build this temple.
– I would also request you any of the sai devotee to offer some voluntary service to amitji and he is all alone over there managing 100 of things. This temple is has come a long way from past 5-6 year and only now people have started to look at it. Trust me. So its all baba wish and not ours
– Friend I totally agree that “But those, who donate, have every right to question how the money was being utilized” when you visited the temple have you not seen the beautiful structure that it has been done? Don’t you see your so called “your money” in the temple. There are so many anndaan’s medical service and what not that happen there.
Personally I think if the temple would have looted your money then there would be no poor family in the village! Am I wrong??
Conti..
One more thing hurt me deeply. I took cash offerings worth 3000 rupees or more in an envelope besides 130 prayer requests and two coconuts with wishes from Devotees. Temple priest asked me to put them at Sai's feet before Aarti. I did. I know Sai knows all our feelings and pain and He accepted them there itself. But I noticed that they were left unattended in sealed covers during the Aarti. Obviously, it appeared that members of the temple management had standing orders not to touch cash etc till "Bade Saab" counted himself.
– Friend can you pleas tell us who this bade sab is ?? I am scratching my head from long time to figure out who this is!!
– Friend again I am so glad and happy that you brought so many prayers to the temple. Seriously hats off but tell me one thing, was it not right on the villagers or Amitji;s part to place all the letters on baba;s feet? As NO ONE there knows English or any language other that Bengali? Is it not that simple to figure out that? Also I thinks it’s a genral practice everyone does to place the prayers to baba.
– I also happy that you were so obliged to have some donation towards BABA despite of you going through all this pain to reach the temple. But don’t you think the money will need to be put in the donation box? I don’t think baba will take it away right? so there does not come any point here. Faith is very much needed in this case friend. Baba always say, give with faith else don’t give this policy is so simple yet so effective.
We remained there till Aarti concluded. Next morning, when we again visited the temple, I enquired Amit Ji about those prayer requests. He replied casually. Haan haan sab ho gaya (“Yes, Everything is done”). How? I failed to understand. Nobody touched them during Aarti. Amit Ji knows neither Hindi nor English. And the temple priest appeared to be an illiterate.
– I agree to the fact the the priest is an illiterate, but when is education a pre-requisite for that? Faith needs no education.Did you not see how the priest dances in a faith trance during the aarti I guess you forgot to mention that experience here!!
We went inside the temple and one more shock awaited me. The sealed covers containing cash were obviously taken care of as they vanished from the sight,
– Haha, baba might have accepted your dakhsina friend what is wrong in that do not worry be sure tht all the prayers that you had place to Shibpur baba will come true. Make a not of my words
but the coconuts with wishes of poor devotees lay there unattended. My heart cried. Of course, Baba knows our wishes and shall take care of everything. But an inner voice cried.
– I am not sure if you know that in west Bengal people never offer any prasadam made with coconut. That prevails only in south and north India. So its obvious that the people left it to baba;s feet and have him enjoy the whole coconut nothing to worry at all! We need to be happy that you were able to go there and offer Prasad at baba’;s feet.
– Let me tell you this my friend you are so fortunate to reach there and witness the divinity there. Very few people happen to reach there well planned.
continued…….
Next day, after lot of research, we found out that there is a beautiful and famous Krishna temple (Navdeep Temple) of ISCON at Mayapur, which is just 10 km from Krishnanagar. It is a divine place with amazing vibrations. The campus has good accommodation facilities. Even if you don’t want to stay in the campus, there are lot of lodges and hotels outside the campus. The area is clean, beautiful and peaceful and it is worth visiting. There is good luxury bus service to this place from Kolkata. People, who can’t afford a taxi, can conveniently catch a bus from Kolkata to Mayapur. One can stay here and can hire a local conveyance or even taxi which won’t be too costly to reach Shibpur.
– Actually thanks so much for bringing this up. Yes Amitji was not fully aware of the fact that lodging facility is so easily available there. We will surely post this in our website. IF YOU PERMIT US TO!!! So that other people can come and stay there.
– There are plans to build few rooms in the temple so that visitors can come and stay there but that might take some time. The temple authority is currently planning for a Gopuram which needs to be done as per baba orders is seeking donation and probably one that is done then the room construction will start.
– Even though there will be place to stay there will be no food facility there. I am not sure if anyone knows but when ever there is a devotee visiting there and if he notifies amitji of his coming, the local villagers prepare the food and get it for the visitor. It happened the same in my case.
– So do not worry about where all the donation is going about you can see that when you go there. Can you imagine such a beatuful structure being built in such a remote village? Do we think its out of fun AMitji is doing there? Has it not tickled our mind to do something for this temple when we read about its evolution?
– I agree every temple has its own importance, but you need to have faith as well friends. I would really suggest everyone to take this initiative to visit the temple and offer voluntary service to baba and to the temple so that people can know the plight amitji has to go through. This is no mere excuse friends, I talk to amitji daily and I know how many thing he has to manage from there and I from here.
– You guys in India are so fortunate that you can go to shibpur any time and offer service there. Really fortunate people.
– Sir, as you have mentioned that you are an officer may be you or your friend can help amitji to have some of his burden shared regarding administrative services. Please let is know if you are interested.
– I agree to point when people say that they donate but rarely recieve the receipt. We apologize for that and we will keep this in mind and make sure everyone gets it. Thing is with so little resources I mean people helping out voluntarily it’s a little delayed and difficult task. Frankly speaking its only 2 members from usa who help amitji post udi and communicate prayers to amitji that too voluntarily. There is a communication gap that will delay and as amitji has to swing between shibpur and krishnanagar its difficult for him to be in sync as well.
– Friends we are all here for serving the lord and I would be glad if any of you can offer service to baba.
– I am so thankful to you my friend for sharing this experience. Seriously we have learnt a lot from this and will strive to clear all the loop holes that you have mentioned here.
– Be it myself, yourself or Amitji, we are just instruments of Baba. He is the master and to him we need to offer. Its very painful to hear when people in that village strive so hard to build up a temple and we think here where our money is going!! Have faith in sai.
continued
I kept wondering why Amit Ji misguided us about lodging facilities and that nothing was available upto Bethuadhari, which was 30 km whereas Mayapur was only 10 kms away from Krishnanagar. Though it is on a different route, but it is much convenient and approachable for those having a conveyance.
– Friend, do you think Amitji doesn’t know about that place? He does but he always mentioned that people would like to stay near to the temple and behturdhari is only 17kms from shibpur and mayapur is 50km away! Which one do you think is beter? Bethuadahari has a police station as well and is a safe place to stay! Please stop to be suspicious.
– Finally I do not want to throw thie fault in you and I am glad you have brought to us so many points that we have to take care of from now on friend. But not to forget that this divine place is still in its initial stages and is slowly growing up. So woule be better if we give this some more time. Regarding donations, I don’t know if you got time to look at the temple from past few years then you will surely know where has it started form and where is it going to!!
– I wish Baba helps you clear the inconsistencies you found here!!! Om sairam
I am so thankful that you posted my comments regarding this post. I am hoping people will consider my points here written in line with the post marked as " – "
Again my sole intention to write about this was to clear the minds and let people know about the actual facts! Dear devotees…. let us not forget Baba who has come solely for our purpose and to fulfill our petty needs in Shibpur.
May Baba forgive me if I had made any silly comments here. Om sairam!
Blogger of this post only shared own feelings and not pushing anyone to follow suggestions. Purpose of blog is to share feelings and opinions. There is a good sugestion made here to consider Mayanagar as an option for overnight stay. It is a free world and Saibaba knows the truth and we should leave it for almighty to decide.
Dear Hetal Ji
I believe, you are a TRUE devotee of BABA and that is why you have created this blog on BABA's instruction so thaof veryone can share the miracles and experiences of BABA into this and spread BABA's message across the world thru' this blog. If that is TRUE, my sincere request to you, not to allow any post which diminishes/hurts the spirits & sentiments of millions of BABA's devotees who wants to know/focus on only BABA, nothing else. Anyone who wants to disrepute/malign someone for his/her own interest and gain publicity/sympathy out of it, should strictly be barred from entering into this.
Amit is a divine soul(BABA lives in him), with his relentless efforts & self sacrifice he is serving the mankind on BABA's instruction, guidance & blessings. Many of us like me have found the true meaning of life after getting in touch with HIM and could reach to BABA's feet simply because HE helped us, it is very painful to see that he is been dragged to such cheap controversy. HE is MUCH above all these, and shuold be left there, otherwise BABA will be very unhappy.
I pray to BABA, he showers millions of blessing to you Hetal Ji, but with folded hand, with request, remove all the BLACK SPOTs so many of us has created in last couple of days in this regard here, Keep it completely WHITE as it was before, and let BABA paint/write on this as per his wish which will be our FATE.
JAI SAIRAM…
santanu
i am extremely happy that aditya ji has replied through this post.i was thinking on my own to talk with probhat ji so that he could clear the doubts but thanks to baba ji that aditya ji has replied thanks a lot.om sai
Sai bless us all.
requesting hetalji to kindly remove this objectionable post.
there are hundreds of devotees like me who have benefitted a lot from Shibpur SAIBABA MAndir through the intervention of Amitji. He is a real spiritual soul and BABA speaks through him. it was because of Amitjis prayer to BABA that my husband got a job.this happened before we even visited Shibpur. we had only read about the mandir on the net and contacted Amitji and requested him to pray to BABA on our behalf. And his prayers brought results within 10 days.
i strongly object to what the lady has written on this forum and am requesting hetalji to remove this post.
BABA may your blessings be with all your devotees forever
OM SAI RAM
The lady who wrote this has only explained about her experience … Ok people who personally know Amit ji disagree … its ok to correct her and explain why she might have got it wrong, but in a nice way like some people have …. end of .. now lets move on …
Sai Ramji,
This post was published as it is just to avoid any judgement on our part and not to disappoint writer's sentiments. But it has created a lot of issues. Everyone's point of view cannot be the same and every one's way of judging others also differ in many ways.
The lady has openly written what she felt and experienced. It may be wrong on her part that she made negative comments about Amit ji. Still i am nothing to judge anyone here.
Since it has been creating a lot of disturbance and questions and debates are arising, i as an admin of this blog, have decided not to accept any new comment on this post. Though i have not consulted with my co-authors and taken decision on my own, i am sure they will also agree with me.
Jai Sai Ramji
Sai Ki Deewani
Hetal Patil Rawat