Here is good news for Saibaba devotees. The Saibaba temple at Shirdi will remain open throughout on December 31. More than 10 lakh devotees are expected to visit the temple on the New Year Eve. This provides devotees a rare opportunity to have darshan on the New Year dawn as well. But January 1 is a holiday as Bakri Eid falls on that day. 

Usually, the temple remains open both day and night only on Gurupoornima and Ramnavmi. 

“Considering the flow of devotees and the auspiciousness of the occasion, the working committee of Shirdi Sansthan decided to keep the temple open whole night,” said Shirdi Sansthan chairman and MLA Jayant Sasane.

The Shirdi temple remains open for Kakad Aarti at 4.30 am and close at 10 after Shejarati. Talking to DNA, he said out of 365 days, 150 days are houseful, including the weekends, and festivals like Diwali and Dussera.

“This is a step taken in favour of devotees who want to seek blessings of Saibaba and begin the new year. Last year, some devotees had to stand in a queue for 10 hours,” he added.

The Shirdi Sansthan can accommodate 10,000 devotees. But the authorities have made alternative arrangements as they have booked open plots, schools and industrial units for devotees,” said Sasane.

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1071219

The annual turnover of the temple is more than Rs100 crore and hence the richest temple in the state.