Videos/Photos: Paid VIP Darshan Passes Concept @ Shirdi ~

[rOhit beHaL]

SHIRDI'S "PAID DARSHAN PASSES" CONCEPT FOR VIP's
January 28th`2010

Now, you don’t have to make way for Celebrities at the Shirdi Sai Temple, thanks to the New system.
But Devotees, be prepared to shell out a Fee to Offer Prayers during Weekends,
not with an Intention to generate Revenue but to avoid inconvenience to Ordinary Devotees.



On a Regular day, over One lakh people visit the Shrine of Sai Baba in Shirdi.
On Holidays and Weekends, the number goes up to Five lakh, and during Festivals it exceeds Eight lakhs.
The Number of Pilgrims visiting the Shrine has been going up in the last Five years
and, likewise there is also a growing demand for VIP Darshan from Ministers, Political leaders, Government officers and Celebrities.

The Trust gets thousands of requests for VIP Darshans every day.
It is estimated that every VIP visit holds the Queue for at least 15-20 minutes - not a pleasant experience for Pilgrims,
some of whom wait for Five to Six hours before getting close to the Saint’s Samadhi.

VIP Darshans at the popular Shrine has been a contentious issue because devotees regularly faced inconvenience when
their queues were stopped to enable politicians and other bigwigs to offer their Prayers first.

Temple Authorities say that most VIP Darshan Pass seekers want
Regular Darshan for the Early Morning Kakad Aarti that starts around 04.30 am and Madhyana Aarti which starts around Noon.  
  
So, the Shirdi Sai Sansthan Trust has decided to Ban the VIP Darshan Pass system
during Week Days and introduce the concept of Paid Darshan,
by which devotees could jump over the Regular Darshan Queue, by paying a Fee.

And, to arrive at a consensus on the Fees to finally be charged for VIP Darshan,
the Shirdi Sai Sansthan Trustees Board held a meeting on Saturday, March 06th`2010.
Presided by the Chairman of Trustee Board Shri.Jayant Sasane,
the Sansthan finally arrived at a decision to charge the visiting VIP's for Baba's Darshan,
in-accordance to the Time of the Darshan asked for.

1) For Kakad Aarti : Rs.500/- per person.
2) For Madhyana Aarti : Rs.300/- per person.
3) For Dhoop Aarti : Rs.300/- per person.
4) For Shej Aarti : Rs.300/- per person.
5) For Normal Darshan (Not during any of the Aarti's) : Rs.100/- per person.





~~ HIGHLIGHTS OF PAID DARSHAN SYSTEM ~~

1) This system of Paid Darshan will commence from Saturday, March 13th`2010.
2) Paid Darshan Concept will be applicable every Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Public Holiday's & Festivals
like Ram-Navami, Gudi-Padwa, Gurupurnima and Vijaya-Dashmi.
3) The Total number of Devotees which can accommodated in the Temple is 1600, so the Paid Passes Limit for Aarti's has been fixed at 140.
4) Darshan passes will be made available on charges to the devotees in advance and no prior booking will be made of such passes.
5) Even Member of Parliaments, Members of Legislature, Celebrities and Journalists are not spared from these charges.





- VIDEOS -

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWAwbjTF4g[/youtube]


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOGmOgvQ9H0[/youtube]


























"VIP Passes Might stOp,
But VIP Treatment will Never !!!"

rhit beHaL
 

[paramagurusai]

First of all I just hate (personally) the concept of these VIP's getting Darshan for hours long, while we ordinary citizens struggle hours in line just to have a minute Darshan of our Shirdi Sai Maharaj. But, I am sure that there is no way one can ban VIP Darshan completely because of all the politics that it goes with.  So I really appreciate the Sansthan take this kind of decision thereby limiting the hours and making it Paid Darshan. I hope they follow the rule that all VVIP's have to pay as well. SHIRDI SAINATH MAHARAJ KI JAI!!!

[rOhit beHaL]

~~ MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT BANS VIP PASS SYSTEM IN SHIRDI ~~
16th Sept`2010

People with Influence and VIPs will now not get any Preferential Treatment at Shirdi’s Sai Baba Temple,
Siddhi-Vinayak Temple or any of the Temples that are run by the Maharashtra State.

As, in a Directive issued on 07th Sept`2010, the Maharashtra Government has finally banned the VIP Darshan Pass System
at the Shirdi Sai Temple and the Lord Vitthal & Rukmini Temple in Pandharpur`Maharashtra.
So now, no Pass will be issued what-so-ever on any day, for Sai Baba's Darshan.

The VIP visits had irked thousands of other devotees who have to patiently wait their turn in the long lines.
And, after receiving a string of complaints from the public,
the Maharashtra government has decided to abolish VIP Darshan passes that enable speedy darshan for the VIP's.

Till now it was only said that "All Devotees are Equal in the Eyes of Sai Baba",
but now this teaching is going to be fully implemented & there will be no discrimination between devotees, VIP or Non-VIP.

And for this reason the Temples VIP Entrance Gate has also been Closed so the devotees who
used to take advantage of VIP Passes to have a quick & easy Darshan of Baba, will no longer be able to do so henceforth.

The devotees have also welcomed the decision. However, the Maharashtra Government seems to have disregarded this policy.
as it has decided to appoint an Officer of Deputy Collector rank to receive VVIPs.

Shirdi figures in the itinerary of several Ministers, Chief Ministers of other states and top officials from across the Country.
There have been times when low-ranking Officers have been deputed to receive them,
so a need to have Senior Officer to receive them and arrange Darshan is felt.
Shirdi has a government Guest house where VVIPs stay during their visit.
The Shirdi Sai Sansthan Trust has also set aside 24 rooms for VVIPs. Some, however, prefer to stay in posh hotels.




~~ VIDEOS ~~

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VdkhbQ45VY[/youtube]


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPVGk8kkFI8[/youtube]
























"If you live clOse to gOd
And His infinite Grace,
You dOn't have to Tell;
It shOws On yOur Face.".....anOnymOus

grAciAL fAciAL - rhit beHaL

[rOhit beHaL]

~~ VIP DARSHAN PASS RACKET IN SHIRDI ~~
December`2010

On a regular day, over 1 lakh people visit Shirdi Sai Baba's Shrine, which is the second richest in India.
On Thursdays, holidays and weekends, the number goes up to 5 lakh and during festivals, it exceeds 8 lakh.

Thousands of Devotees stand in long stretches of Darshan Queues for hours, waiting for their turn inside the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple.
But, there are also devotees who are willing to spend for a VIP Darshan Pass
so as to have an quick and easy Darshan of Baba, without queueing up.

So some middlemen are now taking advantage of such rich devotees.
For an agreed price, the middlemen arrange for a VIP Darshan Pass "Recommendation Letter" from some High Authoritative official etc.
This Recommendation Letter is sometimes on a Plain Paper instead of a Letterhead and nor is Officially Stamped.
Then, on the basis of this Letter the Middleman gets one VIP Darshan Pass.

The middlemen then makes several Photocopies of this single Darshan Pass and sells each one separately to devotees.
These devotees unaware that these are fake Darshan Passes, buy them with an intention of a quick Darshan of Baba.
These fake Darshan Passes are mostly sold on Saturdays, Sundays or other Holidays when officially there is no VIP Darshan allowed.





~~ VIDEO (GUJARATI) ~~

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNamPkV6NLY[/youtube]

























"Sin is nOt what yOu think it is,
Sin is what gOd thinks it is !
yOu may think accOrding to yOur Own cOnscience,
gOd thinks accOrding tO His Own !!!".....John G. Lake

rOhit beHaL

[rOhit beHaL]

- PAID VIP DARSHAN PASSES NOW AVAILABLE EVERYDAY IN SHIRDI -
16th Jan`2012

The system of Paid Darshan Passes in Shirdi, which commenced from 13th March`2010, till now was only applicable only
on Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holiday's & Festivals like Ram-Navami, Gudi-Padwa, Gurupurnima & Vijayadashami.

But, due to the fast growing number of devotees using the paid VIP Passes for Sai Baba's Darshan in Shirdi,
the Shirdi Sansthan Trust has taken a decision to EXTEND this VIP Darshan Pass system through-out the full Week
and not just the Weekends as earlier, thereby, reducing the VIP Darshan load from the Weekends.

1) For Kakad Aarti : Rs.500/- per person.
2) For Madhyana Aarti : Rs.300/- per person.
3) For Dhoop Aarti : Rs.300/- per person.
4) For Shej Aarti : Rs.300/- per person.
5) For Normal Darshan (Not during any of the Aarti's) : Rs.100/- per person.





- VIDEO -

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCOV9PlDBoA[/youtube]




























dO nOte tO vOte,
By nOt Accepting a nOte fOr yOur vOte,
& nOt giving yOur vOte in-lieu Of a nOte !"






nOted vOte rOhit beHaL

[rOhit beHaL]

From Monday 18th November`2013, devotees opting for VIP passes at the Sai Baba Temple @ Shirdi
will have to pay for attending all the four 'Aarti's' of the day because the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST)
has decided to levy Rs.500 per head for the morning (04:30 a.m.) Kakad Aarti
from those devotees who prefer to skip the general queue.
That means NO MORE FREE AARTI PASSES SHALL BE ISSUED TO ANYBODY INCLUDING VIP CATEGORY.

Similarly, each devotee will have to pay
Rs.300 for the Madhyan Aarti (12 noon), Dhoop Aarti (sunset) & Shej Aarti (10:30 p.m).
People opting to await their turn in the general queues would be allowed free access to the Aarti's.
In 2010, the trust implemented the paid pass system for the Aarti only on Saturdays and Sundays,
which now will be extended to all weekdays also (Monday to Fridays).

Besides the VIP passes for Aarti,
the SSST levies Rs.100 per devotee for VIP darshan on Saturdays and Sundays, which will not change.

The new daily VIP Aarti passes are being implemented on experimental basis to reduce the rush of devotees
inside the Sai Temple premises and to avoid the risk of stampede esp on weekends/holidays.

With a likely fall in the number of people availing the VIP Aarti's passes and consequent reduced rush,
the Trust management hopes more commoners will get a chance to see participate in the four Aarti's.

This decision has not gone down well with all the devotees. Some liked it while others criticized it saying that
why charge any money for Baba's Aarti when Baba himself lived as a Fakir.
They said it was wrong as it meant that those who can afford, will get the Aarti Passes
while the poor would be deprived of Baba's Aarti owing to the huge VIP Pass rush of devotees.





- VIDEO -

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfs1Rr6oFc[/youtube]











"We Give a Pass tO the Teachings Of Baba
& Take a Pass tO have Darshan Of Baba !"








PASS(ing) the PASS(rcel) !



cOnstructive Passes:
rOhitbeHaL