Soon, a spiritual theme park at Shirdi

Not that the followers of Sai Baba need any further incentive to get to Shirdi, but the shrine trustees are anyway giving them something more to look forward to.

Consider this. Vision Mega Media, an Australian company, has been contracted to create India’s largest laser show at the Shirdi shrine.

The laser show, which will depict scenes from the saint’s life, is part of a 20-acre spiritual theme park that will be created at Nimgaon-Korhale, one kilometre from the shrine. Work on the park, to be called Sai Garden, will start next month.

Apart from the daily laser shows, the park will feature a museum, an amphitheatre, 3D theatres, gardens and meditation spaces.
Shrine officials said that at present, the only place in Shirdi where devotees can get information on the saint’s life is a small museum which exhibits objects that were used by Baba, along with information on his life.

Jayant Sasane, chairman of the Saibaba Sansthan Trust,  said, “The laser show will beam images illustrating various miracles and incidents in the saint’s life on huge fog screens. The project is expected to cost Rs23 crore. The Sai Garden will also have 4-D games for children. Each 30-minute show will feature two sections of 14 minutes each; we are planning two shows every day.”

Tickets for the 40-minute laser show are expected to priced around Rs75 each. The fog curtains will have dimensions of 75 feet and 120 feet, making it among the largest such shows in the country. 

Initially, there were plans to construct the park on a build-operate-transfer basis. However, the Shirdi shrine trust decided to build the park on its own after objection from local residents. There are talks of starting a shuttle bus service to take devotees from the temple to the theme park.