Shirdi Festival Draws Over 8 Lakh Devotees, Saibaba Sansthan Receives ₹23.29 Crore in Donations
Shirdi Festival Draws Over 8 Lakh Devotees, Saibaba Sansthan Receives ₹23.29 Crore in Donations
Shirdi, January 3, 2025: The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi, recorded a massive influx of devotees during the Shirdi Festival organised between December 25, 2025, and January 2, 2026, coinciding with the Christmas holidays and New Year celebrations. More than eight lakh devotees visited the holy town during the nine-day festival and paid their respects at the Samadhi of Shri Saibaba.
Sharing details, Sansthan Chief Executive Officer Goraksha Gadilkar (IAS) said that the trust received total donations amounting to approximately ₹23.29 crore during this period. Of this, ₹22.03 crore was received in cash and digital forms through various channels. Donation boxes contributed ₹6.02 crore, while donation counters collected ₹3.22 crore. Paid PRO passes accounted for ₹2.42 crore, and online donations through debit and credit cards, cheques, demand drafts and other digital modes amounted to ₹10.18 crore. Foreign currency donations from devotees of 26 countries totalled ₹16.83 lakh.
In addition to cash donations, devotees also offered gold and silver. The Sansthan received 293.91 grams of gold valued at ₹36.38 lakh and 5.98 kg of silver worth ₹9.49 lakh. On New Year’s Day, devotees offered an intricately designed gold and diamond-studded crown weighing 655 grams, valued at around ₹80 lakh, at the feet of Shri Saibaba.
Devotee services also saw large participation. Over six lakh devotees availed free meals at the Shri Sai Prasadalaya, while more than 1.09 lakh received food packets. Around 7.67 lakh laddoo prasad packets were sold, generating ₹2.30 crore, and 5.76 lakh free boondi prasad packets were distributed.
Gadilkar said the donations are utilised for hospitals run by the Sansthan, free meals, educational institutions, charitable medical aid, pilgrim facilities and various social welfare initiatives.
