AT A GLANCE
Why go?
On a busy stretch of Lodhi Road, the Shri Sai Baba Mandir rises as a quiet, light-filled counterpoint to the traffic outside. Dedicated to Sai Baba of Shirdi, the 19th-century saint revered for his message that God is one and all faiths lead to the same source, this is one of the oldest and most loved Sai shrines in North India. The gleaming white marble image of Baba sits at the heart of an air-conditioned prayer hall and is even visible from the road, so passing devotees often fold their hands in greeting without stopping at all.↗↗↗
For the many thousands who have offered prayers here, the appeal is less about grandeur than about intimacy: a tidy queue, the smell of incense and burning dhuni, the warmth of aarti bells, and the sense that anyone, of any background, is welcome. Open from 5 in the morning until 10 at night every day, it sits within easy reach of Lutyens' Delhi's diplomatic quarter and the leafy expanse of Lodhi Garden, making it an unhurried stop between the city's more famous monuments.↗↗
