(reference LEI2023)
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Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Leicester

Vakrathunda Mahaakaaya
Sooryakotee Sama Prabha
Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Dheva
Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvadhaa

By Baba’s grace, the first Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in the UK was opened on 31st January 2010 by SHITAL at Wembley. This was the first step on the path to spreading Baba’s message across Europe. Since then, with Baba’s grace and your continued support, SHITAL has successfully achieved various milestones including the opening of Temple in Leicester (2013) and Temple & Community Centre in Reading (2015).

The Leicester Temple will celebrate its 10th anniversary and Ramanavami on 30th March. SHITAL Trustees are delighted to share our fascinating decision to purchase new temple premises (details below) for Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Leicester. SHAKTI MANDIR (the new place) has served our communities for 48 years, and we (SHITAL) are grateful to the SHAKTI MANDIR team for giving us the opportunity to continue services. By uniting communities together, we can promote spiritual upliftment and provide all the services (see below) for the wider communities on a permanent basis for the communities. It is SHITAL's pride to announce that the current SHAKTI Temple and its services will continue as is. As an addition to the BABA services, both teams are committed to smoothing out this transition. It is our goal to make this a pilgrimage center for the midlands.

What made us to move:
Over the last decade, the current temple area has undergone significant changes, and most of the car parks have become apartments, making it difficult for devotees to access the temple. As a listed building, we are not able to provide full scale services at this site and foot traffic has dropped. Since 2014, we conducted regular studies to better understand the needs of our devotees and communities. Studies indicate that the majority of visitors are from the golden mile areas (Melton Road, Belgrave, etc.) followed by the silver mile areas (Rushey Mead, etc.). Based on this we started looking for a suitable place and we believe that the proposed site is the most suitable site and has a lot of potential for development for various services.

Potential highlights:

  • Shirdi Sai Baba’ Temple
  • Shree Shakti Mandir
  • Large Dining Hall
  • On site staff quarters
  • on site ample carpark
  • Large open space to celebrate on site events such as Gurupurnima and all Hindu festivals in bigger manner.
  • In the vicinity of our Golden Mile / Belgrave
Potential Opportunities:
  • Potential development for PURPOSE-BUILT Temples
  • Aim to create a pilgrimage for midlands
  • Arts & Cultural center
  • Educational and Services Hub for our communities
  • Community Hall
  • Partnership program with a third-party charity, government entity, etc.
  • Weekend school
  • Professional skills development
  • Yoga and meditation
  • Dosti Club to improve the welfare of elderly
  • Bala Vihar & Child care services
  • Potential development for community center
  • Leadership & technology for women
  • Innovating for the future
  • The student welfare club
  • Getting youth ready for tomorrow
  • Find Talent/Challenges/Multi-industry
  • Full time school 

We are officially acquiring the site and we need to raise £1.53M. Currently, we have managed to raise 10% of the total amount and we must raise the remaining funds by 15th June 2023 to secure the premises.

How you can contribute?

By Baba's blessing and your continuous love & support, we'll be able to reach our goal.
By DONATE a brick, YOUR NAME will be INSCRIBED upon completion

We are sure that we Hindus together can raise this amount soon. Therefore, please share our information with your family, friends and social groups about the great importance of donations. Let us unite and be part of the divine family in raising these funds quickly. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any questions or for more information. Together we can make a difference

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This project aims to achieve a PERMANENT PLACE of WORSHIP FOR SHIRDI SAI BABA with more facility in Leicester.

Shakti Mandir History to Present Day 2023 (48 Years):
Shree Shakti Mandir temple was once a Roman Catholic Trinity Church, built in the 1820s. In 1973, his Holiness (Late) Sri Karunashanker Purohit bought the property. The building was registered in 1975 as a place of daily worship, symbolising civil marriages and Hindu wedding ceremonies. The temple serves its great congregation and visitors for prayers and family sacraments. It holds congregational events for people from all walks of life to participate in the word and work of God. The temple’s dining hall has been an electoral polling station since the early 70s, enabling thousands of residents to cast their votes. The current building holds seasonal services for its residents. These outreach services have been delivering diabetic club, disabled children holiday workshops, back-to-employment support, legal surgeries (matters concerning immigration, wills and probate), alcohol dependency and other substance-related awareness and social stimuli. The Charity provides cohesion practices to build harmony within individual communities and promote cultural diversity, which applies to underrepresented communities.
Some of the services offered:

  • Children’s Club for children with special needs, this is currently being run every 4 to 6 weeks.
  • Satsang and Bhajans are run every week by a group of senior citizens
  • Dining hall used as a Polling station
  • Jain community congregations 
  • Daman and Diu community congregations
  • Hindu festivals which we would otherwise not celebrate in larger scales eh: Holi
  • Holy month of Purushottam
  • Navratri
  • Day center clubs for over 60 yrs from the wider community.
  • Special day celebrations eg: Birthdays/anniversaries/weddings

Benefits of participating in Temple construction and Charity:

Charity is a virtue in itself and is considered to be a purifying, refining practice on the path of spiritual progress. “The crowning act of charity is to construct a temple. He who attempts to erect temples for Gods is freed from the sins of a thousand births. Even a thought of constructing a Temple is adequate to demolish sins of long-standing nature” says Agni Purana.


In chapter 35, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba said to a devotee by name Kaka Mahajani, "If I take one rupee as Dakshina (donation) from anybody I have to return it in tenfold to him". So, the best way to receive is to give.


It is also mentioned that Lord Yama (the God of Death), addressed the ‘Yamadootas’ (agents of Death) and said: “Never bring the human beings to ‘Naraka’ (Hell) who constructed and contributed to temples. Never even look at the children or relatives of those illustrious devotees. By building a temple for the Lord one takes his family, a hundred generations past and a hundred to come, to Vaikuntha (spiritual abode)”.