Govinda! Govinda!!
Image source: Google
While sipping a cup of tea on a winter evening, we decided to plan for Tirumala Venkateswara temple in Tirupati which is a landmark Vaishnavite temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala in Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh. The Temple is dedicated to Lord Sri Venkateswara, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is also known as Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple etc. Lord Venkateswara is known by other names: Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa. I have heard various folktales since childhood that Lord Vishnu actually resides in the shrine and there are in fact various facts supporting the theory. Idol located in sanctum sanctorum is always sweating, real hair adorn the diety (which need not be untangled) and the voice of waves of ocean behind the idol are some of the various stories being repeated by people generation to generation. Alas, we also decided to have a snoop-in to verify these tales.
We scheduled this trip with our parents and hence the itinerary had to be comfortable and properly planned. We also decided to combine Bangalore and Mysuru with our trip since it is not often that we visit that part of the country. After serious deliberations and thoughts, we finally froze the trip to be of 4 nights and 5 days (coinciding with Holi holidays’ weekend).
The idea behind this blog is to share the experience and the dos and donts while planning a similar trip.
Usually while planning a trip from Delhi to Tirupati, one has two options. Either to fly to Chennai and then take a road trip to Tirupati (which is cheaper) as compared to a direct flight to Tirupati. However, we chose the latter as it was convenient and time saving. As one reaches Tirupati airport one can opt for a radio taxi which charges INR 600 (We read umpteen blogs proclaiming the cab charges 2000-2500 which is actually not right information) to Tirupati. The other option is to take a bus, however you will require a vehicle to bus stand if you are carrying luggage and the total charges will come out to be the same if you are travelling in a group of four or more travellers. It takes approx one hour to reach Tirupati and further 45 min to Tirumala.
Marasa Sarovar Premier(Our stay in Tirupati)
We had booked Marasa Sarovar Premier, Tirupati for our stay where we had our lunch after checking in and took the solace of our comfortable bed while musing of our evening plans. (we had tried getting accommodation in one of the government guest houses near Tirupati temple three months prior to our trip but none of the guest house was available. We also approached an agent who promised that he will provide us the accommodation once we reach there at some extra bucks but thinking it to be a ruse we backed out from the option). This is the link for accommodation for govt guest house, in case you want to try: http://www.tirumala.org/AccommodationAtTirupati.aspx
We booked our slot for 10 am next day as a special entry darshan (which is different from a normal darshan, promising time saving). We also planned of visiting Padmavat temple which is a must visit. Legend says that Lord Venkateshwara came to Earth in search of Goddess Lakshmi when she left him after a fight. Searching for goddess he settled in the Tirumala hills and met a beautiful girl named Padmavat. They both fell in love and decided to get married. Father of Padmavat asked a huge bride price and Lord Vishnu took a large loan from Kuber, the god of wealth to pay the price. Lord Vishnu still resides at Tirumala as Lord Venkatashwera and devotees offer him wealth to repay this debt and in return their prayers are answered. It is said that if you visit Padmavat temple before Tirupati then only your visit is considered as complete.
Padmavat temple from the outside as photography is restircted
Visit of Padmavat temple: There is also a separate queue for special entry darshan of INR 100 per person which helps one to reach in the premises swiftly. It was not crowded when we arrived but we still took this special entry darshan ticket. We could see that the temple was very well managed with a separate laddu line, shoe counters and mobile counters. You get enough time to offer your prayers inside and you will feel blessed.
Thali at Hotel Mayur, Tirupati
After our prayer we took an auto and went to Hotel Mayur for our dinner after checking the reviews of the place. However, the food and service was just average. Since we were quite tired, we slept quickly after reaching the hotel. Next day was very important day of our trip and we had asked one cab driver whom we befriended to take us to Tirupati next day morning.
TIRUPATI DARSHAN DAY:
If you are a true devotee you will appreciate how important this day is!
We started from our hotel at 8:30 am after being told that the drive is for 45 minutes. However, it took us an hour to reach the temple courtesy a toll cum checking counter where you are asked to step outside of your vehicle and a thorough checking of vehicle, baggage and passengers is done. We reached the temple premises at 9:30 am and after meticulously following the placards of special darshan ticket, we reached the main gate. To our chagrin, we saw a huge crowd waiting for the 10 am darshan. You may encounter a lot of people trying to push and pull and trying to deposit their belongings at the entry counter. But the entry counter is located inside the temple and one should just wait for the gates to open after which you can deposit all your accoutrements easily at the dedicated counters. Ladies can carry their purses but they will be checked at all the counters on your way to the shrine. (In order to save your time you should keep everything in your personal vehicle or at your place of stay and come bare foot from there).
Tirumala hills on the way to the temple
There are free counters placed next to baggage counter dispensing milk, coffee and tea which are really good. However, the process of making your way to the deity is an arduous one. It is akin to a maze, a queue leading to another queue which again leads to some waiting counters. You have to follow the crowd and keep moving for hours in the line (in our case, we took nearly five hours). You will not realise that you have actually reached until the crowd starts chanting GOVINDA…GOVINDA!! You should keep looking in the direction of the deity and not think of the crowd, as you will not get sufficient time to properly stand and do the darshan because of the throng.
The temple is adorned with dravidian structure which is mystical, to say the least. As you look at the deity, you feel bliss all around. You can sit in the premises after your darshan and offer your prayers. A lot of marriages are performed daily in the temple and there are specially made mandaps for this purpose and you will find many newly wedded offering their prayers. Hair is donated in abundance as it is said that tonsure represents a real sacrifice of material beauty and shredding off of false ego. Legend also tells us that Neela Devi accepts the sacrificed hair of the devotees and in return they are blessed by the almighty.
We had our lunch outside the temple and after picking our belongings from our hotel continued our journey towards Bangalore. The plan was to start for Mysore the next morning. We still felt the presence of the deity as we moved from one place to other and were in complete awe for a very long time.
To learn all about Mysore, wait for the next post.
Some facts if you are visiting the temple:
- Don’t miss the beautiful Tirumala hills (also called as seven hills) and observe the various forms of Lord Vishnu
- Temple is of Dravidian structure and you are reminded of your history lessons
- Devasthanam has their own patent rights of laddus (which are very very special) and you can get two laddus per person with your ticket and extra at an extra price
- There is a special occasion called Brahmotsavam where the temple is visited by 50k -1 lac devotees
- There is no artifical lightening inside the temple and you will witness the deity in the light of diya. It is said that this diya was lighted thousand years ago and it is lit till day without any oil
