Meevy

Tirupati is neither a place of tourism nor an adventure spot but a divine place. If you ever had the urge to feel the presence of god within nature’s bounties then you have to visit Tirupati. The journey started at my house and I went to the TTD Devasthanam board at T.Nagar, Chennai. I went there to check if I can book darshan tickets on the same day or the next day if possible. The men at TTD, T.Nagar said Darshan is available directly and they don’t offer Darshan tickets in T.Nagar at that time. Then I reached Koyembedu Bus Terminus.

The Chennai Tirupati to and fro Andhra Bus (APSRTC) is a good bet if you want to visit Tirumala via bus. It doesn’t stop on unnecessary places. You may get out at Tirumala directly or at Tirupati (below hills) if you wish to cover up the upward hill track of 22 kilo meters by walk. Before the bus started steering upwards I had different thoughts but gradually as the bus went towards Tirumala I couldn’t help myself feel the presence of God. All my other thoughts were lost. I felt as though He was asking me to see Him. In the bus there was this sticker of Perumal (Lord Balaji) with Changu and Chakra. At that moment I strongly believed that I am with Him, with His nature, His surroundings. All my dilemmas, disillusions went away from me. I was very clear.

As I landed in Tirumala it was too cold. I was literally shivering and wondered if I had landed up in Tirumala or kodaikanal. But the December (margazi) is usually cold even in Chennai so it is normal to be cool in Tirumala. Most people won’t wish to step out of their house at that time. That meant a lot of fewer crowds during these days. That’s the reason why I opted December to go to Tirumala. It’s said that Saturday is the best suitable day to have Darshan of Sri Balaji. So I was there at 4 30 PM Friday itself in Tirumala.

Two things I wanted to do. One was to get the Darshan confirmed (Kangan tied in the hand). Other thing was that I thought of booking a TTD cottage (Rs. 100 room) at Tirumala. This is to make sure that I get proper sleep so that I could visit the temple in the early morning. But things turned out to be different. Rooms were not allotted for single persons. And kangan is not allowed in tirumala. It has to be tied in down Tirupati. There used to be special Seva Darshans available through Vijaya Bank (Rs. 100 upwards) at Tirumala but at that time there were no Sevas till the next day evening. So I had to go for free Darshan immediately. Since I didn’t take meals in the day time, I took a light supper for the night and went for the Vaikuntam Quee (free darshan). The time I entered the free Darshan was around 6 pm. We were blocked in a big room. The Television was showing Mahabharata in Tamil and Telugu continuously. No place to lie down. People were sitting everywhere waiting for the guard to open the doors. All the night hours were passed thus. I woke up early morning at 3 am. No use again. The weather was extremely cool during the early morning hours. Finally they opened the gate at around 6 30 am. That comes to 12 hours of blockade in the room.

One of the rare things during the free darshan is that everybody runs like in a race even if there is space to walk. People just go crazy. This is not found in the 50 Rs or paid darshan. One woman with her child was pushed and she fell down with her child crying aloud. Though December is not usually time to see crowd in Tirumala, Darshan was stopped for a few hours and that’s the reason the crowd was picking up at the free Darshan. But the crowds were very spiritual and shouted ‘Govinda Govinda’ as there were many Ayyappa devotees there.

Finally the Darshan was finished at 8 am. A small amount of Sambhar rice was given as prasadham. I dropped money on the divine hundi. The laddu costs Rs. 5 for free Darshan takers and an additional Laddu at Rs. 10. Only one additional laddu would be given per person. So I got 2 laddus and returned in the APSRTC bus to Koyembedu.