Tirumala – Divine abode of Lord Balaji

                          A long-awaited trip to Tirupati finally materialized, early this March. We first went to Tirupati by train from Pune. We visited some of the temples at Tirupati. Then we visited the Tirumala hills to visit the Divine abode of Lord Balaji. We took a bus to Tirumala. Just before ascending the hill, the bus is asked to halt and all the devotees and their belongings undergo a security check. We had booked the Special Darshan passes costing Rs.300/- per person, at Pune itself.

                          Then we hurried to keep our belongings in a locker. After waiting for nearly half an hour in a queue at the first pilgrim facilitation centre, we were asked to go to another centre; as all its lockers were full. This centre fortunately had a spare locker. After showing our ID, we kept our belongings in it, locked it and went out. The lockers are provided free of cost. (The facilitation centres are over-crowded, yet well-maintained!) We had to go to the place allotted to join the Special Darshan Pass queue, by taxi, which cost us Rs.100/-

                           Just outside the temple, we kept our footwear at another locker. Only small purses and IDs are allowed inside the temple. Since we were aware about this, as well as the stipulation to avoid leather items, we had both carried small cloth sling-bags and also dressed in the stipulated traditional Indian attire.

                          What caught us unawares was a female attendant asking me to remove the flowers from my hair. She asked me to keep it in my purse and wear it again, after leaving the temple. Another lady attendant standing nearby brusquely snatched the flowers from my hands and shoved it into a dustbin. I was dismayed. Usually married ladies wear flowers in their hair while visiting temples, whereas here I had this unpleasant experience! I learned later from the Internet that the flowers of the Tirumala hills are meant exclusively for the Lord, hence we can’t wear flowers. This fact should’ve been prominently displayed outside the temple and also mentioned on the Darshan Pass and tickets. Even those at the facilitation centres could’ve told us about it!

                          After a lot of shoving and jostling by the unruly crowd, we managed to get a glimpse of the Lord. Just when I closed my eyes in silent prayer, a lady attendant pulled me by my hand and ruthlessly shoved me aside. I bitterly thought that we had paid so much money on the trip and the Darshan Passes only to get shoved aside, without even one full minute’s Darshan. Why did all of us devotees visit the temple then? Faith, custom, tradition…? Take your pick!

                          At the laddoo counter, another unpleasant experience awaited us. A pilgrim was quarreling with the counter staff who had just informed him that the laddoo stock was over. That pilgrim had stood for a considerable time in that queue. In fact several counters were closed. Only three were open and we hastily made a beeline for one of them, fervently praying that we could at least get our quota of 2 laddoos per Special Darshan Pass. We had to buy two cloth bags for the Prasad, wondering why the bags couldn’t be provided free of cost. When we asked him whether we could get extra Prasad on making a payment, the counter staff didn’t reply at all. Hence we got our 4 laddoos and heaved a sigh of relief, that at least we wouldn’t be going home empty-handed!

                         These laddoos, dripping in ghee; must be packed in air-tight bags or containers so that the pilgrims who have come from afar can conveniently carry them back home. The Prasad is placed directly on the counter, which is unhygienic. The TTD trust must ensure proper packaging. A tip for the devotees is that they can carry bottles or stainless steel containers to carry the Prasad back home. They can transfer the Prasad from the cloth bags to their containers, at the lockers or at their places of stay in Tirupati/Tirumala. We had carried a plastic jam bottle for the same.

                            When we came out of the temple, disoriented by the bright daylight, we couldn’t spot the building where we had kept our footwear. It turned out that we had to collect them from another place. With no one to guide us, we kept asking equally clueless people, till an authorized photographer pointed a place and then taking advantage, asked us permission to click our snap in front of the temple. We readily agreed for the memento that cost us Rs.100/- 

                            We then asked an official about the footwear counter, he guided us silently and we managed to retrieve our footwear after walking around barefoot in the scorching sun and on the hot cement floor, for an hour! We cursed ourselves for not having placed our footwear in the locker first rented out by us.

                            We request the TTD trust’s officials to appoint volunteers who could politely guide the first-time pilgrims to the respective places in Tirumala. These volunteers must be well-versed in Hindi and English too, as not everyone can understand Telugu! The existing attendants in and outside the temple too need crash courses in etiquette. The attendants inside, must not act like bouncers! Most important, at least one minute’s time should be given to each devotee to be one with the Lord, in silent prayer! 

                             The devotees must also act like civilized human beings and not unnecessarily push and shove the others in the queue. They mustn’t forget the true purpose of their visit!

                             We couldn’t shake off the feeling that those on the hill appeared condescending, as if they owned the Lord! Outsiders were precisely outsiders! They weren’t made to feel welcome at all! Apart from that, money seemed to rule supreme! When we were inquiring about information, the taxi drivers scoffed at us and bluntly told us that they were not inquiry counters! Others appeared reluctant to even open their mouths! They would talk to us only if we engaged a taxi for sight-seeing. We’re sure that the Lord doesn’t discriminate between the haves and the have-nots. It’s high time, those at the Tirumala hills follow suit! Till then of course, the highly priced Darshan Pass system and the obnoxious behavior of several people there will probably continue!

                             Now that we have fulfilled our wish of visiting Tirupati/Tirumala at least once in our lifetime, we will keep praying to the Lord from the bottom of our hearts, from the safe sanctuary of our home!

                             Om Namo Venkateshaya Namaha!

The copyright of this write-up is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.

This review of the temple has been published at www.tripadvisor.in.