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.
