So we started for Vellore at noon. It was arnound 130 kms from Tirupati. I took us 4 hours to reach the place due the beautiful infrastructure provided by our government. We reached there at around 4:30 pm. As I entered the Temple, I saw a board saying "Divya Darshan Rs 100/-". I go to counter to inquire about this Divya Darshan. The guy told me," Divya Darshan in 2 hours and Normal Darshan 3 hours". I realize TIME IS MONEY. I also asked him if there were any other difference between the two. He says Divya Darshan is nearer to the idol than the Normal Darshan. I din't understand what this meant. I decide to go for the Divya Darshan. So I take 4 tickets and enter the Temple. They say the temple is constructed in the shape of a Kundli. So it has eight corners and a centre point where the idol is placed. Basically we started from one point covered the other seven points. The temple is more like a resort. Located in the middle of mountains, beautiful landscaping, wonderful wonderful garden and a lake. You get to enjoy all this as you move from one corner to the other. After a 45 mins walk we reach the idol. The idol is placed in a temple made of gold. Again, they say it took 256 quintals of gold to make it. The temple is really marvelous. When I was taking Darshan I just decide to take a look around. To my surprise I found there were around 100 people standing behind a rope. Probably at a distance of 20 feet from where I was standing. I realized that these must be the guys who opted for the Normal Darshan. I could not resist grinning.
The journey back to Tirupati was quite normal. It started to rain cats and dogs as we had just started back. Our cars' headlights were a bit damaged and were not bright enough. As the journey progressed we came to know that our driver was not much experienced. He rammed the car on a divider and blamed it to bad light and heavy rains. We also saw a car just ahead lose its balance and go off the road. Apart from these, the journey was fun.
I reached Tirupati by midnight. I had got a special pass which allowed me and my Dad to sit in the Pooja for a whole 30 mins. The Pooja was supposed to start at 4 a.m. but we had to start at 1:30 am to get to the Pooja on time. You know, the usually checking like the one we have the airports.
Allow me to enlighten on how I got to go for this Pooja.There was this guy who had donated 10 lacs INR to the Temple. So every year he gets to sit in one of the Poojas along with five other members. The names of these members have to be submitted when you make are making the pass (i.e. at the time of donation). This guy respects my dad a lot and as a token of respect he invited two of our family menbers to join him for the Pooja. Before entering the main temple there was a cross check of who is who and they asked us for photo-identity proofs. This was meant to allow only the CHOSEN people to enter the temple. We somehow convinced the guy that we din't know about this and so we do not have any photo-identity proofs. Me and my dad were assigned fake names and this allowed us to sit for the Pooja. This was the first time I had used a fake identity and what a place to start off with !
I reached the main temple by 3:30 a.m. and waited patiently for the Pooja to start. So me along with around 30 other privileged guys are in a room very near to the Lord's idol. The feeling was out of the world,seriously. I could see more than 200 guys (this was what I could see) standing at 4 a.m. in the morning just to take a glimpse at the Lord. Everyone chanting the Lord's name. Govinda..Govinda..Venkatramana Govinda ! The Pooja lasted for 30 odd minutes. After I made my wishes, I turned around. Again I saw the same thing. Hundreds of people were standing behind a rope (around 35 feet from where I was sitting). But this time it was even more horrible. These guys were being pushed after they barely got to see the Lord's idol. Later I came to know that these were the people who had VIP Darshan pass. I could not even imagine what normal darshan was in here.
After the Pooja was over and I came out, I saw that the Pundit who had performed the Pooja was standing right outside the door and gesturing for Dakshina. On giving him the Dakshina, I got some Tulsi leaves which I assumed were offered to the Lord in the Pooja. And I thought there were some things which money could not buy.
The next day I had to purchase the famous Tirupati Laddoos. For these, first you need to get in queue for about an hour to purchase a Ticket. Then you need to get in a queue for a Polythene bag without which you can not get you Laddoos. And yes, the bags were pretty cheap. Only Rs 2 /- a bag. And after this you have to stand in the queue to get your Laddoos. This takes around 2 hours if you are lucky.
It was quite a learning experience for me. Let me put my learnings in bullets
I reached Tirupati by midnight. I had got a special pass which allowed me and my Dad to sit in the Pooja for a whole 30 mins. The Pooja was supposed to start at 4 a.m. but we had to start at 1:30 am to get to the Pooja on time. You know, the usually checking like the one we have the airports.
Allow me to enlighten on how I got to go for this Pooja.There was this guy who had donated 10 lacs INR to the Temple. So every year he gets to sit in one of the Poojas along with five other members. The names of these members have to be submitted when you make are making the pass (i.e. at the time of donation). This guy respects my dad a lot and as a token of respect he invited two of our family menbers to join him for the Pooja. Before entering the main temple there was a cross check of who is who and they asked us for photo-identity proofs. This was meant to allow only the CHOSEN people to enter the temple. We somehow convinced the guy that we din't know about this and so we do not have any photo-identity proofs. Me and my dad were assigned fake names and this allowed us to sit for the Pooja. This was the first time I had used a fake identity and what a place to start off with !
I reached the main temple by 3:30 a.m. and waited patiently for the Pooja to start. So me along with around 30 other privileged guys are in a room very near to the Lord's idol. The feeling was out of the world,seriously. I could see more than 200 guys (this was what I could see) standing at 4 a.m. in the morning just to take a glimpse at the Lord. Everyone chanting the Lord's name. Govinda..Govinda..Venkatramana Govinda ! The Pooja lasted for 30 odd minutes. After I made my wishes, I turned around. Again I saw the same thing. Hundreds of people were standing behind a rope (around 35 feet from where I was sitting). But this time it was even more horrible. These guys were being pushed after they barely got to see the Lord's idol. Later I came to know that these were the people who had VIP Darshan pass. I could not even imagine what normal darshan was in here.
After the Pooja was over and I came out, I saw that the Pundit who had performed the Pooja was standing right outside the door and gesturing for Dakshina. On giving him the Dakshina, I got some Tulsi leaves which I assumed were offered to the Lord in the Pooja. And I thought there were some things which money could not buy.
The next day I had to purchase the famous Tirupati Laddoos. For these, first you need to get in queue for about an hour to purchase a Ticket. Then you need to get in a queue for a Polythene bag without which you can not get you Laddoos. And yes, the bags were pretty cheap. Only Rs 2 /- a bag. And after this you have to stand in the queue to get your Laddoos. This takes around 2 hours if you are lucky.
It was quite a learning experience for me. Let me put my learnings in bullets
- God does not like everyone. God spends more time with rich people.
- People with more money are closer to God.
- Best Business Idea: Open a Temple and somehow make it famous. Also make sure no one can get pics of your temple.
- Basic of how market works: Create a necessity and then sell it.
After spending a couple of days with my family I was pretty much content with my trip. It was quite a long time since all four of us (me, my dad, my mom and my younger brother) were together. I had a really great time.
now here money mattered the most!!
ReplyDeletethis was one of the reasons that we avoided visiting the balaji temple in bangalore during my PS. havent been to tirupati, but this has reduced the little excitment left to visit it :)
ReplyDelete@asawari: do go to the temple. Its really good.
ReplyDeletedont let these petty things cancel your darshan :)
wats the difference between first point and second point?
ReplyDelete@sarang: thnx
ReplyDelete@surbhi: first is about spending time and the second one is about place from where you take the darshan