1 crore is equivalent to 10 million.
Saturday morning we started off at around 7.30 am and reached Thirumala around 11.30 am in the new Honda City which Prakash had just got a day earlier. Journey was filled with beautiful scenery, mountains on both sides and greenery all around. On reaching we found out that the tickets will be available at 2 am the next day….huum we were just deciding what to do next when a person approached to offer us tickets to the temple with some added premium. We managed to get the tickets at a whopping 400% premium….well worth enough for visit arrangement on same day. Cameras and cell phones are not allowed inside temple so had to leave all in the car. There are 3 lines to the temple, which merge at different locations on the way, the free line, Rs50 line and Rs100 line…..we got tickets for 100 Rs line and everything looked to be smooth, we were thinking of finishing the temple visit by 2.30 pm. But the things did not turn out as we had expected, there were 9 rooms each 50 x 15 x 18 foot size in which people were lining up. The rooms were airy enough as there was iron railing at 3 ends with open view to outside and wall on one end, mango drink(Frooti) and mineral water sellers were doing business through the same. The sellers were workforce of the temple only. For the convenience of the visitors there were benches laid out for resting…….for about 1 hr everything was smooth but the line did not tend to move much smoothly…..slowly the unrest among people began to show up….the people at back started coming to front using the benches area…climbing over the benches and moving forward, first few did it…people did not say much but then it turned worse…more and more people started doing the same and soon we had parallel lines along the bench area along with the main one. There was chaos ….specially for those with kids it was even worse…because of all compressing, pushing and increased temperature…kids started crying all around…though some were still smiling….but soon after like bandwagon effect …most started weeping if not by themselves…seeing the others weeping loudly…..Over and above this….fights broke out at regular interval between those who were in line and those forming the parallel line…some kept saying seeing the same “ Jhagda mat karo, ladoo khao, jay Govinda!” ( don’t fight, eat sweet, chanting god name Govinda!)…..though it looked rewarding to jump across benches and move faster but we decided to stick to the main line…..People in parallel line with kids started using a technique…first they would pass on the kids over to the other room and then use the excuse to move to the other room…..taking along with them the other members…...some had become deaf while they moved in the parallel line….not listening to any comments the regular line people were passing on them…it was utter chaotic…. We all were carrying multiple sweats on our body, dominant one being our own and with all kind of varieties ;) on hands specially….oh ya there was so called one security fellow as well….but he was there for an ad campaign I guess….just showing his teeth :D when people said the others are breaking the normal line and forming the parallel one…no action just a mute spectator….I think he would be fed up of having to deal with such situations on daily basis and had left it to people to manage among themselves. One person just stuck on my back…as if he can move faster that way…then one lady trying to find a space to move ahead between Sachin and myself and pushing both in the process….around 500 people were there in a room which ideally should have around 150-200 people…huuf…what seemed like an hour and half journey turned into 4 + hour journey…..finally we managed to visit the temple where the main deity idol was kept. Huum but the deity was at a distance of about 15 m from where the people could view…In the early morning session’s people have a chance to view the deity up close from 1-3 meters. There were around 10-15 member staff in the temple premises pushing people around to move forward and not stop for long to pray, so one had to start praying while on the move so that one can pray while being in the temple premises 3-5 seconds was the time one could get to stand in front of deity and pray. Finally we were done with temple visit and collecting the Prasad by 5.30 pm. All were too exhausted but effort worth spent as we made it to temple visit on same day…. We had quick dosas at a nearby restaurant after that and went back downhill to find accommodation in one of the hotels. We managed to find a suite room in one of the hotels and stayed back in the same. The next morning we visited another temple of Padmavathi . Here we finished off quite fast by money power for quick entrance and moving around…. We arrived back in Chennai at around 1.30 pm on Sunday. As being my first visit to the South India side…I find a great variation in the temple architecture with respect to those I have seen in the Northern and Western part of the country. Thanks to Meena & Prakash for planning out their trip :)!!
(.....beautiful scenery)
(Quenching thirst on the way with cool coconut drink!)
(many people shave off their heads before visitng the temple.....It is considered to be very auspicious to have your head shaven when visiting the temple. People donate their hair to the deity, as an act symbolic of renouncing the ego, this applies to men, women and children alike.)
(Tickets from 2 am only....) 
(the security check before proceeding to the temple hill )
(Big Hanuman idol on the way back from temple)
(......found some deers and peacocks near the Hanuman temple)
(stayed back in this Hotel)
(view from the Bliss hotel )
(Entrance view of Padmavati temple )
(side view of temple with Garuda)
(before checking out, one group photo)
3 comments:
You should be ashamed of giving a bribe to get into the temple. If you were a true devotee, you would have bought the ticket at 2AM and gone in the next day! - Sachin
hahahahaha ....who is saying that...the one who was with me in the same. You should be ashamed of what you wrote :D.Infact you were the one who told me that we got such arrangement remember...shame shame.
Hi Balu & Dips how are u both? - Sachin
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