Om Namo
Venkatesaya
Jagadeesh Manikanta
2948, Batch 2012
O
128
m Namo Venkatesaya Om Namo Venkatesaya
Om Namo Venkatesaya. e power ful
chanting inside Sri Venkateshwara Temple
exudes a positive energy that stays with you long after
you have left the sanctum.
A visit to this temple is the highlight of any trip to
Tirupati. e mad rush, non stop chanting, high
security, heavily adorned idols and the compelling aura
around the deity- everything about Tirupati is simply
alluring.
Our trip to Tirupati went well by God's grace. As
planned, we started at around 8:30 am by car with a
chorused cry of 'Govinda Govinda' which spread
farther out of the windows.
e route we took was Hyderabad to Suryapet to
Guntur to Ongole to Nellore to Tirupati.
We stopped for lunch in Guntur. Next on route was
Ongole. As we reached Tirumala, the slowly undulating
curves opened up as the cool breeze began to caress my
face and the Holy Hills root out against the vast
backdrop of the clear blue horizons.
e divine ascent over Tirupati to meet the Lord had
begun which, for the believers, also doubles up as the
huge, coiled serpent of the master, lord Vishnu, better
known as Lord Venkateshwara or Lord Balaji in this
temple town of Tirumala Tirupati.
Tirupati is the most popular tourist destination and
religious attraction in the city. It is located on the
Tirumala hill top, 18km from Tirupati. Millions of
devotees come here to get a glimpse of the eight foot
tall idol of Lord Venkateshwara adorned with gold,
diamonds and �owers and standing under the glided
dome, Ananda Nilaya Divya Vimana.
Devotees can either take a road route to reach Tirumala
or can walk i.e. can climb the stairs all the way up. It's an
8km walk. It's takes around 4 hours to walk to the top.
As we chose the road, we reached Tirumala at around
11:45 pm and checked into the guesthouse that we had
booked. e room was quite clean with excellent
facilities. Since we were travelling the whole night, we
had a good sleep for 5 hours and got up at 6 am.
We reached the temple by 9 am. I found myself walking
in the temple town of Tirumala, a typical religious site
dotted with rows of shops selling all kinds of religious
knick-knacks, tourist trinkets and other religious
paraphernalia.
In Tirupati, there is a tradition of taking a vow to offer
o n e ' s h a i r t o L o rd Ve n k a t e s h w a ra i f o n e ' s
prayers/wishes come true. During my childhood, I used
to feel very happy offering my hair to Lord Balaji.
Nowadays there's a mandatory rule on clothing for
devotees. A woman devotee has to wear either a saree,
half saree or a suit with dupatta. Likewise, for men, it is
either a kurta pyjama or a white dhoti. e excitement
of wearing a dhoti to the temple was the highlight of
that day as I'd worn a dhoti for the �rst time. Dhotis can