India Tourism » South India Trip

A trip to South India is incomplete without a visit to the temple town of Tirupati. The most important place of interest here is the historic shrine of Sri Venkateshwara, the Lord of Seven Hills. Tirupati’s enduring mystique is eternal.

It is the queue of life. For those who people it day after unfailing day it bestows equality, hope, patience and reward. It winds its way with no apparent beginning and definitely no end. But as the golden doors to the sanctum of Lord

Venkateshwara in Tirupati finally comes into view, everything else is forgotten, including the line itself. The exultation “Govinda, Govinda!” sweeps through the tumultuous throng. Disparate limbs and beings become unified in a common longing. The vitality of prayer is nearly tangible. Strangely, it is these moments that are recollected with crystal clarity in the years that follow, the hours that precede it being of almost no consequence. A darshan (beholding the idol) of Lord Balaji at Tirupati is many things, not the least of which is a vision of the resplendent deity, already so familiar and dear. It is an urgent, absolute and hauntingly short interlude with the divine and, whether because of its fleeting quality or the power of faith, it is an experience that is as difficult to describe as it is to forget. Which is probably why that queue never ends.

Delectable sights
Once out of the sanctum, fellow pilgrims disperse easily, even magically. Prosadom (offerings made to god) is not merely exceptional in quantity but quality too. And we haven’t even reached the famous loddus (ball-shaper sweetmeats) yet! Whether chokkorai pongol (rice cooked with lentils, milk and jaggery and laced with ghee and cardamom or thayir sadam ( curd rice enriched with dollops of butter and spiced with crackled mustard.

Hallowed anecdotes
Lord Venkateshwara is worshipped as Balaji in the north, Tirupati Thimmappa in Karnataka and Srivari in Andhra Pradesh. He is also Srinivasa, or where Lakshmi (Sri) resides. Tamil scholar Tholkappiar is credited with having made the first recorded reference to the temple, in the 2nd century BC, when he referred to the Tirumala Hill as the northern boundary of the Tamil world. The easily recognisable three-tiered golden gopurom (temple spire), the Ananda Nilayam, has been gilded four times by different Yadav Raya kings (1359-1684 AD), who are credited with bringing the temple to prominence by gifting land, cows, gold and villages to the temple. Twelve thousand tolos (1 told is equal to 11.664 grams of gold) were used in plating the present tower in 1958.

In another interesting and relatively recent legend, Sir Thomas Munro, the Governor of Madras Presidency during the British rule in India, believed he was cured of acute stomach pain because of the blessings of Lord Balaji. The endowment he created by gifting the village of Kotavayulu in Chittoor District requires a daily offering of one gangalam ( a particular type of vessel, which in this case, is till known as the munro gangalam of pongal to the deity. This practice is still followed in another celebrated story, the Lord Williams chali pandili, at Mookarlametta, still offers drinking water to pilgrims as per the tradition started by the Englishman, who believed Tripati cured him a chronic ailment.

Interesting facts
Over the years, Tirupati has collected as many astonishing facts as it has admirers. Tonsuring, the offering of hair that is considered an act of humility and devotion, yields about 800 kg of hair per day in Tirupati. The wig-making industry thus contributes Rs 16 cr annually to the temple.

The 4,500 kg of ghee needed for making Tirupati loddus every day arrives at the temple kitchen via a pipeline installed by the National Dairy Development Board in 2004. The pipe is double-layered; the outer steam-infused layer liquefies the ghee and keeps it flowing!

The mystique of Tirupati somehow transcends the superlatives that are commonly used to describe it. The statistics, as we have seen, are quite amazing but strangely irrelevant. How does it matter that Tirupati is arguably the richest, most visited temple in India? “Did you have a good darshon?” we are asked after we return. Oh, we always say without even a shard of doubt, “we did, we did.”

Getting there
By Air: Jet Airways has daily flights to Tirupati from Hyderabad.
By Rail: Tirupati is the nearest railhead. The city is well connected to all the cities of India.
By Road: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) runs a regular bus service. One can travel from Tirupati to Tirumala by road or climb the hills on foot.

Accommodation
The TTD manages stay options in Tirumala. Tirupati, which is downhill, has private hotels and lodges. The Karnataka State Guest House is the only facility in Tirumala that is not managed by TTD. TTD charges range from nil to Rs 2,500 Mid-range accommodation is usually provided in the Rambagicha, Varahaswamy. Saptagiri and Narayangiri, make sure to bookat least 30 days ahead.