So now as I am trying to settle down in Chennai, working whole day in office from Monday to Friday, life seemed bit mundane in the beginning but then I thought to take advantage of this opportunity to explore South India. As we all know that true India belongs to Dravidians i.e. the Region below Maharashtra. In true sense, my ancestors came to India from Mongolia and are known as Aryans and started biggest civilization here. So, I decided to explore my country and believe me I found the true India here.
Since I relocated to Chennai, I was planning to pay visit to TIRUPATI which is the most sacred Vaishnavite temple of Andhra Desa. It has a reputation not only in Andhra but all over the world as one of the richest temples and the presiding deity Lord Venkateswara is worshipped by North Indian pilgrims as ‘Balaji."Tirupati lies in the midst of the Seshachalam Hills at a distance of seven miles from the Tirupati East Railway Station. To reach it, one has to branch off at Gudur, which is the last but one main station before Madras on the Delhi Madras route, and take a train to Renigunta and Tirupati and then go by road from the foot to the top of the Tirupati Hill, which is called Tirumalai.
The Tirumalai Tirupati Devasthanam is one of the richest Devasthanam of Andhra, as Lord Venkateswara, who is the presiding deity of the shrine at the top, attracts thousands of pilgrims, who pay large sums to the deity as their offering.
So I decided to visit this weekend with a friend and I was very excited as my long awaited is going to come true and I want to take blessing of Lord. We have decided to start our journey on Friday night and to return by Sunday morning. But in I my case, no plans worked as planned, my Project Director, assigned huge task which took me have of the evening in completing it. Still I with the determination of going there, I reached back to my apartment and started packing for the journey. I asked my friend to pack his stuff but he refused by accuse of falling sick. (Don’t know why people fall sick when they are asked to do something good.) So I was left tired and alone still longing for the visit.
I have to decide in next 5 minutes whether I’ll be going or staying back. My bags were packed so I said to me “What are you thinking Man??? You don’t need any company to visit God. You will be in his company.” So as I always do, I prayed before God for safe journey, I left with a pair of clothes, pack of cigarettes (wondering what if I couldn’t get in the way.) and my iPod.
From my place I took an auto after bargaining him. Funniest thing in bargaining in Chennai is that, the Chennai autowalas would bargain in Tamil and you in English and neither of us would understand each other very well but when you get out to pay they will ask you more and then again you will end up bargaining without understanding what he is saying. But I give a damn shit to it, as per my experience when people do communicate in same language they still fail to understand each other.
So when I got onto Chennai Central Bus Stand (called as “Koiambedu” – Half of words in Tamil when I try to speak off, have twisted my tongue), I came to know that there is strike of buses going on in Andhra Pradesh and there is no direct bus to Tirupati. My idea of getting an AC Volvo and of comforting journey seems to have back fired. I looked around and try to search a way out of this situation but of no avail. Suddenly, I found a group of boys of somewhat my age walking ahead of me. I approached the with a bit hesitation – “Do you know English? “ One of them with a smirk said – “We even know Hindi Sir! How can we help you? “So the color of my skin have given them an expression, I asked – “From where can I get a bus to Tirupati?” They told me “You don’t know? There is a strike going on there and riots in some parts which fall in between the journey. But we are also going to Tirupati so if you want you can join us. “
They were 4 boys completing Engineering from IIIT, Bangalore and were doing Internship from Cisco, Chennai (Impressive!!). One of them was from Gorakhpur; other three were from Andhra Pradesh so they know Telgu, the local language. I agreed to their proposal and tagged along. They were talking to some drivers and conductors in Tamil and Telugu which obviously I wasn’t able to understand but was able to get from their expression it’s impossible to reach Tirupati. But still I was not going to give up, I looked for tourist taxi but none of them wanted to take a risk. Then one of them asked me whether I am determined to go there if we do a break Journey or will wait for strike and riots to get over. I said – “Whatever it takes… Just take me there.”
So they told me their plan, First we’ll go to Vellore which is around 80 miles or in Indian Standard terms 130 Kilometers. From there we could get a direct bus to Tirupati. The plan seemed pretty decent so I agreed to it. There was a local transport bus going there so we pushed our way into it. So I was on the bus whose seats were like as I was sitting on some cemented floor and as far as AC is concerned, I could only manage a Window seat. The name, Vellore, is derived from the Tamil words: Vel (spear) + uur (city), means city of spears. Ancient history shows that Vellore was basically a battle field, where the wars were staged. Due to the geography of the place, the place was always left with the used weapons like spears all around the year.
We reached Vellore while sleeping and having little conversation around 2 a.m., the time I was supposed to be in Tirupati. At Vellore bus stand, I saw huge crowd was gathered near the bus and people were pushing their way into the bus and bus driver was sleeping over the top and cops shouting down below to wake him up and moved the bus. When asked someone, I was told that driver in his half clothes was complaining that he is supposed to leave around 4 a.m. and why he is being forced to move 2 hours before. I thought in India, at least some people do their work according to time allotted. But after bulling by cops he left. We still weren’t able to find a bus to Tirupati and I was stuck in middle of nowhere so I light a smoke to relax my mind a bit. All I realized during this time is “All our lives, we try to run away from problems but somehow problems are the ones that bring people closer!!” One of the guys with me suggested that we can get a bus to Chittoor and from there we can easily get a bus to Tirupati and with a blink of an eye we get to see a bus going to Chittoor and without thinking much we able to get in full packed bus.
Drive to Chittoor was supposed to be for 30 mins but it took almost an hour and a half due to condition of bus, bumpy road and drunkard driver. I was standing among people; most of them looked like Naxalites who we saw on TV. I asked one of my newly became friends “Are there any naxalite areas nearby? “ He looked towards me and said – “My dear friend you are in a naxalite area and please don’t say such thing as you might offend anyone around. They don’t like to be called Naxalites.” I decided not to utter a single word after then. After 15 minutes or so I saw a bus turtle upside down in a valley and I was just wondering whether anyone has survived that crash. I said to God – “Please Babaji Ab Iss Night Ko Boring Bana do!!”
Finally we reached Chittoor…then took a bus for Tirupati in a short while. There was no seat to sit and was feeling damn tired, so I sat on engine near the driver. After an hour journey we reached Tirupati bus stand around 5 a.m. in morning.
Tirupati bus stand was full of people, most bald lying on floor and there was a long queue. I asked one of the guys “what is this queue for? “One of them informed – “this is the ticket line!” “For bus?” I asked “No, for darshan!!” one of them replied. Actually, to see Lord Venkateshwara there are three ways: - First you can buy Rs 300 ticket for special darshan, Rs 50 for normal darshan and for people who can walk up from Tirupati to Tirumala there is a separate way.
I was amused after listening to this. I thought “For visiting God, why one has to pay money.” After sometime we were joined by 4 more guys who came all the way from Bangalore. So 9 nine of us went to a big Lodge where we took bath, changed clothes and got ready to reach Tirumala. I have already decided by then that I would climb all the way up to Tirumala rather than taking a bus which could hardly take 20 mins to reached hill top.
Tirumala is the place where Lord Venkateshwara resides. It’s the highest hill top among seven hills. One has to climb 7 hills which comprises of 3800 steps, almost 16 kms by walk. At 6:30 a.m. we started of from the lodge and by 7 a.m. we reached the gate of the first hill. After removing my shoes there, I paid homage to God by offering Coconut and some Prasad to God for safe journey.
So In front of me were a huge trek journey and a bag, weighing almost 15 kgs on my back. We started off then. I saw ladies rubbing stairs with saffron colors on each step which is a means of offering to God. First 500 steps were pretty much easier to climb but after that the slope became quite steep. I was all drenched in my sweat, my heart started to pump quite heavily that I was able to hear my own heartbeats pretty much louder. Then I decided to sat for a while. My habit of fagging for past 8 years has shown its side effects by now. “ I am loosing stamina” - I said to myself. I removed my shirt and tied it around my waist, had a gulp of water and put on weight of my life on shoulders and started to climb again. After stopping and relaxing at few stops I reached 1600 steps mark after 2 hours. I was tired and exhausted and look behind to see how far I have come. There was no turning back. I rested for a while near Hanuman Mandir. Suddenly a thought ran through my mind and my whole life flashed before my eyes. I compared this journey with my life. All my life I faced hardships with determination, no matter what, never gave up on what I really want to achieve, I have never compromised on anything, yet paid heavily for what I am today, where I am today. So why I am still stuck in my past…there is no turning back...I have to move forward... Why to look into the past when past is not looking for me. I have to achieve heights. Heights of my Goodwill!! Heights of my perfect happiness. Place where I could feel Complete. With these thoughts, an unusual strength came into my body and I started off again.
After walking up for another hour, there was a deer park. After clicking few pictures there, By 12:30 at Noon, I reached the gates of Tirumala. There was huge flood of crowd going in. people selling religious books, pictures of God and Goddess, Lockets, emblems etc…etc.
There is ritual of donating your hairs to Lord Venkateshwara. People go bald by offering all their hairs in order to get Good will from God. But again there was huge line for that. Hundreds of people were waiting in queues to get into a hall where their hairs would have to be removed. I stand in queue for a while and then went up to the barber I asked him to take few strings of my hair. People were going bald there; at least I can offer some hair in lure of some goodwill I thought. I was never this religious before. Being educated, it has become my habit to reason out everything. But at certain point of time, you can’t reason out the way things have turned up in your life, At some point of time you just have to leave it on God.
It took me 2 hours to donate my hairs. I haven’t slept for past 46 hours, haven’t ate anything for past 3 days, have travelled don’t know for how many hours, my feet have swollen up and turned red as if I am walking on burning coal. But still I told myself – “If you have reached this far.. You ought to reach your destination.” I joined other guys who were resting in a shade and then started to walk towards an entrance which is only meant for pedestrians who have walked all the way up. It was long queue. In one of the hottest summer days I was standing up still on my feet behind million people. After walking in queue for another hour where I counter came up where we have to deposit all our belongings, including cell phones. Then we were frisked and made to enter in queues in large hall surrounded by huge cages. Again there was a security check been done. I was wondering what world we are living in where worshiping is done in so much fear. But then I thought sometimes only fear makes us come closer to GOD. After standing in queue for another hour we entered another huge hall like an auditorium with seats. Many people have gathered there. We were made to sit there and wait for our turn to come. I lie on the floor and look down upon my swollen feet. Somehow I catch-up some sleep for an hour or so till we got our turn. Everyone started running outside the hall to join another herd of huge crowd. After walking with the crowd we entered huge galleriaVaikuntam Queue Complex. There is a large garden in between around which whole block of about 5 kms circumference is created. There rush, pushing from everywhere, people chanting mantras (The Holy mantra chanted is Om Namo Venkateshaya) and some women gossiping. After walking another hour or so through that gallery we entered in a giant cave. There were mantras inscribed in Tamil on walls of the cave and then to my amusement I entered gates where my Lord Venkateshwara resides. Finally I reached Vaikunth Sthanam, it’s a huge temple made up of all gold. Somehow in my heart I started chanting Om Namo Venkateshaya.
After going through a roundabout of the temple I entered the shrine and there I found true eternity. It was a moment that I can never forget for my whole life. I just wished my prayers to be fulfilled and there I surrendered myself to God.
According to the scripture Sthala Purana, the legend of Venkateshwara's avatar (incarnation) is as follows,
Once some rishis headed by Kasyapa began to perform a sacrifice on the banks of the Ganges. Sage Narada visited them and asked them why they were performing the sacrifice and who would be pleased by it. Not being able to answer the question, the rishis approached Sage Bhrugu, who according to Vedas is believed to have an extra eye in the sole of his foot. To reach a solution after a direct ascertainment of reality, Sage Bhrigu first went to Satyaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma. At Satyaloka, he found Lord Brahma, reciting the four Vedas in praise of Lord Narayana, with each of his four heads, and attended upon by Saraswati. Lord Brahma did not take notice of Bhrigu offering obeisance. Concluding that Lord Brahma was unfit for worship, Bhrigu left Satyaloka for Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva. At Kailasa, Bhrigu found Lord Shiva with Parvati and not noticing his presence. Parvati drew the attention of Shiva to the presence of the sage. Lord Shiva was furious at Bhrigu's intrusion and tried to destroy him. The sage cursed Lord Siva and left for Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu.
At Vaikunta, Lord Vishnu was reposing on Adisesha with Sri Mahalakshmi in service at his feet. Finding that Lord Vishnu also did not notice him, the sage was infuriated and kicked the Lord on His chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides. Vishnu, in an attempt to pacify the sage, got hold of legs of the sage and started to press them gently in a way that was comforting to the sage. During this act, he squeezed the extra eye that was present in the sole of Bhrigu's foot. The extra eye is believed to represent the sage's egotism. The sage then realized his grave mistake and apologized to Vishnu. Thereupon, the sage concluded that Lord Vishnu was the most supreme of the Trimurti and told the rishis the same.
Sri Mahalakshmi was angered by the action of her Lord in apologizing to Bhrigu who committed an offence. Out of anger and anguish she left Vaikuntha and resided in Karavirapur now known as Kolhapur. After the departure of Mahalakshmi, a forlorn Lord Vishnu left Vaikunta and took abode in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree, beside a pushkarini on the Venkata Hill, meditating for the return of Lakshmi, without food or sleep. This was the place where Lord took the form of Varaha to rescue Mother Earth from the deep ocean.
Taking pity on Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwara decided to assume the forms of a cow and its calf to serve him. Surya, the Sun god informed Mahalakshmi of this and requested her to assume the form of a cow herdess and sell the cow and calf to the king of the Chola country. The king of the Chola country bought the cow and its calf and sent them to graze on the Venkata Hill along with his herd of cattle. Discovering Lord Vishnu on the ant-hill, the cow provided its milk, and thus fed the Lord. Meanwhile, at the palace, the cow was not yielding any milk, for which the Chola Queen chastised the cowherd severely. To find out the cause of lack of milk, the cowherd followed the cow, hid himself behind a bush and discovered the cow emptying her udder over the ant-hill. Incensed over the conduct of the cow, the cowherd aimed a blow with his axe on the head of the cow. However, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to receive the blow and save the cow. When the cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe, he fell down and died of shock.
The cow returned to the Chola King, bellowing in fright and with blood stains all over her body. To find out the cause of the cow's terror, the King followed her to the scene of the incident. The King found the cowherd lying dead on the ground near the ant-hill. While he stood wondering how it had happened, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill and cursed the King saying that he would become an Asura because of the fault of his servant. The King pleaded innocence, and the Lord blessed him by saying that he will be reborn as Akasa Raja and that the curse would end when the Lord will be adorned with a crown presented by Akasa Raja at the time of His marriage with Padmavati. With these words Lord turned into stone form.
Thereafter, Lord Vishnu in the name of Srinivasa, decided to stay in Varaha Kshetra and requested Sri Varahaswami to grant Him a site for His stay. His request being readily granted, Srinivasa ordained that a pilgrimage to His shrine would not be complete unless it is preceded by a bath in the Pushkarini and darshan of Sri Varahaswami and that puja and naivedyam should be offered to Sri Varaha swami first. Vishnu built a hermitage and lived there, attended to by Vakuladevi who looked after him like a mother.
Sometime later, a King named Akasa Raja who belonged to the Lunar race was ruling over Thondamandalam. Akasa Raja had no heirs, and therefore, he wanted to perform a sacrifice. As part of the sacrifice, he was ploughing the fields when his plough turned up a lotus in the ground. On examining the lotus, the King found a female child in it. The king was happy to find a child even before he performed a sacrifice and carried it to his place and gave it to his Queen to tend to it. At that time he heard an aerial voice which said "O King, tend it as your child and fortune will befall you". As she was found in a lotus, the king named her Padmavati. She grew up as a princess into a beautiful maiden and was attended by a host of maids.
One day, Lord Srinivasa, who was hunting, chased a wild elephant in the forests surrounding the hills. In the elephant's pursuit, the Lord was led into a garden, where Princess Padmavati and her maids were picking flowers. The sight of the elephant frightened the Princess and her maids. But the elephant immediately turned around, saluted the Lord and disappeared into the forest. Lord Srinivasa, who was following on horseback, and saw the frightened maidens. However, He was repulsed with stones thrown at Him by the maids. He returned to the hills in haste, leaving His horse behind. The Lord informed Vakuladevi that unless he married Princess Padmavati he would not be calmed.
The Lord then narrated the story of Padmavati’s previous birth and his promise to marry her. After listening to Srinivasa's story of how he had promised to marry Vedavati in her next birth as Padmavati, Vakuladevi realized that Srinivasa would not be happy unless he married her. She offered to go to Akasa Raja and his Queen and arrange for the marriage. On the way she met the maids of Padmavati returning from a Shiva Temple. She learnt from them that Padmavati was also pining for Srinivasa. Vakuladevi went along with the maid servants to the Queen.
Meanwhile, Akasa Raja and his Queen Dharanidevi were anxious about the health of their daughter, Padmavati. They learnt about Padmavathi's love for Srinivasa of Venkata Hill. Akasa Raja consulted Brihaspati about the marriage and was informed that the marriage was in the best interest of both the parties. Kubera lent money to Lord Srinivasa to meet the expenses of the marriage. Lord Srinivasa, along with Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva started the journey to the residence of Akasa Raja on his vahana Garuda. At the palace entrance, Lord Srinivasa was received by Akasa Raja with full honours and taken in procession on a mounted elephant to the palace for the marriage. In the presence of all the Devas, Lord Srinivasa married Princess Padmavati, thus blessing Akasa Raja. Together, they lived for all eternity while Goddess Lakshmi, understanding the commitments of Lord Vishnu, chose to live in his heart forever.
Venkateshwara's temple today is located at the top of the Seven hills in Tirumala. It stands as a special place, commemorating the marriage between the two. Every day, a kalyana utsavam celebrates the divine union in a celebration that stretches to eternity. Even today, during the Brahmotsavam at the temple, turmeric, kumkum and a sari are sent from the temple to Tiruchanur, the abode of Padmavati. In fact Tirupati is rarely visited without paying a visit to Tiruchanur. In the light of this background, it has become the favored destination of many newlywed couples who pray for a happy wedding similar to that of Srinivasa and Padmavati.
Outside the temple there is a place called Kundi where people donate money. According to a popular belief, People donate money in order to create enough wealth to pay off the debt taken by Lord Venkateshwara from Lord Kuber for his marriage and when the time comes, Lord Vishnu would take his 11th incarnation, he would thereby multiply the wealth of those who has offered to him.
Finally my purpose of the journey was fulfilled, I took the prasad which is in form 2 big Ladoos of which the temple committee has taken patents and it cost Rs10/- each. I collected my belonging from counters and travelled back to Tirupati in jeep around 9 in night. After reaching Tirupati bus stand, I found a travelled agent who offered me an AC Volvo bus journey back to Chennai at very cheap rates even less than what I spent in travelling from Chennai to Tirupati. After reaching back in my apartment in Chennai I narrated whole story to my Mom, then she made me understand that our life is like this only, when you sustain hardships, God and Mother Nature try to examine your faith in them, once you passed the test with all endurance and faith, that you have now shown, may God be with you always.” Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible for a guy like me to travel all alone through naxalite areas, into some unknown place where I didn’t know even the local language would find some guys who helped me out and then after darshan , I get comfortable journey back to my place.
Before sleeping I realized that – “ There may be any number of hardships, struggle, loneliness you may face, you may be ridiculed by people, one who you love most may leave you on your own but somewhere somewhat God is always there be with you who gives you strength to fight those circumstances and make you emerge out like a Winner. “ Finally I got sleep and believe me I slept with so much peace like I never did it before.
It's been a brilliant journey of self-awakening. And now you've simply got to ask yourself this: What is happiness to you??
Thanks for reading !!
Peace
Veekay
Veekay
