Tirumala-Lord Venkateswara's abode

OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!  OM NAMO BHAGAVATHE VASUDEVAYA!!

Tirupathi is one place which is in the heart of all Hindus.  Every Hindu aspires to visit Tirupathi at least once in a life time to seek Lord Balaji's blessings.  I have been visiting Tirupathi regularly since 1981 sometimes with family and many times with friends and relatives who come to Chennai and express their desire to have the Darshan of the almighty Lord which takes me along with them.

Me and my wife decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary, every year at Tirupathi instead of spending time in the city and getting lured to "Partying" with acquaintances!  We have been lucky and blessed that we have been able to do so since the past several years.

we left our home for Tirupathi on the 11th February and reached Tirumala by evening.  We had made internet reservation for an accommodation and got a decent one with attached bath and toilet with flowing hot water facility.  Our Darshan was scheduled for the 12th early in the morning-"Suprabatha Darshanam".  We had to wake up at 1.30 am on the 12th(our marriage anniversary day) and proceed to Vaikuntam complex to join about 250 persons who had either purchased tickets or subscribed to some kind of donation scheme.  The security verification has been tightened and the officials scrutinise your identity before letting you proceed further.  The select crowd of about 250 persons are huddled into the sanctum-sanctorum and the gate locked for the Suprabatha seva to commence.  In the meantime, the temple authorities allow devotees to do Anga-Pradakshinam within the premises!  The devotes rearing to go roar in ecstasy and the whole ambiance is filled with loud chants in praise of the Lord!  Traditionally, the Lord is supposed to be awakened with the chants of Suprabhatham but in reality, the loud cries of devotees who perform Anga-Pradakshinam must be waking up the Lord much before!!  The tiny-tots who come with their parents or escorts get baffled with these loud cries which goes on unabated and cry out of fear adding to the confusion that the Lord may have?
I tried my level best to concentrate on the Suprabhatham chants but the commotion around made by devotees who adopt different methods to fulfill their vows and wishes by raising their vocal cords made things not only difficult but also scary fearing stampede that requires just a spark of fear from any quarter?  Well, these things have to end for the Lord has to look to other engagements too!  The devotees first the ladies and then the gentlemen  are queued up to go very near the Lord to have a glimpse of decorations that adorn the Lord!  The volunteers engaged by the temple show too much enthusiasm in pushing one and all without any conscience out of the sanctorum and some extend their palms secretly to fold the rupee notes offered by some devotees to allow them to stay at one spot for a little longer time to continue seeing the Lord!  I was amused to see a lady who had a small baby in arms transferred her to her husband who was in the queue so that the baby could  have one more darshan or glimpse of the Lord as she had just finished her chance seeing the Lord!  Finally, we emerge out of the temple with a satisfied heart and mind to have had the blessings of the Lord despite whatever has been said.


We return to our guest house named Balaji guest house tell the in-charge Mr Subramanian about our intention to vacate, he orders his man to go up and check the room (just to ensure that all the available facilities are intact).  Then he orders us with a stern face  to give a declaration that we have not left anything behind in the room which is over and above the printed instructions given by the Temple Board!  Once we finish these formalities, he orders to give Rs 100/- each to 3 of is staff who are around even at 5.30 am!  These men and women were never to be found when you checked in!! The supervisor or in-charge was clad in a rug from top to bottom and was half awake talking to us.  When I requested him to write it on the reservation slip about what he wanted us to do, he simply refused and gave back the reservation slip duly signed by him so that we could get the refund of deposit.

The Tirupathi Devasthanam could look into the following suggestions to make it a Devotee friendly place of pilgrimage:
1. The entire map of Tirumala with names of offices clearly marked can be displayed along with a road map so that devotees do not waste time locating the offices and places meant for various facilities.
2. Make Devotion a silent affair and allow other devotees to meditate and  concentrate on the Lord.
   (In Vaishno devi, the authorities have put requests to devotees not to shout chants but say it within themselves). warn devotees not to chant or shout loudly and instead maintain calm.
3. Put up prominent boards at all guest houses and choultries not to give any extra money to anyone and also give a specific phone number in case the pilgrims face any harassment by the staff.
4. Specify dress code for each darshan.  I was stopped by the security for wearing a pant and not a dhoti for Suprabhatham darshan which i have been doing since the past 9 years sometimes wearing pants too! At 2.15 am near the Vaikuntam complex, there was a man selling Dhotis for a premium and looking for you!!
5. Educate the staff to be courteous and polite and not to manhandle men and women specially when they have come with devotion to seek blessings of the Lord.
6. Sufficient toilets be built specially considering children and older persons in mind who stand in the queue for long hours and unable to control the nature's call.  Have seen many parents guiding their children to urinate and answer nature's call right in the middle of the halls where pilgrims wait for hours together making the entire place messed up and stinky.
7. It is unfortunate that such a mighty and rich organisation does not have an e mail address to register our complaints.  It is all there for booking sevas or making donations but nothing to accept complaints?

Hinduism is all about tolerance.  Tolerance comes along with discipline and  leads to peace. Peace is silence.  Praying in silence leads to peace!! Hindutva is peaceful co-existence??