Infinity to Tirupati

Time sure does fly. In a matter of 10 days I'll be returning to Singapore. The past 6 weeks have been topsy-turvy to say the least. Experiencing the Indian way of life has been a huge eye-opener and coming from a place where the basic necessities - uninterrupted water and electricity supply, well built roads and perfect public transportation system - is in place, it felt like a fish out of water. Gradually I began to adapt and like a chameleon, I am now more than comfortable with my surroundings. Out of all the 6 weeks I've been here so far, the week that just passed was the best, as I finally visited a place that I never imagined I would so soon.


The week began with me working out of the BCP (business continuity plan) site for Tech Ops in RMZ Infinity. To be honest, this office complex was much better than the current RMZ Titanium site. It looked very modern and was a rather trendy place to work in. It had 5 office blocks and a commercial space just below the office blocks which had a supermarket, food-court, pub cum bar, banks and bookshops. It felt like going to work in an office in Science Park Drive. Take a look at the pictures below

The Main Entrance

Block E and D

Block A

                                                                      

Block B and C

Thomson Reuters is present in Blocks A, D and E

               The working area which similar to the Singapore office                                        

There was always a place that I had wished to go in India for a very long time. When I knew I was coming over to India, I had to grab this God given opportunity to visit this place. The place I'm talking about is none other than the Tirumala Venkateshwara Devasthanam that is located on the Tirumala mountain range in the town of Tirupati. This is the richest and most visited place of worship in the world with between 50000 to 100000 pilgrims visiting daily (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumala_Venkateswara_Temple). This happens to be one of the holiest Hindu places of worship and every Hindu worldwide will try to come at least once in his/her lifetime to this place. Twice during my stay in Bangalore I had planned to go but it never came through. Since time was running out, I made it a point to visit this place by any means possible. It takes a 5 hour bus ride from Bangalore to get to Tirupati. Lucky for me, Satish also wanted to go to the temple thus we planned to go together.

                           The bus that was to take us to Tirupati                                                    

                                    Satish and I in the bus                                     

     

Our journey began at 2130 IST as the bus left Bangalore for Tirupati. I slept along the way and we reached our destination around 0345 IST early the next morning. We stopped at a lodge to rest and freshen up before hitting the road once again at 0500 IST. If you were to go to Tirupati, before embarking on the long climb up the mountain range, it is imperative to visit the Padmavathy temple which is at the foot of the mountain range. Padmavathy whom is also referred to as Alamelu is the consort of Tirumala Venkateshwara. There is a legend as to how both the deities temples ended up at the foot and the top of the mountain which can be read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Tirumala.

The main gopuram of Padmavathy temple   

                               The main entrance to the temple                                                         

Both the temples had a strict policy of not allowing any electronic items within it's compound meaning no phones, cameras, Ipods etc. While entering a body search is done to ensure that everyone complies with the rules. There is no room to bribe your way into being allowed to carry any of the banned items inside. When it comes to God, everyone seems to have a sense of duty and reverence. After finishing prayers at the Padmavathy temple, we were taken back to the initial lodge where we had stopped for breakfast. All this was part of the package that we had paid for. With breakfast over, we hit the roads again to the Tirupati main bus stand. To travel up the winding and steep mountain, you could use your own vehicle or those coming on packaged trips had to use the local bus service which uses buses that are built for the climb. The climb takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the volume of vehicles visiting the temple.

There are three ways you can have access to the Tirumala Venkateshwara temple complex - the free darshan queue, Rs. 50 darshan queue and Rs. 300 darshan queue - and this three ways will take you between 90 minutes to a full day to enter the temple ground. As the number of pilgrims swells by the day, the temple management had to come out with these special queuing systems. The free darshan queue is the longest and takes up the most time, sometimes up to a day. We opted for the Rs.300 "Seegra Darshan" line which took us 90 minutes to enter the temple. Once inside the temple ground you're ushered by volunteers to the Sanctum Sanctorum where the main deity - Tirumala Venkateshwara - is. It is a magnificent structure which is made of pure gold and words can never describe it's beauty and glory. Mind you this temple was built nearly 2000 years ago and the grandeur of it is amazing. It is a sad thing that photography is not allowed as seeing is believing. After finishing prayers, we had to move on to collect the one item everyone who visits this temple looks forward to - laddus. Laddu is a sweet Indian delicacy that can be found in any Indian restaurant or sweet shop but the laddu here is special due to it's size and taste. Another interesting fact is that the laddu served by this temple has been patented and no other temple can use the same recipe thus making it even more special.

Tirumala Venkateshwara Laddu

After leaving the temple ground, we rushed to the locker where we had left our belongings to retrieve my camera and take some shots of the temple area. Since there was no photography within the compound the next best thing was taking shots from the outside.

The entire temple complex

Part of the gold gopuram of the Sanctum Sanctorum which is partially visible to the left

Tirumala Venkateshwara temple

All in all it was a memorable day as I had visited a place that I was looking forward to during my stay in India. As I never took shots while on the way up, I did so while returning down the mountain.

Notice the winding road

Vehicles making their way down

View of Tirupati town

This was indeed the best week of my stay as it was fun, enjoyable and spiritual. I hope to make a return pilgrimage to this temple once more within this year but this time I'm bringing my family along. There are some things that can be expressed by words and there are some are best seen to be understood.