The Lord of The Seven Hills - Temple Travelogue - Part 1

[An upfront warning. It's a long post, longer in the making. I'm dividing it up into parts, for reading pleasure(!). Going into details, as I felt there is a dearth of data when it comes to these spots. The rest of the parts are coming up sooner, please bear with me! An increased workload and a fizzy internet are to blame. Not my laziness. Or my new addiction to Farmville. Not at all!]

Many friends noted that when I write/ tell them about my travels, it’s mostly temples and around. Well, blame it on the normal middle-class tendency of my family (and many friends too) of an outing which has to be more or less in some temple town. Of course, temples, churches and mausoleums across India have their own ‘specials’ which merit visit upon visit and travelogue upon travelogue. This time, ladies and gentleman, I write about a trip which involved lots and lots of green hills, wondrous sculptures and of course, temples, but not any normal temple, the richest temple itself.

Yes, me and a few friends and cousins (and their friends and cousins) made plans to visit Tirupati, but this time with a difference. We planned to cover nearby temples and other places, and this being off-season after the Brahmothsavams and before the New Year rush. So when we announced the plan, all the Uncles and Aunties in the respective families also threw their nominations in. Some of them even had the dubious prospect of not having visited Tirupati even once in the last 15 days or so!

So we young minds meditated on the best way to avoid them. And came up with an ingenious plan (of course inspired by Mohan – thanks a lot pal!). We said we would take the pedestrian path up the hills. And you should’ve seen the aunties and uncles. Ha ha… Finally it was agreed that 6 of us would climb up, visit all the nearby places atop Tirumala, and then return to Tirupati and visit all the places in and around Tirupati and Kalahasti. (Just a small note – ‘Tirupati’ refers to the main city below the hills, and has many temples and tourist spots; however, the main temple of Lord Venkatesha is situated in Tirumala. As a kid I never got around this fact as people refer to everything as Tirupati in common slang.)

The trip was 3 days long, and we covered some 15 places in all, in Tirumala, Tirupati and Kalahasti.  This is how it went: (I am breaking this post up into parts, to cover everything)

We left Bangalore by the Tirupati Passenger, reaching Tirupati by 6 am, where a cousin would join us.

Day 1: Tirumala:

The long climb. 3550 steps in all. Phew! I was in no right physical shape for this. First of all, the recently added weight (grin! I love to hog on kebabs), a childhood injury to the knee (which never stopped me from climbing Chamundi Hills in Mysore, but this was more difficult) and couple that with my body’s insane urge to sweat even in cool climes. Well, Andhra is no way a cool clime, so there. Thankfully, we had a good supply of glucose and candies, and of course the mysticism of the hills, which took the strain away.

The climb took a little less than 4.5 hours, including lots of breaks to eat, drink, snap pics, rest, enjoy the scenic beauty, buy few souvenirs, etc. The facilities by TTD are just amazing. I muster up this list just to name a few facilities. Make good use of these and avoid touts of all sorts. Especially those who try to get you ‘special’ darshan or lodging, which are priced exorbitantly. Beware.

1.       The luggage is taken uphill while you climb. All you need to do is lock up all your bags, deposit it at the counter at the beginning of the steps, obtain the receipt (woe betide you if you lose it!) and your luggage reaches similar counters uphill within 2 hours. You can just take up a few things for the climb, like a towel, a water bottle etc in a bag. You don’t need to worry about food or other things; you will find all things – clean drinking water, toilets, and eateries ranging from snacks to tiffin items to some fruits and herbs – on your way up. Remember, you need to put a lock on your luggage for it to be accepted. You’ll find small locks being sold nearby, so no sweat.

2.  The TTD have introduced a new ticketing system for the pedestrians. You get lots of facilities with this ticket: a free place to stay (a dorm actually, but might suffice in some cases), free head tonsure, a free lunch (though when we went, as it was week-day and off-season, everyone was allowed for free lunch), and free preferential darshanam. So hold on to this ticket. You get this ticket at the Naamala Konda near the Gaali Gopuram. You’ll be asked for your details, finger printed and photographed. Remember to get this ticket stamped before Mokaalla Mittu, which is about 2000 steps up.

3.  The steps and the walks are mostly covered with roofing, but open on the sides. So you can enjoy the beauty of the hills around you. Don’t forget your cameras, the hills are breathtaking. Some parts have wild animals (there’s a deer park too). It’d be better (and all the more enjoyable) to move around in groups, but rest assured, you need not worry about the security. Ample security is provided by TTD on this path.  Do beware of monkeys though. Another nice feature is that the Lord’s songs and Sahasranama are painted/ etched on the columns. I found it really uplifting to be singing while tackling the hills.

4.  Special mention needs to be given for drinking water facilities in and around Tirumala and Tirupati. You get good, clean drinking water accessible everywhere. In fact, while climbing up, you will even come across small sprigs of water running down the hills and if you are able to catch this water in a bottle and drink it, you’ll know the meaning to the word “Rejuvenating”. If you still feel unsure, there is a special water vending machine at many points, which dispenses RO purified water at Re. 1 per liter. Ingenious, I say. I only wish I could say something like this about the toilets, though! I missed the squeaky clean toilets of Dharmasthala, somehow. We females in the group had a few problems finding good toilets, but more or less, it was manageable.

5.  If you find the journey too troublesome for elders in the group, you can find help. There are carriages available, and we spotted many health centers too. Rest anywhere you want to, just don’t pluck the flowers or bespoil the trees and greenery. I came to know only this time that all the flowers on Tirumala are for the Lord, and no one is supposed to wear them. I still saw many hawkers selling flowers, but it’d be better not to buy, unless as an offering to the Lord.

6.  Free buses ply on the hills to take you to the temple complex, lodges, and places around. Also, there are day passes for the APSRTC buses plying to other places nearby and back to Tirupati. This saves good money and adds the convenience of getting on & off anywhere you want.

7.  The pedestrian ticket allows you entry from Vaikuntam Queue Complex- 2 (VQC-2). From here, it’s a maximum of 2 hours for darshanam. However, please bid adieu to all your electronic items at the counters before entering the queue. I had my music player somehow embedded in the depths of my handbag, which was identified and held in the main temple complex and I had to go back after darshanam to get it.

8.  The queue complexes are neat. You will find prasadam being distributed almost all the times so you’ll never go hungry, you can sit and while away the time watching the Lord in his various avatars and embellishments on the LCDs, etc. The complexes have cafetarias, clean toilets, and working fans. If you feel you can stay for long in such a place, well, you just might!! The pedestrian ticket (and the Sudarshanam ticket of Rs. 50) allows you entrance from the middle of the complexes, so the wait is considerably less. Mind you, right now, only THREE types of tickets are there for darshanam (apart from the seva tickets) – Pedestrian tickets, Sudarshanam Tickets and Sheeghra Darshana Tickets (300 bucks)

9.  Finally, what’s Tirupati without a mention of Laddus? You’ll get a coupon for a small laddu for your  pedestrian / sudarshanam ticket (2 big ones for VIP ticket!), one more coupon can be had at the counters in the Queue complexes by paying Rs. 10 (only one per head, sob sob!), you may even be able to bribe cajole someone to get you more at a higher price (like Rs. 25-50 per laddu), and at the end of it all, you’ll still feel the craving for it. But that’s how it’s supposed to work! I heard that soon the TTD are introducing a new system after which everyone can get as many laddus as they want! Can’t wait…

The walk, in toto, is about 9-10 km. The cool hill-breeze takes care of your weariness once you cross about 2000 steps and reach the Hanuman statue, after which the road converges with the pedestrian path. For a while you (and your leg) forget all the pains and stand (or walk, no steps here for some distance) bewitched amongst serene hills, windmills, and dripping water streams from the rocks. And suddenly, your dream comes to a screeching halt as you encounter a steep hill. It is named Mokalla Mittu – the Knee Stairs – for a reason. It is taxing on your knees. This part really needs all your resolve to climb, as the steps are steep and the terrain is rough. But now, your journey is almost at its end, and somehow, you feel all the more close to the divine vibrations of these hills which egg you on.

It’s the first 700-800 steps (as your body gets used to it) and about 500 steps on Mokalla Mittu (as they are very steep) which are more difficult. Of course, don’t miss the statues of Vishnu in all his avatars, and some nice view points.

Once we reached the top of the hills, we took our luggage,and went to our pre-arranged cottage (courtesy our jaan-pehchaan in TTD!).  We couldn’t get the holy dip in the Pushkarini though! We left for the temple in a short while, as the general darshanas would break for special sevas by 6 pm. Also, it was raining luxuriously and everyone thought it was best to get into the queue before all hell broke loose. We walked a little, reached the queue complex, which dispelled all our fears, as the rush was very less, and we even got our fill of prasadam – in the form of rice in hot and tangy mango curry.

After a very very short wait in which we gorged up to our content, we were allowed further. The crowd was indeed the least I have ever encountered in Tirupati, and within an hour and without much shoving we were in the main complex. Somehow the divinity of this place doesn’t escape you. You are completely washed up by the chants of ‘Edukondala Vaada, Govinda…Govinda’ as you endure the wait that seems eternal. And after all the jostling, when you get to see the Lord resplendent in his form for the first time as you enter in, you won’t help but feel all those troubles were more than worth it! Bliss gets a new meaning when you look at the Lord in the scant light of the diyas, and the light from the innumerable diamonds that adorn Him. This feeling is really hard to explain, and anyone who has been to Tirupati will agree with me. But of course, cries of ‘Jaragandi’ will assail you sooner than you can recover, and before you know, you are outside.

Other must-see things outside the Sanctum sanctorum include the Lakshmi statue, which is supposed to bestow wealth if one touches a coin to Her feet and keeps it in their wallet, the Shikhara Darshanam, where you can take in a view of the gilded Gopura and its Kalashas, and finally, the ‘Hundi’ which gets so full with offerings that it has to be changed every half an hour!

This time, we finished darshan within an hour of our entering the queue! But it may even take days together during auspicious days/ seasons. Would suggest this period between November-January to avoid rush and enjoy your travels the most.

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