Tirupati trip

Yet another pilgrimage to the heaven on earth Tirumala for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara, the Lord of Seven Hills. I frequently visit this temple but this time I have planned to reach Tirumala by walk, as is done by many pilgrims every day. The walk through the 7 hills covers a distance of about 14-16kms starting from Alipiri, Tirupati.

4 of us booked our darshan tickets and took the tokens (Rs 50 per head) in advance from the TTD office near Sadashivanagar, Bangalore. This is the best way to avoid delay in getting darshan in view of heavy rush at the temple. We reached Tirupati at 4am and put all our luggage in our friend's house. For others, there is a facility of free transport of luggage to Tirumala from Alipiri. Note that they accept only locked baggages. We started our walk from Alipiri at about 6am. It is a must that we walk barefoot all the journey as all the 7 hills are sacred. At the foot of the hills, there is small temple where the feet of Lord are present. This is the starting point for the walk.

It was bit difficult, not expected though, boarding the hills on the steep steps. There are plenty of refreshing stalls throughout the journey where one can get coffee, tea, snacks etc., That day was too cold and foggy. It was even raining. In the midway there comes a deer park. We feeded them with fruits that are sold out side on the pavement. Finally we reached Tirumala at 10am, a total of 4hr walk across the hills.

Got a room in Sri Hathiramji mutt that was very close to the temple. Our darshan time was given at 4pm so we started at 3pm and visited Sri Varaahaswamy temple near Srivari Pushkarini. It is customary to visit this temple prior to the main temple. Then we entered the darshan queue. The token system is modernized that no breach can occur. We were chanting " Govinda, Govindaa" along with fellow pilgrims. After 2hrs in the queue, we finally entered the temple. It being Thursday, the deity was in minimal alankaara (called Nijaroopa darshanam).
Then we had chakrapongali prasadam and got 2 laddoos from counter outside the temple. Stayed there for the day.

Next day we started our journey down the hill to Tirupati and this time we took a bus. Then we proceeded to Sri Kalahasti, the famous Lord Shiva temple, located on the banks of river Swarnamukhi. It was long back that I visited this temple. It was about an hour journey from Tirupati. We had very good darshan of Sri Kalahasteeswara and Gnaana Prasoona Ammavaru.
For people with problems in their horoscope (called Kalasarpa dosham) related to Rahu & Kethu, special poojas are performed in this temple. This adds to the uniqueness to this temple.


While on return journey to Tirupati, we visited Sri Padmavati Ammavaru temple at Tiruchanuru. Brahmotsavams were going on then. We were lucky to visit the temple during that festival. The temple was surprisingly so less crowded that we had the darshan in just few minutes.

In the evening, we started our journey to Hyderabad.

Tips to travelers:

• Book your darshan and seva tickets well in advance either online or by visiting TTD office nearby.
• Book for accommodation as early as possible.
• If you are planning to walk to Tirumala, start either early in the morning or in the evening. It is advised to walk in groups.
• Plan to visit Tiruchanur, Sri Govindarajaswamy temple, Sri Kalahasti, Kanipakam that are nearby Tirupati.
  

Thiruvannamalai trip

I was awaiting a chance to visit the world famous Arunachaleswarar temple in Thiruvannamalai, TamilNadu which is about 200kms from Bangalore. Coincidentally even my friends were planning for a short one day pilgrimage. So we all started to this place on auspicious day of last monday of Kaarthika month.

6 of us started at 4.30am and caught a direct bus to Thiruvannamalai. There are plenty of buses from Bangalore with a frequency of about 15-20min. We reached the place at 9am. The first sight about the temple was amazing. It was a huge temple with very tall Gopurams one on each direction. There are many Praakaarams (walls) surrounding the temple.




This temple is 2nd largest in India sprawling about 25 acres. It is situated at the foot of a hill called "Arunaachalam" that means Aruna (fire) + achalam (hill). Also called as "Annaamalai" , it is believed that many sages perform penance in the forest on this hill even today. On every full moon day, pilgrims perform Giri Pradakshina i.e holy walk around the hill, measuring 14km stretch.

The deity of Lord Shiva called Arunachaleswarar signifies Fire, which is one of the five elements of life. Those five elements and corresponding Shiva temples are :

1. Fire - Thiruvannamalai
   
2. Sky - Chidambaram
   
3. Air - Sri Kalahasti
4. Water - Thiruvanaikoil
   
5. Earth - Kanchipuram
   

Many pilgrims were present because of the auspicious day. Luckily by the time we entered the sanctum sanctorium , milk abhishekam was being performed to the Lord. It was a moment of delight. We were allowed to view the lingam for hardly 2mins. Later we went to Unnamulaiyaal
(Lordess Parvati) temple adjacent to the main temple.


Both these are very old temples with great sculpture work. Having planned for a second darshan, we managed to get into special darshan queue and we were allowed to sit just before the sanctum sanctorium. The Shiva lingam was then beautifully decorated. Later, we all lit ghee lamps near the dhwajasthamba. It is considered very good to lite ghee lamps in the month of Kaarthika to Lord Shiva.

Then we proceeded to the famous Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram, located about 2kms from the temple. The place was so serene, a perfect place for meditation. There were plenty of peacocks moving freelyin the ashram. This ashram is visited by many foreigners apart from Indians.

Finally we started our return journey at 2pm and were back in Bangalore at 6.30pm.

Tips for travelers:

• The temple is closed from around 1-4pm. So be there on time.
• Visit the Ramana maharshi ashram without fail.
• If you happen to visit the temple on a full moon day, try to do Giri pradakshinam.
  

Placement Mela...

Mela depicts a typical Indian market place where lots of goods are displayed and people buy stuff after a big bargain. Fun and enjoyment are integral to any mela. Huge mass of people seem to be striking feature.

In current IT trend, there was a similar mela in my college too, this time its of companies that came to recruit students for internships. The strange correlation between the placement process and that of a mela was coined aptly by my Prof. Rao. The mela was scheduled for 4 days where almost my entire batch got intern offers in start ups and branded companies. Few friends have been part of the placement committee and saw through that the process went smoothly. Three cheers to them.

The atmosphere was of mixed reactions, few screaming happily as they got selected and few sobbing as they couldn't make into that company who where surrounded by bunch of friends giving them moral support and encouragement to do better in the interviews.

Finally, it was near 100% placement that we had. Everyone is happy that every other person is through. We all are being reminded that
"We reached the end of most happy days of life and the beginning of the most purposeful ".