The second yatra begins

VISHNU PADAM in Tirumalai.

We all decided to go to Tiruchanur to see the Alamelumanga (Padmavathi) Temple on Oct 31st evening itself. Later on I found out that to have the full benefit of the darsan of Lord Venkateswara, you have to begin with her darsan. (very modern idea, I mused!!). I need to really find out why. Every Temple in India has it's own story (sthala purana). Padmavathi is the consort of Sri Venkateswara. If you click on Tiruchanur on the first line, there is a very brief information about the place. We hired a Taxi and it was about 5 km from where we stayed. We had excellent darsan, were able to view the Idol and listen to the chantings also. It was a good start, all the five of us agreed. I bought some bangles and some spoons carved out of wood.

There are many Temples in and around Tirupathi. The ones I visited are Kapilathirtham (Shiva), Govindaraja Swami, Sri Kodandarama Swami and Anjaneya Swami Temples. There is a newly built Iskcon Temple which I opted out this time. The devasthanam funds (some partially) all these Temples in addition to colleges, Veda school, hospital, orphanage, animal shelters and many more.

Our trip to Tirumala (up the hills) also was by the same taxi owner, but a different driver. As we approached the foothill where they inspect each vehicle for the registration etc. and security, our driver said that he did not have the needed papers. The police asked him to get down and confiscated his car keys and his cell phone. They made the necessary phone calls to the owner. The driver did not bat an eye. He was all smiles. Unlike us, evidently it was not the first time for him. We were detained until everything was cleared and we were sent a different taxi and a different driver. The driving distance to the Temple from that point was about 14 kms. It is all greenery, the winding road made it more exciting. I kept on telling the driver to go slow. You get nervous especially when you know how to drive. Once we reached the seventh hill, Nirmala got busy finding accommodation for our night stay. This driver was very friendly, experienced and was already in of Nirmala's good books. So, it was pleasant.

We had sponsored two poojas. One was the night darsan and the other early morning Netra (eyes) darsanam. We felt very much blessed with both. As always, Nirmala let us bypass many other devotees in line. But once inside, we went through the same routine of people pushing you from behind, volunteers guiding you (holding your shoulder tight and pushing). Thanks to Nirmala we were blessed in a separate room by the priest who put the sacred dhoti that adorned the primary Idol on our head for a second.


I was the photographer - FYI

Apart from this Rao and his sister-in-law Nagalakshmi took an adventure walk to see surrounding areas. I will try to add some photos later on. The rest of us sat on the rocks and observed the peacocks, beggars and rock formations and fellow pilgrims and some that were trying to sell trinkets etc.

Tirumala is very clean when you think of the number of people that visit each day. Actually, it is more developed, convenient and beautiful than it was when I lived in Tirupathi in the sixties.

We returned to Nirmala's apartment by 8:30 a.m. Nirmala asked that driver whether he would take us to the Tamil Nadu tour. He was already assigned to another group. But he guaranteed that his employer would send someone who was familiar with that state and who could speak Tamil. I am very fluent in Tamil also, but we had to make sure that the driver knew. We requested the next vehicle to be at the door before 10:30 a.m. Being a Friday, I was concerned about Rahukalam.