Darsan continued....................

Once we entered the Temple, Nirmala managed to bypass a portion of the crowd for us. She greeted someone she knew and he arranged for us to stand in front of the beautiful Venkateswara form for quite a few minutes. Usually, it is a few seconds and if you are lucky, you are allowed to stay for 2 minutes before the volunteer security pushes you out. I was lost in time and enjoyed the bliss!!! The shrine was charged with energy. Rao and I slowly came out and waited for Nirmala. We reached the Hundi (where we make our material offeringsI and offered money. Another friend from Chennai gave us some money to be deposited on behalf of his grand daughter five year old Akshara who lives in Cleveland area.

On Wednesday I went to my native town Nellore to visit my sister. She lived on the 4th floor and the elevator was out of order as usual. I had to carry my two small pieces of luggage by myself. Surprisingly, I had no difficulty, no gasping for breath. I spent a night there and returned to Tirupati on Thursday. It is a 3 hour trip each way by a fast bus.

The same evening, we went to Tiruchanur to have the darsan of Padmavathy. While we were standing in line holding the ticket for the kumkum pooja sponsorship, there was another couple in front of us who had sponsored a bigger pooja and while the priest was paying a lot of attention to them, he thought that we were in their group and mistakenly made us sit in the front along with them. We had wonderful time and did not realize that it was an error until suddenly he ignored us, did not give us kumkum or prasadam and was profusely thanking the other couple. What ever the mistake, we had wonderful time and we left with happiness.

Now that Nirmala showed up with mild infections, we went to visit the doctors etc. on Friday and with whatever time was left, finished our packing. The next day w left to Chennai railway station. Waited for about two hours for Bhuvana and her brother Uma to arrive )they are local Chennai). They made all the train reservations for us and held the e-tickets. We had to wait for the railway official to show up and allocate our seats/beds etc. This happened only after 6 p.m. Bhuvana brought plenty of delicious home made food for all of us to eat on the train. We also took some and the food was abundance. The company was good and we sang bhajans, recited Hanuman Chaleesa and had blissful time. By the time we reached Delhi, we could not finish all perishable food and had through it away. I felt very sad for that. The taxi arranged by Bhuvana's uncle was waiting for us at the station, the train was amazingly on time and we spent the day at her Uncles' place. They are twin uncles with wonderful wives. We decided to hire a taxi and go around part od Delhi before our night train time.

Darsan of Balaji.

Nirmala advised that Tuesdays are usually less crowded and we could join the senior citizen line for darsan. I was happy because we don't have to bypass the crowd and everything is legal. Looking at me, they did not even check the p-roof of our age. Rao and I sincerely carried our Passport/Visa books. Nirmala had her usual Devasthanam badge!!

We took an Auto-rickshaw to the bus stand. Nirmala went to the counter and bought the return tickets.
Got comfortable seats and a beautiful ride. It was hot, but, did not matter. The vegetation is enormous. Reached the senior citizen line by 9:30 a.m. In spite of security and volunteer scouts supervising the crowd, many young men and women climbed over the fence and joined the line in a very disorderly manner. They appeared to be educated young men and women - just the Indian way of life, I guess.

At and from Chennai airport - a preface

The flight from Brussels arrived on time. Customs and Immigration was a 'breeze'. The employees were extremely polite (unlike at Bombay airport). When asked, the security at the exit door directed us to the Taxi counters. There were three booths. the first one said it costs 450 rupees. Just checked the second one - they wanted 350 rupees for the same size and type of taxi and same destination. Naturally, we picked the second. One man helped load the trunk with our suitcases. Did not wait for a tip - but we paid him anyway.

Reached Nandanam (Gayatri's in-law's location) very early in the morning. Were greeted by happy faces of the family.

We enjoyed our stay with them for more than three days. Visited three Temples that I mentioned in my previous post. Spent a lot of time at the Marina beach. Will post those photos soon.
Informed Nirmala about our arrival. Mohan had our tickets ready for Tirupati by the train named Saptagiri. It was a Sunday and the Tirupati platform was literally packed with people. All were standing shoulder to shoulder - I never saw such a crowd on a train platform, even in India!!!

Reached Nirmala's abode, had dinner and rested well. This was Sunday. Planned to visit Tirumalai on Tuesday. More next.

Astronomy, Astrology and just to keep the blog alive

The following link is very interesting and informative for those that like to explore The many calendars.

I love it, even though it is a lot of reading.
I still haven't gotten the mood to write about my 2011 yatra. Will do it soon. In the meantime, this link should keep you all busy!!!

http://www.greatdreams.com/2012.htm

Positive beginning - Jai Amarnath

American Airlines was excellent this time. Jet Airways was so-so. Had wonderful time with Priya and family. We visited Hanuman, Rajarajeswari and Shiridi Sai Temples those 3 days. Also, went to the beach. Received by Nirmala in Tirupati as usual. Happy to see each other again. Visited my two sisters and really great rapport. Made a few phone calls and sent mail to some - those that communicated with me.
Today, the yatra begins. We are leaving by train from Chennai to Delhi. Meeting Bhuvana and her brother on the train. Very excited about Bhuvana's company. We reach Jammu on July 5th morning. From then, may not check mail till the 15th. Our helicopter tour is on the 7th.

I will write the details after my return. Unlike last trip, this time, it sounds very positive. Nirmala was slightly sick, but she is doing good today. The heatwave was the reason.

Will talk to you all later.

Random thought - Shakthi Peetham

I was talking to a friend today about the Shakti Peetham in Kashmir. We both are going to be in Kashmir this summer and we all want to see this Temple. I did some research and sent her the links. Then suddenly I remembered another Temple. I don't recall posting about it in my blog. So, just thought that I should post the following information that I gathered long time ago. If any of my readers are interested, they can include it in their plan. 

Here it is:


Regarding the temple of Shrinkhala devi near calcutta: 
It is said to be situated as you said in Hugli district in a place by called Pandua.


Shrinkhala devi was supposed to be in the past.
At present there is no temple in the place, a minar was built there by muslim invaders and at present the place is under the protection of Archeological society of India, the doors were locked and we came to know that entry was banned into the temple for security reasons.  
There were ruins of temple in front of minar.
Another supportive evidence about the temple was obtained when we enrquired local residents, Every year during magha maasa (Around February) a festival by name MELA TAALA of about 30 days duration is celebrated in the premises of the minar which is attended by local hindu and muslim communities in large numbers (More than 1 lakh). It is one of the important celebration of that place. 
Another interesting fact is that near to Pandua there is a temple of Hanseswari mata which is regarded as Shakti peetham.

Taking into consideration all the above facts observed and collected it could be a possibility that it was the place where there was Shrinkhala devi temple.

About Indian Railways

Now you all know that we are aiming at Amarnath darsan next month. July 7th was chosen by Shangloo travels, per our schedule. Hope we are successful this time. In this process, I tried to understand the Indian Railways terminology. While searching for all kinds of information, I came across the following link and it is wonderfully useful, may be a bit old, but not outdated.
Click here.

Since I found it on google search, I guess it is ok to use that link here.