Walking From Alipiri Gate To Tirumala On Foot On A Tuesday: Sighting Lord Venkateswara
Having taken dinner from Hotel Vikram on a Monday i went for black tea from Friends Tea Stall. On Tuesday i got up a little after 4 am and headed to Friends Tea Stall to have three sets of black tea. By six in the morning i left by auto for Alipiri Gate. The auto was mentored by Mr O K Raju. After penning thoughts in the prayer diary i started walking from Alipiri Gate from 6.30. By 7 i was able to cover 1600 steps, by 7.10 1900 steps were negotiated. I reached Gopuram at 7.15 and the darshan time on my token was given 4 pm. I was at Lord Hanuman Idol a little after 7.40. By 8 am 2700 steps had been covered and i reached Tirumala at 9.10 having in all covered 3550 steps. The point to be noted there are different range of vendors on either side of footpath and they are ever ready to dispense food items that you would relish. I reached the outside gate of the temple and later left by bus for Tirupati. I was in Tirupati a little after 10.30 am.
By 12 pm i took another ride by bus from Tirupati to Tirumala. Having reached Tirumala around 1 i headed straight to the footpath gate and the amount of walking that one has to do from Vaikuntam Queue Complex is inexplicable. Earlier there was direct entry for footpath pilgrims and now one has to walk for almost half an hour to 40 minutes. I was in compartment number 33 by 2 pm. Having penned thoughts once again i waited for gates to open. The new addition in these compartments are sets of screen that have SVBC Channel beamed. Here the gates were opened after 5.30 pm and i was in sanctum sanctorum by 6.35 pm. With so much of pushing and shoving around one gets little chance to sight Lord Venkateswara. Despite pushing and shoving around i was able to sight Lord Venkateswara one more time. And i would remain ever grateful to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to have a fleeting glimpse one more time. The second sighting of Lord Venkateswara was something i would cherish for a long time. Lord Venkateswara has been very kind to me and to all the devotees who visit Tirumala. Soon after i headed to the exit gate to collect Laddus. Later i went to Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Anna Prasada Centre and took food. The volunteers/ staff at Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Anna Prasada Centre was kind enough to keep my prayer diary while i was having food.
I took bus from Rambagicha bus stand and reached Tirupati a little before 9 pm. A little before 9.30 i was at Friends Tea Stall and took black Tea. At Friends Tea Stall the staff went by the name Mr Naveen, Mr Kumar, Mr Shekhar and Mr Suresh and they were ever ready to dish out black tea. On Wednesday i got up around 3.30 am and took black tea from Friends Tea Stall. Later i joined the queue for 300 rs ticket. The counter opened at eight and the darshan time given on my token was 12 pm.
Having taken dinner from Hotel Vikram on a Monday i went for black tea from Friends Tea Stall. On Tuesday i got up a little after 4 am and headed to Friends Tea Stall to have three sets of black tea. By six in the morning i left by auto for Alipiri Gate. The auto was mentored by Mr O K Raju. After penning thoughts in the prayer diary i started walking from Alipiri Gate from 6.30. By 7 i was able to cover 1600 steps, by 7.10 1900 steps were negotiated. I reached Gopuram at 7.15 and the darshan time on my token was given 4 pm. I was at Lord Hanuman Idol a little after 7.40. By 8 am 2700 steps had been covered and i reached Tirumala at 9.10 having in all covered 3550 steps. The point to be noted there are different range of vendors on either side of footpath and they are ever ready to dispense food items that you would relish. I reached the outside gate of the temple and later left by bus for Tirupati. I was in Tirupati a little after 10.30 am.
By 12 pm i took another ride by bus from Tirupati to Tirumala. Having reached Tirumala around 1 i headed straight to the footpath gate and the amount of walking that one has to do from Vaikuntam Queue Complex is inexplicable. Earlier there was direct entry for footpath pilgrims and now one has to walk for almost half an hour to 40 minutes. I was in compartment number 33 by 2 pm. Having penned thoughts once again i waited for gates to open. The new addition in these compartments are sets of screen that have SVBC Channel beamed. Here the gates were opened after 5.30 pm and i was in sanctum sanctorum by 6.35 pm. With so much of pushing and shoving around one gets little chance to sight Lord Venkateswara. Despite pushing and shoving around i was able to sight Lord Venkateswara one more time. And i would remain ever grateful to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to have a fleeting glimpse one more time. The second sighting of Lord Venkateswara was something i would cherish for a long time. Lord Venkateswara has been very kind to me and to all the devotees who visit Tirumala. Soon after i headed to the exit gate to collect Laddus. Later i went to Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Anna Prasada Centre and took food. The volunteers/ staff at Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Anna Prasada Centre was kind enough to keep my prayer diary while i was having food.
I took bus from Rambagicha bus stand and reached Tirupati a little before 9 pm. A little before 9.30 i was at Friends Tea Stall and took black Tea. At Friends Tea Stall the staff went by the name Mr Naveen, Mr Kumar, Mr Shekhar and Mr Suresh and they were ever ready to dish out black tea. On Wednesday i got up around 3.30 am and took black tea from Friends Tea Stall. Later i joined the queue for 300 rs ticket. The counter opened at eight and the darshan time given on my token was 12 pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment