Tirumala is a famous pilgrimage temple in Adhra for the God Venkataswara. If a child is off school for more than a couple of days, you can pretty much assume that they've gone to Tirumala, and if they return with a shaved head, you've got confirmation. One weekend we joined the masses of pilgrims - between 40 000 and 100 000 a day - visiting the temple on a hill. And the main question of curious Indians that we met on the train or in Tirupati was always, "Why have you come to Tirumala?" There are two main types of visitors to Tirumala: pilgrims and tourists. So I'll let you weigh up the different points and decide which category I belong in.
Tourist
- Normal visitors queue for around six hours to see the God, but with the flash of our passports and 300 rupees we were able to cut practically all of the queue (along with babies and the disabled...)
- After lots of pushing, shoving, praying and chanting, we finally reached the God. Unlike normal visitors who had a couple of seconds to pray before being roughly forced to move on, we were called back for a "full viewing" of the God. Not entirely sure how I feel about that, but some things you just have to accept.
- Was unsure about which category to put this one, but I figured that having your shoes stolen is something which only happens to people like my dad (aka mega tourists with maps, goofy sandals, a cap and a sunburnt neck). Anyway, after leaving our cheap Indian shoes (yes, they weren't even Western ones!)at the entrance and running across the boiling floor all day trying not to burn our feet, we returned to find our shoes were gone. As embarrassing as it was hobbling back to the bus barefoot and walking into the closest slipper shop in Tirupati with extremely dusty feet, I have to look back and laugh.
- On our return to Tangutur, my host picked us up on his motorbike. Ramana, Jess and I on a bike should have been an easy task in Indian terms, but of course we fell off... Dont worry, I'm still in one piece so you can laugh!
Pilgrim
- Our journey to Tirupati was spent eating idly in normal chair class on the train - the first glimpse of the temple on the hill at night through the open window was stunning.
- We wore sarees, bindis, kumkum and put flowers in our hair - as usual!
- We prayed and chanted along witht the other pilgrims - as well as pushing and shoving too!
- We ate our prasadam rice and then queued up to collect our special Tirumala laddu to give to everyone in Tangutur.
- We bought a ridiculous amount of God bands and God food to share out, and it's safe to say we weren't the only ones going a little bit wild.
So, as much as I've tried to fill out the pilgrim section with points, I don't think I quite fit into that category yet. Still, it was an amazing and humbling experience,which gave me a little bit more of an insight into Hinduism. I may not have returned with a shaven head, but at least I now understand why the visit to Tirumala is such an important thing for many students at my school.
Tourist
- Normal visitors queue for around six hours to see the God, but with the flash of our passports and 300 rupees we were able to cut practically all of the queue (along with babies and the disabled...)
- After lots of pushing, shoving, praying and chanting, we finally reached the God. Unlike normal visitors who had a couple of seconds to pray before being roughly forced to move on, we were called back for a "full viewing" of the God. Not entirely sure how I feel about that, but some things you just have to accept.
- Was unsure about which category to put this one, but I figured that having your shoes stolen is something which only happens to people like my dad (aka mega tourists with maps, goofy sandals, a cap and a sunburnt neck). Anyway, after leaving our cheap Indian shoes (yes, they weren't even Western ones!)at the entrance and running across the boiling floor all day trying not to burn our feet, we returned to find our shoes were gone. As embarrassing as it was hobbling back to the bus barefoot and walking into the closest slipper shop in Tirupati with extremely dusty feet, I have to look back and laugh.
- On our return to Tangutur, my host picked us up on his motorbike. Ramana, Jess and I on a bike should have been an easy task in Indian terms, but of course we fell off... Dont worry, I'm still in one piece so you can laugh!
Pilgrim
- Our journey to Tirupati was spent eating idly in normal chair class on the train - the first glimpse of the temple on the hill at night through the open window was stunning.
- We wore sarees, bindis, kumkum and put flowers in our hair - as usual!
- We prayed and chanted along witht the other pilgrims - as well as pushing and shoving too!
- We ate our prasadam rice and then queued up to collect our special Tirumala laddu to give to everyone in Tangutur.
- We bought a ridiculous amount of God bands and God food to share out, and it's safe to say we weren't the only ones going a little bit wild.
So, as much as I've tried to fill out the pilgrim section with points, I don't think I quite fit into that category yet. Still, it was an amazing and humbling experience,which gave me a little bit more of an insight into Hinduism. I may not have returned with a shaven head, but at least I now understand why the visit to Tirumala is such an important thing for many students at my school.
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