Tirupati?

I've got two days to get from Bangalore to Chennai. I was thinking about heading over to Tirupati. Anyone been there? What's it like? Looking at the train connections I'd proably get in around 8:00 pm on Saturday and then leave around 5:30 pm on Sunday. Is that enough time to get a flavor of the place? Is there anouther place I should stop instead? I've been to Kanchipuram. Thanks.

Hi Sbballer33,

If you have already been in Kancheepuram, the only interesting place is Vellore (150 km from Madras), the main spots in town are the fort and Jalakhanteshwar temple, but if I was there I should go again to Kancheepuram.

Jorge

Thanks for the imput Jorge,

I looked into Vellore but it didn't look to interesting. Going back to Kancheepuram would be nice too. I haven't been there in 10 years. Anyone know how long it takes to get there from Bangalore? As I recall its not on a rail line so I'd have to take a bus. Anyone been to both Kanchi and Tirupati that can compare?

I've never been in Tirupati but as people say is one of the prefered places for pilgrims, and I'm sure worth the visit.

http://www.tirumala.org
http://www.tirumala-tirupati.com

Tirupati's got little to recommend it, but Tirumala, on the hill, is a trip. It's the largest Hindu pilgrimage destination in the world. You can buy darshan tickets from an office right across the road from the train station. Pay for the "fast" one so that you don't have to wait all day to have your 1/2 second in front of the icon. Take a bus up the hill in the morning, figure out where to get in line, DON'T be taken in by all the itinerant priests offering blessings (and demanding payment). It's fun and bizarre, worth doing once in your life. You can get your head shaved for free.

If you are going to Tirupati/Tirumal for a spiritual experience, don't bother. It functions more like a commercial organization than a religious or spiritual one. You get what you pay - so if you are super rich, you get instant 'darshan' and can chat with God at your own leisurely pace. If you are a mere mortal, too bad, you stand in line for 6-8 hours, and even then you would be lucky to get a fleeting glimpse. I regretted going there, and would not recommend it to anyone seeking a spiritual experience.

Maja's comments have more than a shade of truth to them, although I think it's unfair to write the place off for "anyone seeking a spiritual experience". For Hindus it's THE place to go. As a confirmed atheist visiting the Mecca of Hinduism (forgive the horrible analogy) there was never any question in my mind of whether or not I would come away from the place with anything more than the prasad (very tasty), but for all those air-heads who go to India in search of enlightenment it's bound to be a disappointment. The reality of the religion is so different than what we might dream it to be. As long as I'm ranting I'll throw in my utter rejection of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and everything else that claims to know something about "god". Show me some proof please. Otherwise shut the fu*k up.

If you use the search engine you may find an earlier post on this (or it may have been lost). I will agree with Iyou, as is often the case, that it is of little interest to a non Hindu. It was great for me because it was a big event for my then one year old. Lots of people but you can pay more to bypass a lot of that..

Thanks for the comments guys,

I'm not looking for a spiritual experience. I'd be interested in going as cultural experience. It sounds from your posts like it’s a pretty busy place. Is there a lot of action then, even when there is no festival? From past experience I've found pilgrimage places with lots of pilgrims interesting while a pilgrimage place with no pilgrims can be pretty boring if there is nothing else of interest.

it's worth visiting, and you'll have something to talk about with any Indian you ever meet in the future as well.

Tirumala is the second most richest religious organisation in the world. First being Vatican.

That gives some indicator of the importance of the place. Be it a spiritual or cultural experience, you shall get what you seek.

Iyou, looking good in that pic. Did the same myself (check my profile pic taken from Tirupathi)

I think there's this incorrect idea of the town/Temple of Tirupati.
As one poster said, it's THE place for millions to visit. The TTD
(trustees & board) Devasthanam for all it's fault has done a
tremendrous job at organising things to some degree and that is what
you're seeing now. The tickets, the seva darshans, the special
darshans etc.

Let's be clear here, I'm an atheist or if you want me to be a little
milder, agnostic.

Look, if you were in charge of place where people WILL do anything to
get a darshan, what will you do? On an ordinary day, 100K people
troop in and some days it crosses 500K. What would you have, a
football stampede or an orderly division of people who are willing to
pay for different levels of service. Everytime I buy the 'special
darshan' ticket, most of the money goes to providing services to those
who couldn't get a mouthful but yet made the hardship to travel there.
My darshan is not 'special' in any sense of getting more private time
with the God or anything which distinguishes me from others. All it
has done FOR ME is cut down the time for me to wait in line. In
addition, think of the hygiene, food, santitation and the
transportation logistics which is mostly provided for free by the TTD.
Those are basic but if you're willing to pay for additional services,
then you're more than welcome to use those too. & it's all funded by
the pilgrims who pay for it.

That's the beauty of the place. The TTD is trying hard to make a
reasonable effort to be fair to lots of people and it has/is effective
to a certain degree. Being there on & off, I've seen the waiting time
cut from 8 hours to a bare 3 hours on an average. Which is impressive
considering the increase in influx of population & pilgrims and the
frequency of visits. There is free food, free lodging and
conveniences for people who can't afford it and the TTD deserves some
credit for it.

They can do better but it's unfair to level criticism against a board
which faces tremendrous pressure everyday. How many of you can take
that of pressure where you're called from the President to every
tom,dick businessman or even letters from handicapped people? All for
a frigging 1 minute with a God who IS/WILL be indifferent to their
very existence? I went once just before New year. 700K visitors, a
ticket booked on 25th morning gives you a darshan time of 27th
morning. Spent a day on the outskirts & made my way up early on the
27th. Joined the queue. Loudspeakers made an announcement

'Due to heavy rush, the need for recommendation letters have been
dispensed with. Devotees are requested to co-operate.'

Translation: Your Recco letter from the Prime Minister is definitely
*not* going to get you extra time if you wanted or even inside
earlier!

That's how the pressure is, want that job?

I can't speak of Mecca[1] or the Vatican but I would say, in a
very, very Indian way, the TTD has done more than a government run
institution has done. Sure, it does some bone-headed things, like
levelling the 1000 pillar, 200+ year old mandapa where Ramanujar
preached to make way for a new pilgrim rest centre; you can only gnash
your teeth at this act but I'd prefer a modicum of order to a
Jallikattu stampede.

Go there!

See the poverty of imagination, the numbing power of faith, the
desperation of the faithful and the absolute conviction of having made
their problems conveyed to a Superior Being immediately after darshan.

Walk!

Walk up the hills by starting at 5 in the morning, it's a glorious
place as the TTD has made every effort in conserving &
re-afforestation. It is beautiful to see the sun reflect off the
age-old hills burnished gold in the mist filled hills. Spend the day
there in the temple and make your way back by foot again. It's scenic
and affords good views of the town below and the surrounding
countryside. Walk with the pilgrims. The willingness to endure
hardships with a smiling countenance will make you marvel at the
strength of their faith.

Oh, The Humanity! The staggering uselessness of it all, even the
stones on the path up the hills are worn out, under the weight of this
eternal burden of the ceaseless sea of people on their way to make
their peace with their chosen Lord.

Happy Diwali & may your Gods always be with you.


Footnotes:
[1] Know how many people die every year during the 'stoning of the
devil' session? In a rich country like Saudi Arabia?

There is also a daily passenger train that has the old (non air con) First Class, it also has Sleeper class.

Train 213 departs Bangalore City at 20:30 and gets to Tirupati at 05:05.

FC = Rs 393
SL = Rs 105

u can go thro my post 'lord balaji darshan' in the forum on bangalore.

i had been to tirupati for 12 consecutive years and it has a charm of its own. if u visit it once, u will be tempted to visit it again and again!!

no kidding.

happy journey.

Digital Drifter - damn that was an excellent post/rebuttal

The future Mrs Shaktipalooza is from Andhra, her family has been Balagi devotees for generations. She would be bristling at the way people are knocking the commercialism of that temple and I'd agree with her that some people on this thread have quite a misunderstanding of what it's all about.

I believe that temple is richest in India. Donations fund hospitals, orphanages, universities, etc...

Incidentally, if anyone is ever in the Chicago area there is a Balagi temple in suburbs. They have a stone sculpture identical to the deity in Tirupati, save for the fact that out of respect for the original it's 1" shorter. You don't have to wait for more than a couple of minutes to see it. Ms Shaktipalooza's sister had her wedding puja done there so we were able to linger in the inner sanctum for at least 15 minutes.