This is the third time I walked up the hill from Tirupati to Tirumala. This trip however secured a very special place for itself in the list of my memories. We covered it in the shortest time of 4.5 hours. Surprisingly it seemed less tiring comparatively. Not sure whether the reason is due to the fact that I am pretty much acquainted with the hill or the vibrant energy of complacency in walking hand in hand with my life partner did the magic.
Being considerate to all the walking pilgrims, they gave a direct darshan ticket, which promises a 'very quick' darshan. Hold on to your curiosity till I tell u what this quick practically means. Tirumala, such a sacred place it is. I don't know if the way people and the crowd are being managed is the best that could be done, considering the huge numbers of pilgrims who visit the temple every day or if there are better ways of managing. There were two queues there at the vaikuntam entrance - one for the sheeghra (Rs.300/-) and one for the pilgrims who walked up the hill. Both the queues were not moving by the time we reached there. The in-charge, when asked about the timings when the queues will be released said that the former will be opened at 9PM whereas the later would be opened at 8PM and will take very less time for the darshan and will be quick and direct. Thanks to him, the rest of our relatives deferred the darshan to the following day. Vijay and I joined the direct darshan line at 8PM since both of us had the quick darshan tickets.
The sheeghra darshan queue was opened at 8:15PM and the other line where both of us queued up was released only at 8:45PM. Not sure if this was a sudden change or the in-charge who gave us the information misguided us either deliberately or unknowingly. No announcements what so ever happen there. The people are always left behind with various question marks on their faces, and the rumors spreading like a grape-yard. I don't know if the management really wants it this way or would it cost too much to set up the infrastructure for an announcement system that it is not affordable.
Isn't temple supposed to be unbiased and impartial and treat all the people - the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterates, the class and the mass in the same way? If an VIP is visiting the temple, he or she is doing it for his or her own interest. Hence, this is considered as his personal work. How ethical is it for him to stop the entire crowd (atleast a few thousands) for almost half an hour for his own personal interest of visiting the God at peace all alone?? Atleast, if there is a set time which says, from so and so time to so and so time(could span for half an hour to one hour) all the lines will be held, if there is a VIP visiting the temple then, which is announced and documented and known to the public that is understandable. But, its truely irksome if the whole line has to just wait at which ever time whoever comes with a VIP tag.
Amidst all this, there was a group of around 10 people who spoke in a native accent of Kannada, who came with the sole aim of pushing the people ahead of them forward and drive a few kids to cry out of suffocation and disturb the peace of the entire line. I tried out my Kannada skills to tell them not to rush and that they wont gain anything more than10 minutes by thrashing all the people around. Instead, they can cooperate and all of us can have a peaceful time. All my efforts proved futile. Not sure if my Kannada was that bad or their determination was that strong. Thanks to the management for making only 10 percent of the fans hanging there functional. Not sure if the rest of them are really non functional due to some issue or were not switched on with any definite intention. Vijay tried to tell a few guys out there to turn the fans on at the very least and that will be a big favor to all of us. They listened to him patiently and left on their way with zero action towards the petition. The only thing that I don't like about Tirumala temple is the fact that there is absolutely NO transparency what so ever. Is there any one at all who can question the management and the way things are being handled? If yes, are they really doing it? or should we wake them up and remind them of their duty?
We somehow managed through and got across being pushed from all the sides. There are a few people from TTD staff standing right in front of the Lord, who are trained for dragging people and throwing them aside without even bothering whether they have fallen down and broken any of their parts or have balanced and intact. If the crowd is peaceful, they cannot digest that fact. They have to create a havoc by taking charge of pushing people aside and creating a chaotic atmosphere., without which their day becomes incomplete. By God's grace, we had a decently good darshan at about 11:55PM. Well, that was a quick darshan with great regards and concerns to the pilgrims who walked up the hill for all of you who dint know what a quick darshan meant(4 complete hours).
Its really high time some one took the initiative of waking up all the people who have the authority of questioning things and thus helping a great deal with a few small amendments which can mean a lot to the people.
Being considerate to all the walking pilgrims, they gave a direct darshan ticket, which promises a 'very quick' darshan. Hold on to your curiosity till I tell u what this quick practically means. Tirumala, such a sacred place it is. I don't know if the way people and the crowd are being managed is the best that could be done, considering the huge numbers of pilgrims who visit the temple every day or if there are better ways of managing. There were two queues there at the vaikuntam entrance - one for the sheeghra (Rs.300/-) and one for the pilgrims who walked up the hill. Both the queues were not moving by the time we reached there. The in-charge, when asked about the timings when the queues will be released said that the former will be opened at 9PM whereas the later would be opened at 8PM and will take very less time for the darshan and will be quick and direct. Thanks to him, the rest of our relatives deferred the darshan to the following day. Vijay and I joined the direct darshan line at 8PM since both of us had the quick darshan tickets.
The sheeghra darshan queue was opened at 8:15PM and the other line where both of us queued up was released only at 8:45PM. Not sure if this was a sudden change or the in-charge who gave us the information misguided us either deliberately or unknowingly. No announcements what so ever happen there. The people are always left behind with various question marks on their faces, and the rumors spreading like a grape-yard. I don't know if the management really wants it this way or would it cost too much to set up the infrastructure for an announcement system that it is not affordable.
Isn't temple supposed to be unbiased and impartial and treat all the people - the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterates, the class and the mass in the same way? If an VIP is visiting the temple, he or she is doing it for his or her own interest. Hence, this is considered as his personal work. How ethical is it for him to stop the entire crowd (atleast a few thousands) for almost half an hour for his own personal interest of visiting the God at peace all alone?? Atleast, if there is a set time which says, from so and so time to so and so time(could span for half an hour to one hour) all the lines will be held, if there is a VIP visiting the temple then, which is announced and documented and known to the public that is understandable. But, its truely irksome if the whole line has to just wait at which ever time whoever comes with a VIP tag.
Amidst all this, there was a group of around 10 people who spoke in a native accent of Kannada, who came with the sole aim of pushing the people ahead of them forward and drive a few kids to cry out of suffocation and disturb the peace of the entire line. I tried out my Kannada skills to tell them not to rush and that they wont gain anything more than10 minutes by thrashing all the people around. Instead, they can cooperate and all of us can have a peaceful time. All my efforts proved futile. Not sure if my Kannada was that bad or their determination was that strong. Thanks to the management for making only 10 percent of the fans hanging there functional. Not sure if the rest of them are really non functional due to some issue or were not switched on with any definite intention. Vijay tried to tell a few guys out there to turn the fans on at the very least and that will be a big favor to all of us. They listened to him patiently and left on their way with zero action towards the petition. The only thing that I don't like about Tirumala temple is the fact that there is absolutely NO transparency what so ever. Is there any one at all who can question the management and the way things are being handled? If yes, are they really doing it? or should we wake them up and remind them of their duty?
We somehow managed through and got across being pushed from all the sides. There are a few people from TTD staff standing right in front of the Lord, who are trained for dragging people and throwing them aside without even bothering whether they have fallen down and broken any of their parts or have balanced and intact. If the crowd is peaceful, they cannot digest that fact. They have to create a havoc by taking charge of pushing people aside and creating a chaotic atmosphere., without which their day becomes incomplete. By God's grace, we had a decently good darshan at about 11:55PM. Well, that was a quick darshan with great regards and concerns to the pilgrims who walked up the hill for all of you who dint know what a quick darshan meant(4 complete hours).
Its really high time some one took the initiative of waking up all the people who have the authority of questioning things and thus helping a great deal with a few small amendments which can mean a lot to the people.
