Jun 13, 2006 11:18 AM
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My touring to this enthralling hill station began right at the age of one for my ear-boring ceremony. Until now, I really wouldn’t know how many times I would’ve visited Tirupati, but almost my every visit was absolutely delightful !
TIRUPATI – Just a Gist
Tirumala – Tirupati, as is widely known to every Indian, is a significant pilgrimage center which has a world record of being visited by thousands and even lakhs (during Utsav occasions) of pilgrims all through the year and being the richest temple of India.
Tirumala (which is located up the seven hills) houses the ancient temple of Lord Balaji. Tirupati (down the Tirumala hill) houses the traditional temple of Goddess Padmavati (wife of Lord Balaji).
TIRUMALA TIRUPATI – Momentous characteristics
1) Being several centuries old, mention about the Tirumala temple is found even in our most ancient Rig Veda manuscripts.
2) In Tirumala, it is very common to find that every pilgrim, invariable of his status, stands in the queue for hours together to get the darshan of Lord Balaji for a few seconds.
3) Till date, there is a practice of pilgrims contributing their hair to the deity at Tirumala, even for which they dedicatedly stand in the queue for hours. There is a religious belief that the hair donated by pilgrims helps Lord Balaji to redeem the debt he took from Guberan during one of his Avataars.
4) As this is considered the most traditional and sacred place, non-vegetarian food and alcohol are totally prohibited in Tirumala.
5) The silk saris & dhotis donated by millions of pilgrims are auctioned every day and the revenue generated from the auctions is utilized to provide free Annadhaanam (food) to thousands of pilgrims every day.
6) There is a strong belief that if childless couples pray to the Lord of Seven Hills that they would conduct the ear-boring ceremony of their (to-be-born) child at Tirumala, the Divinity would be kind enough to bless them with a child.
7) The Specialty of Tirumala is the grand Brahmotsav Festival conducted every year during the month of September, during which millions of pilgrims visit the holy shrine.
TTD (Tirumala – Tirupati Devasthanam)– Some Achievements
All the affairs & the day-to-day activities of the Tirumala – Tirupati temple are being managed by an Association of the state of Andhra Pradesh called TTD. Following are some of their achievements over the last couple of years :
TTD was the first of its kind to introduce the Annadhaanam (Free Food) for all grades of people
TTD has constructed over five thousand rooms at Tirumala and Pilgrims could book their accommodation well in advance through the official website of the TTD by online payment of the room charges of just Rs.50/- or 100/- per room per night
TTD has introduced 100s of buses to take pilgrims to the sight-seeing places in Tirumala and Tirupati at a very nominal cost of just Rs.50/- per head. It also conducts package-tours on a daily-basis covering all the temples in Tirumala-Tirupati & the cost per adult is just Rs.20/-
TTD has set up a free medical assistance center consisting of over 100 nurses and many qualified doctors for the pilgrims
Information about the Temples and Sevas, getting to Tirupati, Accommodation & other Facilities could be obtained from the official websites of TTD : https://tirumala.org / https://tirumala-tirupati.com
Do visit the Lord of Seven Hills at least once in your life time and please do not forget to contribute whatever you possible can to the temple as every penny of ours is utilized in a meaningful way. God Bless !
