My visits to Thirupathi were usually dependant on tour operators who operate conducted tours to thirupathi from Bangalore or Chennai. The advantage of these conducted tours were that we need not know any thing regarding accommodation or darsan or prasadams. The disadvantage was that as i am from cochin, i had to travel either to Chennai or Bangalore which would take 2 days of travel besides it being expensive.
This year as i did not have much time i thought i would go to thirupathi my own from cochin. After extensive googling I found that details of travel, darsan, accommodation etc were all inadequate for travelers from kerala and will not help a first time visitor to Andra. Though the APRTC site said they had a Volvo bus from coimbatore , a lady at the APSRTC office, bangalore was kind enough to shout at me on inquiring about this bus over telephone that i decided to stay away from this option. So even before starting my trip i decided that i would update my blog on planning a trip to thirupathi yourself. Due to grace of Lord Srinivasa everything went sooo smooth and i sincerely hope that this article will be helpful to everyone going to thirumala there own.
1)Reach Thirupathi
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The Venkiteswara temple is situated on a mountain called thirumala which is 45 minutes journey from thrupathi .So the first step is to catch a train to thirupathi that will reach thirupathi before 4 am morning.This is to get a good position in the darshan token que.
I started my journey to thirupathi on cape kanyakumari express going to bombay via thirupathi.This was in the first week of november 2007. This train starts from cochin at 12 40 pm and will reach thirupathi at 3 am. It cost me Rs 270 for a second class sleeper ticket.The 674 km route was Cochin-Palakkad-Coimbatore-Erode Jn-Salem Jn-Jolarpettai-Katpadi-Pakala-Tirupati and would take 13.5 hours.
2)Get Darsan Token
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Our first job is to get a ticket for darsan. To get a ticket climb the overhead bridge in the railway station and walk towards platform 3-4-5. Once you reach the end of the bridge climb down the steps and you will reach a big parking ground and can see few big old buildings. You would find the main building titled as SRi KOTHANDARAmA CHOULTRY in big black letters. On the basement of the building you will find a que counter where you can buy the darsan tickets. This counter opens at 5 am and make sure you are there well before they open it. I would say 3 a. m. is fine.I found few people sleeping before the counter to get the first place.
There are 2 types of darsan in thirupathi
1) Free darsan or Sarvadarsan - any body can get this darsan for free. The expected waiting time on darsan que is pretty long and is not recommended for people having tight schedules.A free ticket is entitled to get one Free meals and one Laddu as prasada.
2) Paid darsan or Sudarsan - any body can get this darsan by paying rs 50. This que is shorter and a devotee is supposed to get darsan within 2 hours once he enters the que complex.
A sudarsan ticket is entitled to get one Free meals and two Laddu as prasada.
There are separate counter for free and paid darsan. Enter the counter , they will ask you to place your for finger on a computer gadget. They get the thump impression and a photo using webcam. They will give a ticket that tells us the exact timing when we should report to the darsan que at thirumala.
Luckily i was alloted 8 am on the same morning as the reporting time.
3)Fix Accommodation
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Next we need a place to take bath,keep luggages, sleep and so on. The Thirupathi-thirumala devaswam(TTD) provides free accommodation to all. so after taking the darsan ticket go to the next building that is situated on the left of SRi KOTHANDARAmA CHOULTRY. That is the central reporting station for Free/paid accommodation provided by TTD. You can get rooms for free or 100rs. They are very clean rooms and well maintained by TTD.TTD has 5000 cottages, guest houses and choultries both at Tirupati and Tirumala.They also provide dormitory-type accommodation with lockers, free of cost.So if you don't wish to take a room there you can depend on these large clock rooms where you can keep your luggages free and safe.
But i was not alloted a room as i was alone. They don't give rooms if you are single. so i had to take a room in a nearby lodge . If you are traveling alone please go to the bus stand located near railway station. This bus stand has got a section where sri sai baba asharam provides coat/beds for single pilgrims. They are clean and well maintained.
So have bath, breakfast etc etc. and get ready for the darsan
4)Reach Thirumala
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For the journey from Tirupati to Tirumala, the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation(APRTC) runs a regular bus service from 3:00 am to midnight at a frequency of two minutes. Come to the railway station entrance to catch these buses. there are also free buses run by TTD but the frequency is low.
It cost me 25 rupees towards thirumala from thirupathi on APSRTC bus.To and Fro tickets are available at a concessional rate of Rs.44/-. This ticket is valid for 3 days.
5)Tonsure[if required]
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The thirumala bus will drop you at the junction bus stop. now if you would like to have a tonsure(shaving the head) , just cross the road and you can enter the annadana/tonsure complex. You can find out the ticket counter for tonsuring. stand on the que get a free ticket and a blade for tonsuring. with the ticket and blade enter the tonsure complex. You would find a large number of barbers sitting and shaving heads. Each barber has a number. This number will be marked on your tonsure ticket. Just identify the barber alloted to you and stand on the que before him. I would advice you to keep your luggages in a clock room on the same building and wear just a towel or so as you would have hair and water all over your body during the tonsure process. After the tonsure enter any of the bathrooms and have a good shower and you are ready for the darsan. Now return back to the bus stop.
6)Head for the darsan que
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From the bus stop walk down the street and proceed to the second left. There you would find the place to keep your foot wares.Thats a free service. Leave your footwares there and proceed further .Now you would find a bank as well as a cloak room where you can leave your mobile phones and cameras if any[mobile phones and cameras not allowed inside the que due to security reasons]. Again head foreward till you find the Vaikuntam Que complex on the right side. Enter the que at the time alloted for you on the darsan ticket.
7)The darsan
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Follow the que , you will undergo various security checks all the way. There are even xray scanning if you are carrying a bag. You can get water along the que supplied by the volunteers.
At the end of the que you would see Lord Sreenivasa in all splendor and glory. After the darsan you can also put your offerings in the hundi for which you have to stand on a small que. Next come out of the temple and move to the right side of the temple where you can find the laddu counters. Here the darsan tokens could be shown to get the laddu prasada. For Free darsan token you get one laddu and for sudarshan token you get two laddus.
8)Post darsan
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Next get out of the que complex and collect your mobile phone and camera from the cloak room. Also collect your foot wares. you can also have a small shopping from the large number of stalls on the way back to the bus stop. If you would like to have a free meal you can have it by providing the darsan ticket at the annadanam complex opposite to the bus stop where we had the tonsure initially.
9)Nearby places
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From the bust stop catch a bus to papavinasm. There are apsrtc buses every 10 minutes. You can take a ticket for 15 rupees and travel to all the places on the way and come back within 4 hours using the same ticket. Thats wonderful.The places you should vist are
1) Akasa Ganga : This is a waterfall about 3 kms to the north of the temple.
This is very famous for the prime reason is that its waters are used for The Lord's bath every day.
2) Papavinasanam : About 5 Kms north of the Tirumala temple is a deep bowl formed by the surrounding hills that created a reservoir and many a mountain stream emptied into it.Its waters were initially used for worshiping purposes but abandoned later because of the distance from the temple.
3) Venugopala swamy temple : Venugopala Swamy Temple is on the way to Papavinasam from Tirumula, devotees can visit this temple.
10) The Return
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Once you are done catch a bus to thirupathi, vacate your rooms catch a bus or a train from thirupathi and reach home safely. And wait for the time to visit Srinivasa again
Labels: lord venkitesa, thirumala, thirupathi, thrupati
