Tirupati Trip with Jaikarthik

Lord Vishnu gives away his sister Goddess Parvati to Lord Shiva.

My cousin brother Jai Karthik decided to visit Tirupati. It was to be a one-day trip. The trip members were Shanmuga Ragavan, Venkatu mama, Hari Prasad, Jai Karthik and I. It was a bus trip UP and DOWN. We were to meet at CMBT at 1400hrs. Shanmuga Ragavan and I boarded 23M near my house. We reached CMBT on time. My cousin brother Jai Karthik came there in a Salem bus. Soon we were joined by Hari Prasad and Venkat Krishna. We boarded an ordinary bus to Tirupati. We thought of traveling in A/C, but we erased the idea.

We started at around 1500hrs from CMBT. Our bus took the route via Puzhal, Red Hills, Kavaraipettai, Gummidipoondi, Arambakkam, Tada, and Sri Kalahasti. While nearing Arambakkam I saw Coromandel Express with a Lallaguda WAP-4 running towards Chennai Central at a good speed. What a strange life! 22 years of existence in this mortal world. These steel machines have stood with me seeing my life's greatest moments, sad moments and betrayals. What and how am I going to repay to them?


A photo depicting brother and sister.

My bus crossed the TN-AP border at Arambakkam. Again, I was in one of my beloved states in my country. I could see some private plots here and there. Hotels were found here and there with a lot of lorry drivers taking rest. The rural landscape was excellent. I could see the Eastern Ghats. Very soon as the bus negotiated to forest-like areas. There wasn't many buses running and it was a typical village like scenario. I felt bad that I didn't have the camera with me. My bus reached Kalahasti. I could see bakeries having some excellent snacks. Pakkodas, Samosas, Puffs. Yummy! My mouth was watering. But we didn't get down. We reached Renigunta at around 1800hrs. After Renigunta, my bus took its own time. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Drr, Grrrrrrr. Praang! I knew it was a WDM-2 on its way. It was an 8-coach train and I guess it was a passenger. The tracks were on right and I guess that the engine just had its transition from series-series to series-parallel to parallel-parallel. It was coasting for a second to accelerate. My predictions. We reached Tirupati before 7PM.


Lord of the Seven Hills.

We went to a nearby hotel to have food. It was excellent. Very soon I was munching parottas and chappatis. Then came the fun. We were suppose to climb the hill overnight. Since we hadn't booked for darshan or accommodations we were to do it on that day. We booked a small room for Rs.400. Then we started to climb the hill. Jai Karthik went up in bus while the rest started to climb the Tirupati Hill.


High-Resolution Image of Lord Vishnu and his consorts.

The plan was like this. JK was to go up and inquire about tickets. The rest would climb the hill. We started climbing the hill. I made a mistake of climbing fast. Within 500 steps I was running out of energy. Then Shanu suggested an excellent idea! Walk for 150 meters and take rest. This method worked out well. Very soon, JK called up and said that the tickets for darshan are given only down and not in the hill. Plans went for a toss again. We didn't want to climb up and go in free darshan as it would take at least a day. We had no choice than to climb down, stand in long queue, book tickets and then board a bus.


Ezhumalayaan with flute.

We returned back to our room, left our luggages and took half an hour rest. We then went to the counter to stand in the queue. It was an endless wait. Soon the queue grew in size. We went there at 0030hrs and we were in queue till 0600hrs. Shanu and I were to tonsure our heads. What to do for the remaining hours? I was to narrate the story of Dasavatharam. The narration went on for two hours till 0230hrs. After that, I went to sleep as I don’t generally stay awake for more than 22 hours at a stretch. However, later on in my life, I stayed awake for more than a day continuosly, something which I don’t authorize.


My desktop wall paper.

To our horror we saw the darshan timings as 0830hrs. Where’s the time for walk? Where’s the time for tonsure? The time was now 0700hrs. Immediately we boarded the bus! The bus driver took his own time to climb. It was 0815hrs when we reached the top! 1 hour and 15 minutes! Generally it takes only 40 minutes. We had no time to tonsure. We went for darshan straight way. We saw the deity in some 20minutes! Jai Karthik commented that he felt like having played a T20 match. We boarded our bus back to Chennai. I was feeling sleepy and I dozed up. I woke up near Sri Venkata Narasimha Rajuvaripeta. There was a hotel here and the drivers got down and declared a 15 min break. Twin WAG-5's cruised with a goods train towards Renigunta. It was an awesome sight. Chennai Central-Renigunta section has got a lot of freight traffic!


A wall-paper for you!


I reached home by evening. I was slightly upset because my plans to tonsure went for a toss. I lost interest in the trip. Venkat intervened at the right time and counseled me that it wasn’t a big mistake. He assured that it won’t be a mistake. I was content only after Venkat’s words. If Venkat hadn’t counseled I would have been in a state of depression. My dog Damien was waiting for me at the gates when I reached home.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Trip Report posted after 6 months. Sorry for the delay!