Golden Temple in Sripuram, Vellore - Marvelous

We visited Sripuram Golden Temple in Vellore, this weekend. The temple can easily astonish the visitors. This is one of the best Hindu temples that I've ever visited. I heard that they took nearly 7+ years to build this temple and I can understand the time spent on this project.

The temple is built in an area of 100 acres of land, surrounded by a village called Thiruamalaikodi. Golden temple is located in SriPuram which is in Vellore, mid-way between Hosur/Bangalore and Chennai. It takes approximately 3 hours to get there from Hosur or Chennai. We just took a Google map to get there and believe it or not, it was very accurate. Not trusting Google, we stopped in a couple of places on the way to confirm the directions. The localites were very helpful in directing us. (Also read: Kovai Trip - Maruthamalai Visit)

The drive from NH46 in Vellore to the temple is nearly 10Kms. There is proper parking facilities near the temple, for Two Wheelers, Cars, and tourist vans/buses. They charged us Rs.30 for the car parking. You aren't allowed to carry mobile phones or cameras/camcorders into the temple. You can leave them in your car or in the dedicated stalls which are inside the temple. There is multi-level security checks and they make sure that you aren't sneaking-in with these gadgets. There is no entry fee - however, if you want to avoid a long queue or if you want to take a closer look at "Lakshmi Narayini" you can get a "Divya Darshan ticket". The "Divya Darshan Ticket" costs Rs.100 per person, which also gets you some "Prasadam". "Divya Darshan" is free for kids under 7. There is wheel chair assistance for elderly people and you need to purchase a ticket for that.

The main gate of the temple was HUGGGEEEE - resembled the gates that you would normally see in forts/palaces. You have to walk at least 1 km from the main gate, to get to the main temple ("Moola Praharam"). It was hard for me to believe what I saw inside the temple ... the place looked exactly like a Telugu movie set - but, it was real. The entire facility is 3+ years old and it still looked stupendous. Lush parks, beautiful fountains, neat walk ways, stalls serving snacks, proper restroom facilities ... - the place looked more like an "attraction" than a temple.  I wish I had a chance to take some pictures inside. But, the photographs that I took with my naked eyes are still fresh in my memory.

It took us nearly 20 minutes to get to the Moola Praharam. There was no waiting at all. They had placards carrying spiritual inscriptions along the walkways. The view of the main temple was "magnificent". The main temple was soaked in gold and it glittered with the kisses from Sun rays. There was a pool of water around the main temple and my daughter asked "Dad! Is the temple floating on the water?". It indeed looked as-if the main temple was floating on the water. There was no one pushing you or pulling you in 8 different directions and we had a very peaceful darshan.

The difference between our visit to Golden Temple & Tirupathi is ... when you come out of Golden Temple, you feel peaceful and more energized. But, when you come of out of Tirupathi, you are completely exhausted and tired. The temple authorities had stores strategically located near the exit, selling articrafts, souvenirs, and idols. There were also "Anna dhanam" facilities serving "free food" to devotees. The temple was filled with seasonal "Sabarimala devotees" and there were people from all walks of life. (Also read: Tirupathi Tirumala Visit - May be the last?)

The temple looked more like a commercial establishment/attraction. They had workers who are neatly dressed and carrying proper identification cards. There were security personnel deployed all over the place. They had people watering and maintaining the gardens. There were clear sign-boards everywhere - written in Tamil, English and Kannadam(?).

We spent nearly an hour and a half inside the temple. But, you can easily spend 3 or 4 hours inside the temple if you are very spiritually inclined. There are hawkers selling snacks/toys outside the temple and there were enough restaurants near by. You can get to the center of the Vellore city in about 15 minutes from the temple and there are neat restaurants there. (Also read: Rameswaram Trip Experiences)

Overall, I enjoyed our trip to Golden Temple in Sripuram Vellore. If you are in/around Chennai, I would definitely recommend you to visit the temple.

Tirupathi Tirumala Temple visit - May be the last?

We went to the richest and the most visited place of worship in the world, yesterday. People all over the world come to this holy place, to get a few seconds of 'swami darshan'. Extraordinarily rich people come to this temple, with suitcases full of cash (unaccounted money?!) and dump them into the temple Hundi. Yes! After a gap of nearly 10 years, I visited 'Tirupathi'. May be, this is the last time that I ever visit this temple.

Also read: 

Tiruchendur Temple - Poojari's demanding money
Kovai Trip - Maruthamalai Visit
Rameswaram Trip Experiences 

We had taken the Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) Tirupathi Darshan package. They charged Rs. 1330 (which includes commute, breakfast, lunch, and Rs.300 for the darshan). They picked all the tourists who were assembled near the TTDC office in Central Railway Station, and took everyone to the TTDC office in Chepauk. The tour started at 6.20 am from the Chepauk TTDC office. The bus stopped at around 7.15 am for breakfast. The breakfast was decent enough (pongal, 2 idlis and a vada - limited meals). The quality of food was good. But, the breakfast was served in a not-so-clean marriage hall.

We reached lower Tirupathi by around 10 am. A local AP transport bus (in substandard condition) was waiting there to take us to Tirupati Tirumala. Before the bus departed, the tour guide collected all our mobile phones, cameras and camcorders. It looks like they weren't allowed to be used in the temple. I was quite amazed by the quality of roads that lead to the Tirupathi Tirumala temple. They've constructed a one-way road with 2 lanes, that are wide enough. There are safety gaurd rails on the side of the road that faces downhill. The safety gaurd rails are properly painted in black & white. There were proper road signs indicating sharp turns, bumps etc., I saw a number of jeeps, private cars and even two wheelers that drive up hill, to Tirupathi Tirumala. We reached Tirumala at around 11 am (roughly, 1 hour commute).

The tour guide took us to the place where they do hair tonsure. He said that we cannot go through the 'normal process' because of the long wait time (which would affect the remaining tourists). He charged Rs.90 per person to get a 'quick' hair tonsure, without having to stand in queues (2/3rd of the money went to his pocket & 1/3rd of the money went to the barber). We had to pay Rs.10 to get a bucket of 'free hot water' from a lady servant there.

We were taken to the location where the "Rs.300 queue" starts. There were about 6 halls (actually, cages) in which people were locked. The cages had benches for people to sit. The cages were opened up one after the other. I was expecting that we'll get the darshan, right after the cage #1 was opened. To my surprise, after the cage #1 was opened, we have to stand in queue for nearly 3 hours to get the "darshan". Things haven't changed much in the last 10 years. The quality of treatment for people is still the same during the wait in queues. You are pushed, pulled, crushed, and even scolded. Also, you've to put up with the sultry weather and bad smelling people. My daughter, who wasn't used to such things was crying most of the times. Oh my god ! If god is really divine and has powers to do wonders, why should people suffer this much to see the god (infact, to see just an idol). At the place of darshan, there are volunteers/servants who push devotees (old or young) without mercy. You hardly get only a few seconds of darshan.

After the darshan, we returned back to TTDC cottage (which had 3 small rooms and two bathrooms) for the 65+ passengers. After a short break, we boarded the local AP transport bus. We had to wait for an hour there because one of the families didn't return back from darshan, ontime (we later learned that they went for shopping!). The bus reached down hill in about an hour. We had a good buffett lunch in AP Restaurant, at around 5.00 pm. They took us then to Padmavathi temple. We left Padmavathi temple at about 6.45 pm and reached Chennai at around 10.30 pm.

Though we were able to visit & come back from Tirupathi in a day, it was very hectic. I would not recommend taking the TTDC tour, if you are going as a family (especially, with kids). It is not a pleasant experience, at all. I wish Tirupathi Tirumala Management does something about the 'waiting process' and the unorderly queues. There are lots of creative ways to control the crowd. Considering the fact that Tirupathi is one of the richest temples in the world, they can implement crowd control mechanisms with ease. They have spent lots of money in improving the roads (which results in increased crowd in the uphill). However, they haven't made any significant infrastructure changes that can accommodate the growth in devotees. Hopefully, this pathetic condition changes soon. Until then, Good Bye to Lord Venky.

Also read:

Tiruchendur Temple Visit - Poojari's demanding money
Golden Temple in Sripuram, Vellore - Marvelous
Rameswaram Trip Experiences

Kovai Trip - Maruthamalai/GCT visit

We went on a short trip to Coimbatore, last
weekend to attend a couple of weddings. I visited Maruthamalai temple & Government College of Technology (GCT) after nearly 7 years.

The thought of Coimbatore brings deep memories of the past - a colorful college life ... filled with lots of dreams & ambitions, 5 or 6 of us eating from the same plate at hostel, exciting college tours, sleepless combined studies, vibrant college symposiums, campus interview preparations, watching movies from the front rows, chit chats in-front of tea shop ... the list goes on and on.

We took Nilgiri express from Chennai which promptly reached CBE Junction at 5 am. We got down the train and came out of the station. It was still very dark. However, the place was very busy. It was filled with people everywhere. Tea stalls were busy catching up the morning crowd. The weather was slightly cold. We tried to rent a hotel room near the station, for a short stay. We couldn't succeed in getting a reasonable accommodation at an affordable cost. We decided to go to Maruthamalai and rent a hotel room there. We went to the bus stop and waited for Maruthamalai bus. In the mean time, an auto driver was eagerly trying to persuade us to board his auto rickshaw. He closed the deal at Rs.120 for taking us to Maruthamalai. I was pleasantly surprised. An auto driver in Chennai charges the same amount to take us from just Choolaimedu to T.Nagar !! He took us through the streets of Coimbatore and I was reminded of the days when we used to walk back to the college after watching night show movies. He dropped us at a hotel near the foot steps of Maruthamalai.

Also read:

Rameswaram Trip Experiences
Tirupati Tirumala Temple Visit - May be the last?
Tiruchendur Temple Visit - Poojari's demanding money

We rented a room in Hotel Podhigai Regency. It appeared to be recently built and they gave us a single bed room for Rs.600 (one day stay). We got ready, had breakfast at a road side restaurant and visited the temple. There aren't any decent restaurants in that area (Well, the same restaurants looked decent to my eyes 12 years ago). We took the mini bus from the bottom of the hill to the top. There are some infrastructure changes going on at the temple. Other than that, there are not many changes. We spent a couple of hours there and came back. We then took a bus to GCT Coimbatore.

We reached GCT, at around 10 am. The famous 'Mahalakshmi bakery' where we had our late night tea was missing. Vasanthi bakery was still there. The 'Kayyeandi Bhavan' where we used to have our dinner most of the times was also missing. We entered the college through the 2nd gate (boys hostel gate). The college looked very colorful. The college playground, and the surrounding trees/bushes looked fresh, as if they were just painted in green. In general, the college campus looked very clean. I went to the CSE department and met Prof. Lakshmi Prabha (HOD) & Prof. Annadurai (Ex. HOD, some regional head now). We had an hour long conversation. Except for the seminar hall (which was upgraded with teleconferencing facilities), the remaining infrastructure looked pretty much the same. Lots of multi-national companies such as Oracle, AIG are visiting the campus these days for recruitment. CS department had 100% placement last year. The folks in the college are very upbeat. I heard that hostels have Internet facilities and most of the students have laptops/computers. We spent another 1 hour going around the campus and taking pictures of Auditorium, Canteen, Class rooms, Stationery store, Hostels, etc., When I left the campus, I was very emotionally moved. (Also read: Infoquest 2010 in GCT, Coimbatore  World Classical Tamil Meet 2010 - Coimbatore)

Life is so wonderful. You never know what is in store for you. Dreams change. Ambitions change. But, you keep moving on. The world is full of unopened doors.  Every time you open a door, you are exposed to new things in life. I'm quite excited about the beauty of this life and its mysteries. We don't have to worry what will happen to us in future. If we can make sure that we do our best in the present, our future will definitely be bright and beautiful. OK! Let me stop right here.

Also read:

Rameswaram Trip Experiences
Tirupati Tirumala Temple Visit - May be the last?
Tiruchendur Temple Visit - Poojari's demanding money
Infoquest 2010 in GCT, Coimbatore 

Thiruchendur Temple Visit - Poojari's demanding money

We had been to the famous 'Thiruchendur Temple' over the weekend. This temple sits magestically along the sea shore, in the east cost. I visited the temple after 4+ years.Things haven't changed much with respect to the temple and its infrastructure. However, I had a very unpleasant experience this time. All the Brahmanas/Poojaris inside the  temple were "forcing" people to leave some donation on their plate. I felt very awkward when the Poojari asked me "openly" to drop some donation. Had it been just one Poojari, I wouldn't have felt bad - of course, there are chances for a rotten apple to be in a bag full of apples. But, almost all the Poojaris 'asked' openly for 'donation'. I wanted to complain to the Temple office. However, the temple office was closed and I couldn't do much.

For 'Archanais', they sell tickets outside. But, in addition, we have to pay Rs. 20 to the Poojari, inside the temple.  We had to give the donation (whenever asked) & pay the extra Rs.20 to the Poojaris for 'Archanai'.

We completed our worship and came out of the temple. We were intercepted by road side beggars. They asked for some money saying that they haven't had food in a while. I had to literally scold them to get out of my view. I don't want to encourage the act of begging/beggars (especially, when they are fit & can work).

I took a moment to think about what happened inside the temple vs the thing that happened outside the temple. The Poojaris weren't any different from the beggars who were standing outside the temple. Yes! They are educated beggars.

Also read:  

Tirupati Tirumala Temple Visit - May be the last?
Kovai Trip - Maruthamalai / GCT visit 
Rameswaram Trip Experiences