Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Mohini alangaram of Shri Ranganathar
Long absence, contents stagnant, had not been contributing for a long time, now my recent visit to few temples in India had given me the spirit to contribute one more article. Hope the spirit remains in me to contribute periodically.
My recent visit to Tamil Nadu was a wonderful experience, spent most of the time visiting temples in parts of the state and one at Andhra Pradesh border.
Darshan simply means prayers extended by a devotee to an almighty god/goddess. During this visit my husband and I wanted to accomplish many darshan as possible. We firstly went on an organized tour to Tirumalai Thirupathi temple in Andhra Pradesh. Travelling time to and fro was 7 to 8 hours because of the poorly maintained roads. Not only this, had to wait another 3 hours to get a glimpse of the deity Thriupathi Venkateswara. With tired legs and mind we had a glimpse of flash which lasted about few seconds only. The whole tour took about 18 hours and with the payment of Rs 300/- for each person just for the flash of sight of the all mighty god. Virtually the devotees irrespective of young or old pushed by the attendants at the sanctuary. We were very disappointed with the treatment and the long wait. Our needs were taken care of during the tour though the facilities were not up to our expectation.
Next visit was to Sri Ranganathar temple in Trichy, not far from the place we stayed, again the rush, the queue etc. We decided to use the fast lane getting the Rs 250 tickets. Again a glimpse of Sri Ranganathar in horizontal position.
The third temple visited was Karpaga Vinayagar temple at Pillayar patti, also close to the place we had put up. No payment, no tickets, no special people treatment, excellent management, No glimpse or glance of Lord Ganesha. Peacefully, were allowed to sit in front for few minutes to pray to Lord Ganesha.
Our final temple visit was to Kannudaya Nayagi amman temple in Nattarasankottai a village away from hustle and bustle cities. This temple is a crowd puller as well. Bought Rs 5 ticket to get closer to the deity.
A special and meaningful temple to me.
In summing up our temple visits; I am very delighted with the darshans in each and every temple but what is dissatisfying is the treatment and monetary approaches prevailing in these divine places. Does god demand/expect these before a devotee gets the darshan or the devotees force themselves to this rush.
We have decided to worship the same deities in less crowded temples.
My dislike is the monetary approach at these divine places.
