Tirupati-Tirumala darshan by walk...

Our main objective was to climb the steps from Tirupati to Tirumala. After searching the Net, we found out that this falls under “Divya darshan”, where we get direct darshan after climbing the steps. Also there were 2 routes to do this. One is the most common Alipiri path that has 3550 steps (9 Kms) & the other one being shorter, Srivari Metlu that has around 2400 steps (~2 Kms). The daily limit of tokens issued is 14000 & 6000 respectively.

We finalized the Alipiri route, as we wanted to take a full trek. The initial plan was to leave Bangalore by 2pm, reach Alipiri at 7 pm, climb to Tirumala by 12 am, finish Darshan by 3am, and come down in bus by 5am, and back home by 10 am to take full day rest. But that was not the script that happened.

We (Velu, Vikas & me) started from Bangalore by 2:15 pm (26-5-2018) in my car with a lot of traffic in Old Madras Road. After some 100 kms, we had a tea break & then started our journey. On the way we received a call from another friend saying that there is a lot of crowd in Tirupati for that last 3-4 days. We were confident that whatever may be the crowd, we are going for Divya darshan & it is direct darshan for us. 

We reached Alipiri around 7:00 pm and after parking our car nearby the parking area, we went to the Alipiri steps to start our trek. For our surprise, the day’s token limit was reached in the morning itself (by 5 am; hard to believe) & further token will be issued the next day only i.e 12:00 am. We have another 4 hours for that. We decided to have our dinner & wait for the next day. We had a nice food nearby stall & left our extra things in the car including footwear as we wanted to climb bare foot.

We came to the Alipiri entrance and all were seated near a big gopuram where some policemen were controlling the crowd. We thought that everything is in control. Velu enquired to one policeman & asked him to call us once they start issuing the coupons.

We found a place in a mantapa near the Alipiri entrance to lie down. I thought of having a nap for some 1-2 hours as I have to drive the next day. As I was about to sleep, the same policeman signaled Velu & we ran forward only to sit in another place.  Another 3-3.5 hours were fun seeing all the people trying to go left, right and ahead of others saying “My friend is there ahead”, “we don’t need a token”, “I went to fetch water”, etc. Till 12, this was happening & the police were controlling them very well. They even tied some ropes to send the crowd batch wise.

At 12, we could not see any policeman there, and the crowd ran to the entrance.  It was almost like a stampede. With the push of other crowd we moved to the entrance gopuram where they were giving the coupons. It took half an hour to get the tokens and it was a relief. We had a good body massage before the trek.

We started the trek by 12:30 am and walked slowly step by step. The best thing about the foot path route was that at regular intervals, there is drinking water, toilets, shops, etc. Also the steps count was marked on the stone at every 50 steps (may be to give you motivation).

Trek Started.

 

I was excited to take pics of the milestone steps that were multiples of 500. Slowly I reached the 2000^th step in 1 hour after stopping for multiple breaks for water, butter milk & for face wash. I was waiting for the other 2 at the Gali Gopuram (Step 2083) the place that has the big Nama, Chakra & the Conch in lights, which you can see from Tirupati also. This is the place where they take your photo & finger prints & give you the darshan timings. Both arrived after 10 mins as Vikas was taking rest in between as he was not use to climb these many steps at one go.

Gali Gopuram

 

We went in to get our timings. Our darshan time was at 7 am. We thought that in another 1-2 hours, we can cover another 1500 steps & can take some rest before darshan. But that didn’t happen either. We had some tea & snacks in one of the many shops there.

Our Token & the shops

We resumed our trek from there. Now the path was different, not much of steps but of gradually steep path. In the meanwhile, once we both halted for a butter milk break, & we said our slowest guy to continue his walk as we will catch him up. The next 1 hour, we didn’t see him. We slowly crossed the deer park, 2 under passes & finally reached the Prasanna Anjaneya statue (7^th mile) at 3 am. 

Deer Park, the path & the Prasanna Anjaneya statue

 

 

We decided to stop there for a while & wait for him doubting that he may be missed behind during our refreshment breaks. We updated him our position through SMS, Whatsapp, but no response as he had no signal. Finally after some time, he called up & said he has crossed all these point & waiting at Sri Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple (step 2850).  

The Route

After taking some snaps, we started to reach Vikas non-stop. After some walk for 30 mins, we found him resting nicely. We 3 continued our walk & then came our road journey – walking on the footpath - alongside the vehicles plying on the road. We were wondering still we are short of 600 steps. Then came a gopuram where steps started again – The Mokalimitta Gopuram (step 2910).

The steps were steep & some people were climbing it on their knees. We had some hot badam milk there & slowly I took lead, taking pics of the the numbered steps & finally reached the final step – 3550 at around 4:30 am, where many perform their pooja at the final step. You can see a heap of turmeric/Kumkum there at this final step. We saw many people applying Turmeric-Kumkum to each of the 3550 steps – Good exercise for their back.

The Final step (3550)

The next task was to find the Amenities Centre where we can take rest & get ready before darshan. It took another 30 mins to reach the place. We closed our eyes at 5 am & I opened my eyes just before 6 – our planned time to wake up. Velu showed me that his mobile read 5:59 & wanted to sleep more. Finally, we got up at 6:15 & were ready by 7 am. It’s better not to comment on the facilities available there at the amenities centre.

The first task was to find out our entry point for the darshan queue. After a brisk morning walk, finally we entered the queue at 7:30am, with some sort of relief. As usual the queue was slow enough that our legs started to pain because of standing at one place, which we didn’t have because of our trek. We reached the checking point by 9 am, paid for our extra laddu & deposited our mobiles & bags there at the counter. Slowly the queue moved, & finally by 10:30 am we had the darshan & came out with all the blessings.

After the darshan, we got some prasada in the form of sweet pongal, which was like getting some water in the desert, as we were hungry from morning. Then we went to the laddu counter to get our quota of laddus, and headed straight for some breakfast. Later we got our mobiles/bags, took some pictures near the temple & headed for the bus stand around 12 noon.

The Temple after our darshan

 

As it was around lunch time for the bus drivers, we were running from one bus to the other. And we realized the importance of footwear at that point of time. The ground was so hot that we were not able to stand/walk for 10-15 seconds. Finally we managed to get a bus, most importantly got the seat & slept for some 30 mins. He was slow & took almost an hour to reach the foot hill. The fun began while getting down. As the conductor was calling for passengers to get down at Alipiri, coolly we stood up to get down. After some 5 seconds, we realized that the floor of the bus was burning like anything that we can hardly keep our foot down. The aluminum sheet was like a hot tawa, may be the tyre was bruising with some part of the bus floor. Somehow we managed to get down & walked till the car. The first thing we did was to wear our footwear.

Alipiri Gate & view from parking

It was a great view from the parking. After taking a pic, we left at 2 pm and reached Bangalore around 7 pm, with a break for lunch & tea. Vikas slept nicely at the back seat. Velu and the FM radio gave me company while I drove to reach safely.

As it was the IPL finals day, I reached on time to see my favorite team win the cup for the 3^rd time after a 2 year ban. I thought that my Tirupati visit didn’t go in vain – ha ha, just kidding. I couldn’t resist watching till the prize-distribution ceremony along with my daughter. I too believe in what MS Dhoni said “Age is just a number”. This is my first trek after celebrating my 40^th birthday just 2 weeks before & really enjoyed it. 

Still have a lot to travel, trek and drive in my list.

Overall the trip was fine, but for the road work going on Old Madras Road which delayed our travel time. The first 120 Kms from Bangalore is smooth, and then starts the road diversions. The trek route is also safe & well maintained with all amenities for the devotees. No need to carry anything except a change of dress.

This is what my mobile recorded (before & after depositing it):

Total Distance travelled:  490 Kms by car, ~15 Kms by foot in 17 hours.

 Just for the stats from my photo timing...

Step No.	0	500	1000	1500	2000	2500	3000	3500	3550
Time	12:34	12:41	12:58	01:08	01:22	02:29	04:11	04:24	04:27

Parvathamalai Trek on "Chitra Pournami"

We were planning for this type of trek for the past 4-5 months. The actual plan was to trek to Saduragiri on a full-moon day which should fall on a Sunday as we work on Saturdays too. Saduragiri is open for devotees only on Full-moon & no-moon days. This weekend being Chitra-Pournami, we skipped Saduragiri as there would be a massive crowd (in lakhs).

The destination shifted to Parvathamalai for this full-moon Sunday, which is similar to Saduragiri. We chose Parvathamalai as we knew that most of the crowd will visit the nearby Thiruvannamalai temple on Chitra-Pournami day. Reached home early on Saturday & left for Vellore by 3 PM, reached my friends place at around 6:30 PM with a tea/snack break in between.  The team was me, my wife, our 10 year old daughter & my friend. Somehow we managed to bear the 40+ degrees of heat there. Also we couldn’t sleep well in the night because of some temple festival happening in the neighborhood with loud speakers.

The trek day started at 3 AM (on 29th April 2018). My daughter got up instantly when I woke her up. After a cold shower, we left home at 3:50 AM. The trek team was me, my daughter & my friend. The trek base was 85KM from my friend’s house and we estimated 2 Hrs to reach there. The roads were too good and I told my daughter to take a nap as we reach our base. With a tea break in between, we reached the base around 5:45 AM. The last stretch was a mud road after we took deviation from the main road. After struggling to park my car in a slot, we started the trek by 6 AM. There were quite a number of vehicles parked before we arrived. People have trekked the previous night itself. Also there was a Mounayogi Vidobanadha Ashram where devotees can find accommodation.

Before the trek...
 

There are 2 trek paths to reach the peak. The first half of both are different, which meet at a junction and the rest is common for both. We took the adventurous path (Kadaladi route) that runs through the mountains, whereas the second one (Thenmathimangalam route) has steps built for an easy walk.

Up-Hill

The trek started from the Ashram along a mud road for 3 KM with some paddy & other fields on either side. There was a small Ganesh & Shiva-Linga idol with a board saying us to go right for the hill-top temple.
The Sign board...


The mud Road...

After some time, the path changed with small rocks. It was a little bit cloudy when we started the trek & we were glad. The vegetation was dry & as time passed, the sun was coming up to heat us up. After about an hour of trek, the heat started to build-up. We were sweating like anything & we were not even half way through. We carried 3-4 litres of water doubting about the shops there. But we found shops consistently throughout the path. At those early hours, they had only water & lemon soda. They were getting ready for some breakfast & snacks.

The first shop...







On the way we had some fruits to give us some energy. The trek continued without the visibility of the final destination. Then came a point where we saw our destination far at the top amidst fog. It was looking so far. My daughter was like… “Still so much to go?” We gradually walked up, frequently checking out our destination so that it comes closer.

The first sighting of the temple...

At last, we came to the junction where both the paths meet. We came to know that we are half-way through. Till now, in our path we came across only around 5-6 groups. There were more crowds from the other path. 

After having some snacks, we started the journey. Now the path had some rails to hold but some high steps sort of path. It is from here you physical fitness comes into picture. The path slowed us down as my daughter also was resting in between. But she had a never-give-up attitude. We used to encourage her saying that “we are almost there” every time she asks about the final destination. At every shop that came after every 15-20 mins, we stopped and had some or the other drink to keep ourselves hydrated. We were fully on liquid diet (Water, Butter Milk, Lime Soda, Ragi Porridge).

 

(Quarter-)finally we reached at a spot where there were crowd gathered to move upward (not forward). It was almost a perpendicular rock and zig-zag path to climb. There were separate paths for going up and coming down where only 1 person can be in the path at a time. As usual there was no discipline in forming a queue/line and then move forward. Everybody wants to go first that delayed the journey by an hour. My friend & some other devotees volunteered to control the crowd in sending them one by one on that path. Devotees who were carrying Idols or some offering on their head were given priority to climb first.

The dangerous climb...

People were unable to climb as the path did not have steps or proper railings to hold. The rocks were chipped to hold a foot & the railings were made of iron rods drilled in the rock with some cycle chains connecting them. We have to hold the iron rods or cycle chains & move upward, which was a terrible experience. It was literally like rock climbing without any gear. That made the aged/new people to take time to climb and cause for the delay. People were looking down while climbing & that made them nervous and slower. At the end there was a metal sheet to walk over the top of this rock. Totally that climb took just 10 mins, and it could be dangerous if you are not cautious. I managed to click some pics in that dangerous path & my daughter went wild when I asked to pose her for a pic.

We are not yet there. Now the remaining path had some decent tall steps with proper railings to reach to the temple. It took another 30 mins of trek was which consisted of steep rocks, narrow path between rocks, etc. to reach near the temple.

(Semi-)finally we reached the temple entrance, where the devotees had offered their coconut, agarbathi, camphor, etc. It had a small water body & the view from top was amazing with cool breeze drying us up completely.

Temple Entrance...
 
We stood in the so-called queue & we witnessed devotees coming out with full sweat dripping from their body. Once again, my friend & some others tried to control the crowd, but in vain. We realized that another adventure is waiting for us. The next 30 minutes inside the temple was like in a furnace. And Finally, we went inside that sacred sanctum, touched the idol inside and came out successfully. The devotees are allowed to do any sort of pooja or abhishekam on the main idol. There is no separate poojari inside the temple. It was so hot inside that we were fully drenched (in sweat).

Inside the temple...

 

Our prime target was achieved and we were out by 10:35 AM. We thought that we will reach the base in next 2.5 hours & home by another 2 hours for lunch, but that didn’t happen. 

Down-Hill

After having some more drinks, we climbed down the main hill (where the temple was) to the place where we need to climb down the almost-perpendicular rock. This was the other path to go down as mentioned earlier. There was more crowd this time than when we were waiting to climb up. After sometime, we came to know that the downward path is blocked as some people were trying to climb up on this path.

Return Journey...

After waiting for some 30 mins, we thought we will try to go down in the path that we climbed up assuming that the upward crowd would be less because of the noon heat. As the crowd was more, that plan was dropped. We came back again to see whether the crowd is reduced in the down path, but still it was increasing and we could not stand there directly under the sun any more. We took a break by going to a nearby shop, had some fruits that we carried, some liquids too & then came back to stand in the so-called queue. As usual all of them want to get down at the same time and in the process no one was able to go forward. Luckily a policeman, who was visiting the temple, went to the starting point of the path & started regulating the people one by one.


Once again my friend & some other devotees started regulating the crowd in sending them one by one downward. After 2 hours of waiting, we climbed down those steep zig-zag ladders. This path was easier than the climb-up as it had the ladders from top to bottom. People were making the same mistake by looking down while climbing down which was dangerous and in turn took more time. It was easier to climb down while facing the ladder, which my daughter enjoyed & said that these were easier than the one we climbed up. It took less than 10 mins to climb down that perpendicular rock for which we waited for more than 2 hrs.

Waiting for our turn...

Now that the hard part of the trek was over, we trekked down slowly halting at each shop to eat/drink one or the other items that was available there. We were glad on reaching the half-point where those two paths meet. From there on, there were less people in that path. My daughter was getting really tired that she was asking “Still how long?” every 5 minutes. We know that we had to cover the long rocky path, then the mud path (3 KM) to reach our car. We were just consoling her by saying “the rocky path is almost over & the mud road will come”. Really that was a long walk back to our car. We were walking, walking & walking… hoping to see the mud road soon. At that time we realized that we had walked so long in the morning. We were stopping for a few seconds in every shade we came across as it was very hot & dry. At last, we came across the first shop we visited in the morning & happy to know that the mud road is 15 mins away.

Final rest point...

Finally we saw the mud road & my daughter now started asking “where is our car?” And we, as usual consoled her that we are almost there. We reached our car at 4:45 PM and there was a sign of relief for her. First thing was to remove our shoes, change to slippers & relax our feet. We had some hot bhajjis at a shop there as we were on empty stomach. We, including my daughter did not have breakfast or lunch till that time. We were on fruits and liquid diet for the entire trek. One thing for sure is that we did not get exhausted at any point of time during the whole trek. As it was summer, the first half of the trek was hot & sweaty. You get all refreshments all the way at regular intervals, so no need to carry a heavy back-pack. Water is available in packets too which is handy to drink & wash your sweat off your face and eyes. My daughter had no complains and really enjoyed the trek, which is a great accomplishment for her age.
Somewhere I read this quote for this trek, “A test for physical and mental strength and definitely fitness, endurance and courage is a mandatory requirement” which was 100% true.

Finally we reached my friend’s home at around 7PM, with a break in between for a chilled rose-milk. After a refreshing shower & dinner, started to Bangalore at 8:30 PM and reached home by 11:30 PM.

My mobile App showed the trek statistics as 9.6KM of walking, 15,020 steps and 92 floors climbed.

Total Distance Travelled:  610 KMS (excluding the 9.6 KM trek)

Planning to repeat this trek on some full moon night...