Srinivasa Kalyanamahotsavam at Ludhiana (Punjab)

       

On7th March I got a call from my sister to pack my bag and proceed with her to Ludhiana as we  were supposed to  translate the proceedings of the Srinivasa Kalyanam from Telugu to Hindi on the 9^th of March. It was just a telephone call from Hyderabad that prompted us to undertake this journey. But before proceeding we did get a call from Tirupati confirming the authenticity of the earlier telephone call.

We came to know that a group of ardent followers of Tirupati Venkateswara Swami (Balaji as he is fondly called by North Indians) all residents of Ludhiana decided to perform Kalyanam of the Lord Srinivasa and Padmavati .  They made elaborate arrangements to perform the Kalyanam at a huge ground where usually such religious functions take place.  The date was decided as 9th March. About a  hundred people arrived along with Ved Pundits, Lord Balaji with his consorts and all other support staff from Tirupati.

It is 8hrs. journey from Delhi. We somehow managed two tickets in Shane-Punjab and reached Ludhiana by noon on the 09.03.2015. We were graciously received by Mr.Puneet   Aggarwal at Ludhiana Ry.Stn. , taken to a very decent Hotel and after comfortably settling   us in the room he left with a promise to pick us up in the evening to the venue of           Kalyanam. We had our lunch took rest for some time.  By 5.30 Mr. Aggarwal sent us a   vehicle and we reached the venue. It was fully packed and with great difficulty we were led to the podium and were seated beside the Pundits. The whole stage was decorated with flowers. An attractive replica of the temple was put up with Padmavati and Srinivasa along with Garuda alwar.  The weather was slightly cold and there was cool breeze blowing.  I was very thankful to god for giving me such an opportunity.

We were fortunate enough to watch the Kalyanam of the Lord from such close quarters.  The arrangements were very elaborate. We took turns to explain the significance of the Padmavati Srinivasa Kalyanam, tying of the raksha bandhanam, ankurarpanam, mangala sutra dharana, exchange of mala, a ritual of playing with coconut as ball etc. amid the chanting of the Vedic mantras. All the 10 to15000 devotees were gives Prasad and dinner.

After shifting of the Gods to the bus, we were suddenly surrounded by a group of devotees who appreciated our work and clicked photos with us. Later on we were escorted to our hotel and Mr.Aggarwal was kind enough to make arrangements to drop us at the Bus station the next day. We left for Delhi contended of spending a memorable evening at Ludhiana. We whole heartedly thank all the organizers for their hospitality and the care they have taken to see that we were comfortable during our stay there.

                                       Jai Govinda

My Travel Experience

My travel experience

You meet some interesting people sometimes during your journeys.  Recently I came across such a person on my recent visit to Rishikesh.  On our return journey from Rishikesh to Delhi, we had to wait in the upper class waiting room for about two hours.  Our train was scheduled at 11pm and we reached Haridwar in the evening itself.  We spent some time watching Ganga Aarti, clicking photos at Hari ki Poudi and filling Ganga water.  Suddenly it started raining.  So we thought of going to station and waiting there.  Soon after finishing our dinner at a nearby eatery we reached station.  We entered the fully occupied waiting room.  There was musical chairs going on.  As soon as somebody gets up immediately it is occupied and never to leave till the particular train arrives.  I noticed most of the chairs say 90% were occupied by senior citizens.  I was also successful in getting hold of a chair.  My son was standing near me and we were just chit chatting.

There entered a gentle man with his wife and baggage. His age must be between 60-65.  He looked around. A young boy and a girl were sitting talking with two elderly people opposite to me in a corner.  He straightaway went to them and demanded a seat.  Nobody responded. Then he got furious and started shouting saying there is no respect to elders in this country, Youngster are lacking manners and etiquette. He turned towards the youngster and asked Can’t you give me seat? I am a heart patient. Look I have medicines with me pointing towards his pocket and took out two strips of tablets.  His wife tried to calm him.  He started shouting at her too, to keep herself away from all this.  Meanwhile the boy got up and gave him the seat. The elder couple to whom the children were talking got up and emptied the pack of medicines they were carrying to prove that they too were under medication.  After sitting this gentleman became normal and started to explain his condition to the listeners by now he caught the attention of all those waiting in the hall.  He became friendly with the youngsters as well as the elderly.  After some time the youngster and the elder couple prepared to leave.  This gentleman got up hugged them and started to apologize profusely for his rude behaviour.  Any way it is a matter of time.  One should have patience. At one point of time everybody gets seat.

At stipulated time our train arrived.  Our berths got upgraded from 3rd AC to 1st AC.  We boarded the train and lay on our berths.  We were slowly slipping into the sleep.  Suddenly there was commotion in the train and people shouting ‘ Aag lag gayi, Aag lag gayi.’  I woke up my son and we both rushed towards the door. The train  stopped and there was smoke in the compartment.  As we reached the door this gentle man from the waiting hall was near the door with his suitcase and a bag.  He looked at me and said ‘don’t worry they are drowsing the fire.  It is under control.’  I just looked at him and did not say anything.  He asked me ‘dil ki dhadkan bad gayi? Dar gaye kya?’  Kyon darte ho? Nothing will happen.’  Then I asked him “Are you not scared”? He said ‘No.  I am retired from the Army. ‘Then I asked him ‘why are you standing with your luggage blocking the gate if you are not scared? ‘He said ‘Oh! This is alertness. If anything happens, I can immediately jump off.’  His wife was peeping from their designated coupe. I thought it is useless to argue with him. We went back to our berths along with our co- passengers. I was only thinking about this gentle man.  In dire situation, he will jump off with the luggage.  What about his wife?  He told me one more thing.  There are important papers in the suitcase.  In case  they are lost it is difficult to get them again. Is he giving preference to documents over his wife?   Even in the hall when he created a scene, I could see her face turning red with embarrassment.

We sometimes come across such weird people.

My trip to Renuka Jheel- Himachal Pradesh

Yatri Niwas

Bored up with the routine work I thought of a short weekend trip to some place near Delhi. My brother-in-law who is a doctor by profession suggested that we should go to Renuka Jheel in Himachal Pradesh.  All the family members agreed as   it is a picnic spot and it has got some mythological importance as well.  So it was decided to leave Delhi by Friday afternoon and come back by Sunday night so that on Monday everybody could attend to their respective jobs. We all got ready by Friday afternoon left Delhi by 2 ‘o’ clock.  We had a plan to stay the night at KalaAmb and proceed on our journey next day early morning.  As we were just three KM away from Kala Amb we got a call from back home, my niece (daughter of my sister in law) who did not accompany us due some of her project work suddenly fell sick.  We were all very much worried.  We could not ask the driver who had been driving for seven hours to drive back such a long distance again as he was already very much tired.  We stopped the car, my brother-in-law called one of his doctor friends and asked him to go and check the girl at home.  It turned out to be a case of low BP.  His friend and his wife took her to their house and took care of her. As we could not go back we proceeded further and reached Black Magic a Hotel where we were supposed to stay the night.  There was some misunderstanding and our rooms were not booked there.  We then went to Yatri Niwas where we had alternate arrangement. 

Next day we got up very early in the morning and made a call back home to find out the condition of my niece.  She was better and her BP was normal.  We were all very much relieved to hear the news. We all had Parathas with achar and Dahi for breakfast and left the place for Renuka. Here onward our journey was uphill.  The weather was good and we enjoyed our ride. As we climbed up the hill we could see the terrace farming, the cattle grazing here and there on the hills and by 11 ‘o’ clock we reached Nahan.  It is a beautiful town in Shivalik range overlooking lush green valleys and meadows.   A very clean and neat place. It is the head quarters of Sirmour District.  A very familiar place for me as I visited quite often while my sister worked there in Army school.  From Nahan we climbed down the hill into the valley and the scenery was breathtaking.  As we drove down into the valley we could see the Renuka Jheel Project. It is only 37 Km from Nahan.  Renuka Jheel is the largest natural lake in Himachal Pradesh.  The Jheel’s shape is like a sleeping woman. 

Renuka jheel as seen from our vehicle

The legend goes that Renuka was killed by her own son Parasu Ram obeying the orders of his father, sage Jamadagni.  Renuka was a pious and devoted wife of sage Jamadagni.  She used to go to the river, make a pot with the mud fill the water and get home. One day while she was making the pot a king happened to pass by.  He was very handsome and she just glanced at him for a moment and then went on with her work. But the mud would not hold and the pot used to break off.  She frantically tried to make the pot. Sage Jamadagni became restless and wanted to know the cause of her delay.  He closes his eyes and by the inner vision he comes to know what had happened. He immediately called his son and asks him to kill his mother.

Temple -Renukaji

Zoo

Later on Renuka was brought to life by the same sage on the behest of Parasu Ram.  At a later stage Sahasrabahu kills Jamadagni and Renuka kills herself calling her son and Renuka was formed into a lake surrounded by golden corn.  Parasu Ram takes revenge by killing all the kshatriyas including Sahasrabahu from the earth and then performs Ashwamedha Yagna.  That Yagna kund over the years got filled with water and is now called Parasu Ram tal.  It is supposed to be at the feet of Renuka Mata.   A fair is held each year to celebrate the immortality of Renuka and her son. People here strongly believe that both mother and son come there during the fair and quote some instances of seeing them. There is a temple of Renuka Mata and Parasu Ram. There is separate temple for Jamadagni.  Though it is not crowded, there were good number of people visiting this place. It is one of the popular tourist spots in Himachal Pradesh.

There is a small zoo adjacent to the Lake with a good number of animals. We spotted lion,leopard and deer.  

There is another lake called Parasuram Tal at the feet of Renuka jheel.  There are quite big fish in this lake.

People keep feeding the fish in this lake.   Sit by the lake watch the fish and serene surroundings one does not feel like coming back.  Capturing the beautiful sceneries in our camera we set off to our journey back home.  On our way back we stopped at Nahan for a late lunch.  From there we took our route to Delhi via Yamunanagar as the road to Kalaamb was full of potholes and the drive was not very smooth.  We reached home by 12 in the night.   Renuka is a good weekend getaway from Delhi.

                                  (This article is written in 2010)

MY Trip to Western Karnataka

MY trip to western Karnataka

    

 It was the summer of 2006 we got the opportunity to visit my sister in Chennai for one of our family functions. Brought up in North since childhood (due to the postings of our father who served Air Force), we always looked forward to our trip to South India and loved to accompany parents to visit our cousins down South. Now having married and settled in Delhi for the last thirty years, whenever I get chance to visit any place in South I make it a point to visit the nearby famous temples.

I along with my children got our tickets for GT Express for the 5^th of May, ’06.  We got the company of my father and brother’s family who joined us from Chandigarh.  All the Children had good time and we all enjoyed our journey. Reached Chennai, attended the function on 7^th and 8^{th at} my sister’s place.  9^th we went for shopping and on 10^th we visited the famous shore temples of Mahabalipurm. Once flourished under the Pallava rulers, only two temples are left out of the seven. Enroute visited the crocodile park and pakshi teertham (translation   is bird’s pilgrimage). A temple atop a hill used to be visited by two birds daily afternoon to have the Prasad of the Lord. More than the deity the birds attracted large crowds to the temple between 12 and 1 noon. For the last many years the birds are not seen.

The famous Chariot temples

Temples at Mahabalipuram

On 10^th as planned earlier we left for Bangalore, from there to go to Kudremukh with another sister who stays there.  At Bangalore station we were received by my brother-in-law and his wife who brought us delicious neatly packed home cooked food. With a promise to stay in their house on our return journey we headed to take the bus to Kudremukh. They waited till we boarded the bus as there was some confusion.

Here is the interesting part of our journey. I had some good experience with KSRTC while travelling from Bangalore to Kudremukh. Myself and my sister were travelling with our Kids. We booked 6 tickets from Bangalore to Kudremukh and we were supposed to reach Bangalore from Chennai well in advance to catch the bus. Somehow our train got delayed at Chennai and by the time we reached the bus left Bangalore. We were very much worried as we had small children with us. We learnt that it was the last bus and there was no bus to Kudremukh till next morning. But there was one that was going up to Muddigare and we were told we can hire a cab from there. Not wasting our time we got in that bus and told our plight to the conductor and driver. They listened very patiently and accommodated all the six of us in the bus. Myself and my sister were contemplating of our journey ahead.  Some co passengers gave some weird suggestions like taking up News paper vans that leave at 4 in the morning from Maddigare. Meanwhile as we reached Chikmangalur, the next stop from Bangalore, one conductor came to our bus asking for 6 passengers to Kudremukh. It was due to the efforts of our bus conductor and other staff who contacted Chickmangulur bus depot and made the bus wait for us. We could easily reach our destination by morning without any trouble. Throughout our journey the staff of the bus were talking in Kannada about us only, like we were coming from Delhi, stopped at Bangalore, the train got delayed, two ladies travelling with children etc. etc. I always remember this journey of mine & bless  the staff that was on duty that night.

We reached Kudremukh on 12^th morning.  It is situated in the Western Ghats with dense forests, ever flowing rivers like Bhadra, lush green pastures, waterfalls, clean roads, pollution free atmosphere and the pleasant weather gives us the feeling of being in Switzerland. My sister’s house is on the higher surface of the area. It reminds me of the houses in Himachal Pradesh.  Most of the houses are single storied and a few are double storied. From all sides of the house you can have nice view of the greenery outside. The houses were well ventilated and airy. Cool breeze, hot coffee given by my sister gave us much needed relief. After finishing our bath each one just dozed off.  It was because the previous day was hectic and the night was dramatic.  We all got up for lunch and chalked out our programme for the next two days.

In the evening we went around the town buying few things and visiting a temple. The town mostly is inhabited by the people of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company and is well maintained by them.  They have developed parks, hospital, School (there is one Kendriya vidyalay) and a club. I especially liked a park with the face of horse grown on coloured grass.  The face of horse is the literal meaning of Kudremukh in Kannada. Kudre means Horse and Mukh means face.

The Lakya dam (built by the Iron Ore Company to dispose off   the waste from the Mines) at the backdrop of hills is a beautiful sight and was shot for movies like Hero (starring Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Seshadri).   The company is closed now due to the protests by the environmentalists that the flora and fauna is adversely affected by the mining. Kudremukh has been declared as Bhagawati National Forest.

SRINGERI

On 13^th by 9am we all set out to go to Sringeri (Sarada Peetham) and Udupi.

Sringeri is one hour drive from Kudremukh. It is in the midst of Western Ghats, by the side of Bhadra river.  We passed through many betel nut, betel leaf,pepper and coffee plantations. Sringeri was one of the first and foremost Peethams established by Jagatguru Adi Shankaracharya installing Goddess Sharada as the presiding deity.  We had the darshan and blessings of Shankara Acharya Bharathi Tirtha of Sharada Peeham.  I got the opportunity to speak to him and seek his blessings.  He was present in the temple when bhog (naivedyam) was given to the Divine Mother. Vidyashankar temple here is an architectural marvel with twelve zodiac pillars.  The pillars are so arranged that the rays of the Sun falls on respective Zodaic pillar every month and reaches the god. The growling lions here have iron balls which can be moved inside their mouths. A delicious lunch is provided by the authorities to all the devotees. I felt so overwhelmed to be there, a place where Adi Shankaracharya spent twelve years of his very short life. We all went to the Bhadra river which flows by the side of the temple. There were big fish in the river. My elder son tried to get a closure glimpse and slipped.  I hurriedly tried to catch hold of his hand and I too slipped.  He somehow managed to balance himself, caught my hand and we came out of the water. None of us were injured but every body started laughing saying that fish might have got hurt.  Such moments are to be cherished.  All of us contented of having good darshan of the deity, we proceeded to Udipi from there.

Bridge over Bhadra river

Bhadra river near Kudremukh

UDIPI

Udipi is famous for its Krishna temple and popular all over the world for its cuisine.  Lord Krishna was installed in this temple by Madhwacharya. This is probably the only temple in India, where we have darshan of the lord from a window.    It is believed that an ardent devotee of the lord, Kanakadasa was not allowed inside the temple by the priests  as he was from a lower caste.  In those days only Brahmins were allowed to offer pooja inside the temple. Unable to see the god from the front side,  Kanakadasa went to the back of the temple and peeped inside.  He could only see the backside of the deity.  Then suddenly Lord Krishna turned his face towards the window and gave darshan to Kanakadasa.  Since then devotees can see the lord only from the window.  We had good darshan of the Lord as there were not many people at that time.

Lord Krishna was offered different varieties of vegetarian food by Madhwa Brahmins which was very delicious and later on became popular as Udupi cuisine. Food is provided to all the devotees by the Krishna Math. As we already had lunch at Sringeri we could not taste the food there. Recently I asked a young man what is Udupi famous for? I expected   the answer to be for its famous Krishna Temple.  I was little taken aback when he said for its Hotels and food.

Hornadu temple

Land scape near Kudremuch  (Pepper plantations)

HORNADU-ANNAPURNA TEMPLE

14^th morning we set out to visit Annapurneshwari and Shiva temples at Hornadu. Temple of goddess Annapurna is also located in the thick forests of the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is said that the deity here was installed by the sage Agasthya.  Annapurna means giving food to all. The atmosphere there was so serene and peaceful that I wanted to spend little more time there.  But due to time crunch we took the blessings of the goddess Annapurna and before having our food there we (I and my sister) recited the Annapurna ashtakam of Adi Shankaracharya.  He chanted this strotra one day when he was unable to get food along with his disciples. In his last verse he says’ Bandhava Shiva Bhaktascha Swadesho Bhuwana Triyam’ give food to all those  living in the three worlds (Manushya Lok, Deva Lok and Patal Lok) He did not ask for only four of them. For those who visit this temple breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, coffee and even a place to sleep is provided. Capturing the beauty of the mother in our hearts and the beauty of the place in our camera we proceded to Kalasheshwara the divine consort of the Devi Annapurna.

KALASHESHWARA-AN ABODE OF SHIVA

This temple is also established by sage Agastya on the banks of river Bhadra.  As the story goes he was asked to go to the South of the Vindhyas to stop the growth of the Vindhya Mountain which was obstructing the movement of the Sun by lord Shiva.  As he approached the Vindhyas the mountain bent in respect of the sage and he asked Vindhyas to stay like that till he comes back. The sage gets little disappointed while crossing Vindhyas  that he will never be able to visit Kasi (Benaras) again.  Then Lord Shiva gives him a boon that whenever he thinks of the lord he would appear.  It is at this place Agastya thought of him and a Shivling appears from his Kamandal.  He installs it at this place and since then it is known as Kalasheshwara and is also known as Dakshina Kasi.

MURUDESHWARA

On 15^th we planned to go to Murudeshwara, a temple built on the shores of Arabian Sea and from there to Mookambika temple. A trip to Murudeshwara in Karnataka, Rejuvenates one’s soul and mind.   It is blend of scenic as well as spiritual beauty.  The drive from Mangalore along the coast line was very pleasant and enjoyable.  And you cannot take your eyes off the vast ocean on the left and white sand beach that will have a magical effect on any one. You pass by small villages and often road side eating joints where you can have a cup of coffee or pure co-co-nut water or a plate of steaming idlis.  As we were nearing the Place a huge medieval marvel a temple and huge statue of Shiva sitting on a rock top facing us and behind him is the vast ocean. A breath-taking view.  As we went near we could get the full view of the temple.  There we could see Ravana giving the Shivling to Ganesh who was in the disguise of a shepherd and many other statues depicting different pouranic stories. By the side is a huge gopuram, a restaurant on the shore with water below is a beautiful sight.

    As the legend goes Ravana after a harsh penance gets the atma lingam from Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesh in the disguise of shepherd foils his plan to take it to Lanka. Ravana being a staunch devotee was looking for some one to hold the lingam so that he can finish his evening ritual. He saw Lord Ganesh who was in disguise and asked him to hold it and he would come back soon. As Ravana approached the river,  Ganesha  keeps the atma lingam on ground on the pretext that it is heavy to hold for him and it gets fixed on the ground.  Ravana becomes furious and tries his best to lift it from the ground. In the process of lifting it from ground breaks the rudraksh mala which fall off at this place called Murudeshwara.

As we were very short of time and wanted to go to Mookambika on the same day. After seeing the long queue  in the temple we decided skip Abhishekam to the Lord and to have only Darshan of Lord Shiva.  But we  came to know that there is another facility of Panchamruta Abhishekam for which there was no queue and we would be allowed to go up to the threshold of the lord to have clear view of god. Also the archaka said he would show us the Rudrakshas with the help of lamp that were in water two feet below the ground.

Very happily I paid the stipulated amount for abhishekam. The priest performed the panchamruta abhishekam with our gotra Nama and showed us Rudrakshas which were supposed to be spread over the place in the water near the main deity.  They got embedded in the ground. The Priest sensing us to be outsiders was kind enough to show each one of us giving enough time to have darshan of the holy Rudrakshas holding the lamp again and again. Another attraction of this place is the 24 storied gopuram; there is lift facility to go to the top floor and have the view of huge Shiva Statue and the vast sea beyond. Satisfied of having good darshan we left for Mookambika. Though children wanted to have food in the restaurant over the sea enjoying the sea view, we had to forego it and move on as we had to reach Mookambika another famous temple of Southern India.

MOOKAMBIKA

By the time we reached the temple it was around 12.30 in the afternoon and I was disappointed to see the long serpentine queues for darshan of the deity.  I thought we would be able to reach upto the goddess only after lunch. We won’t be able to reach Kudremukh before it gets dark and the route is lonely and frightening in the night.  I asked the children to stand aside and went to a priest who was passing by and asked him if there is any possibility of having an early darshan, as we are coming from Delhi and has to reach Kudremukh by evening. He asked me as to how many are there.  I showed him the children. He asked us to accompany him and took us by the side of the long queue up to the deity.  I could not take my eyes away from the divine mother Saraswati.  I thanked her in my heart of hearts for making my visit a fruitful one.  A very powerful deity Mookambika too is installed by Adi Shankarachrya.

According to the legend once while Shankaracharya was passing through this place he saw Kola Maharshi worshiping a Shiv lingam at this place. He paused to see the ShivLing and he saw the shadow of divine mother in the middle of it. He sat there and meditated upon the goddess and Mookambika who got merged in the Shiv Ling after killing  a demon called Mookasur appeared. He then installed the goddess as she appeared to him. Sri Chakram is also installed by him.  Adi Shankaracharya sang many songs in praise of the divine Mother at this place.  Soundarya Lahari is one of them (one of the verses No. 98, he praises Mookambika). The name Kolluru came to be known because of Kola Maharshi and the goddess is known as Kolluru Mookambika. After seeking the blessings of the goddess we had ample time to go around the temple had lunch there and left for Kudremukh.

While going to all these places we used cross Karkala a place where a huge Bahubali (Gomateshwara statue) was installed.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and were very grateful to my sister who arranged our trips to all these places.

The next day we left for Bangalore thoroughly enjoyed our stay at our relatives place, went to Nandi temple and other places. I had the opportunity to seek the blessings of Satya Sai Baba in Whitefield. Visiting Baba was a surprise for me as I never expected it.  all the credit goes to my co -sister- in- law who took all the trouble of waking me up early in the morning and help me get seat in the front row. I thank both husband and wife to make our stay a memorable one.

 From Bangalore we boarded Karnataka Express back to Delhi.

Temples of Andhra - My Trip to East Godavari

I could  get a week off from my routine work to attend the marriage of one of my friend’s son in Chennai.   Whenever I go to South I make it a point to make full use of time and visit the pilgrim centers nearby.  Me and my sister, who was also invited to the marriage made a plan to visit my uncle at Rajamundry, after the marriage at Chennai and see as many places as we can. We got our tickets booked from New Delhi to Chennai and from Chennai to Rajamundry for June 23^rd and return by 1st July.  We were very lucky to get tickets as most of the trains were full.  I always check for the availability of return tickets along with on going tickets and only then I take a decision of undertaking the journey. 

Both of us stay in the same society so we reached the New Delhi Station together on 23^rd morning.  Now after boarding the train and setting our baggage in place we settled in our seats.  Here we had all the time in the world to clearly chalk out our programme without any disturbance.  We would be reaching Chennai on 24^th night and the marriage was on the 26^th so we thought of having darshan of lord Venkateswara at Tirupathi on 25^th.  We got two seats booked from AP tourism.  Our journey from Delhi was very comfortable and we reached Chennai the next day at 10 in the night.  Auto service is very expensive in Chennai and they usually do not go by the meter. But we had no option as we did not want to disturb our relatives at that odd hour so we took auto and reached home.  On reaching home we were told that we are supposed to reach AP tourism office by 5:00 in the morning.  We had light dinner and retired for the night.Woke up at 4 in the morning, got ready, had tea and were dropped off at the tourism office.

Tirupati

The bus started exactly at 5.30.  It was a pleasant ride with greenery all over our route.  Our bus had a brief halt at Sarita Hotel maintained by AP tourism for breakfast and coffee.  After half an hour we were all inside the bus and from here we were climbing the seven hills, supposed to be the Seshnag.  We reached Tirupathi by 10.  We deposited our camera, mobile etc. at a shop as directed by our guide. He was there till the security check and asked us to assemble at the same place after the darshan. After moving in along queue we waited in an in an enclosure and after half an hour we were heading in the queue to the sanctum sanatorium.  I noticed a lot of changes from my previous visit, which were made keeping in mind the comforts of the pilgrims like better  drinking water availability, seating arrangement, cleanliness etc. Thanks to P.V.R.K.Prasad garu Executive Officer in Tirumala during early 80's who was instrumental in making major changes in Titumala as we see today.  The queue moved on chanting Govinda, Govinda.

         En-route to Tirumala









At last I reached in  front of the deity   and stood there with folded hands and didn't want to take away my eyes from him for a single second.   After all the hardships I am standing in front of him. I am thankful to him for giving me this opportunity. People were pushing and shouting to move on. But I stood there little adamantly for a few minutes longer. Volunteers were pushing us  to move on to let others too see  him.   Satisfied of having good darshan of Lord Venkateswara and seeking his blessings, I moved on. Only my faith in him gives me strength and  keeps me moving.  We came back to the stipulated place where our guide asked us to wait. Later we collected our Cameras.etc. Our guide from the bus collected  the  prasadam  and handed over to us.He would get us  extra laddus if anybody wanted. After that we proceeded to have the darshan of the Devi Padmavati  the divine consort of Lord Venkateshwara at Tiruchanur. It is believed that Lord Venkateswara comes here daily to visit her. My father used to tell us that he needs  new footwear daily and that the worn out foot wear can be seen by the people who take steps to reach Tirumala.  I have not heard of such thing these days.  Due to the constraint of time we usually go by road.
 At Tiruchanur there was less crowd. The goddess stands there in all her glory  one hand showing towards her feet and the other in the form of blessing.  This means those who bow at her feet are never disappointed. She always fulfills their wishes. After having seen the charming, ever attractive divine mother. We had our lunch and returned to Chennai at about 9pm. 
The next day we attended the marriage and spent the whole day with relatives and on 27th we left for Rajamundry. We reached Rajamundry on 28^th morning and reached my uncle’s place who received us very affectionately. Surprisingly I  met my  uncle's elder daughter who came there from Hyderabad.  I visited Rajamundry after a gap of 8 years. He and his younger son stay there.   After our breakfast, we chalked out our programme to visit the nearby temples.  That evening we went to the banks of River Godavari.  It is a huge river with many old and new bridges over it, one can sit on the banks of the river enjoying the cool breeze for hours together. Godavari is one of the largest rivers in India and it is known as Dakshina Ganga.  They have developed a beautiful park around the river and one can even go for boating.  I was pleased to see such clean surroundings and the steps the govt. is taking to maintain it.  I was visualizing the Yamuna river bank to be like this when I return home.

         River Godavari with old and new bridges

On the banks of River Godavari

The next day i.e on 29^th we hired a cab and went to Pithapuram which is about 50km from Rajamundry First we went to Sri Dattatreya Swami temple.  It is the birth place of Sripada Sri Vallabha, the incarnation of Swami Dattatreya.  His idol is worshipped here.  Southern temples are famous for their architecture and their gopurams.







Sri Dattatreya swami temple

Pithapuram

From there we went to Pithapuram popular for Puruhutika Devi temple.  This is a very big temple complex.  As we enter we could see the Pada Gaya with a statue of Gayasur.  Gayasur got boon from Lord Vishnu that he should get powers so that he could grant moksha to  people. Lord Vishnu obliged and his body started to grow in size his head in Gaya in Bihar which is known as Siro-Gaya, his Nabhi in Orissa dist. called Nabhi Gaya and feet in Pithapuram called Pada Gaya. Sensing danger and to  stop this growth of Gayasur, Devtas approached him with a promise to  make his body pious by performing a yagna on him. So that his wish could be fulfilled.

Subsequently they performed a yagna on him for seven days on the condition that he should not move till it is completed.  He kept counting the days by the crowing of the cock and on final day Lord Shiva takes the form of cock and crows at midnight.  Gayasur counting it to be the last day moves his body thus breaking his promise. He regrets for what he did. Then Lord Shiva appears and gives him a boon that only  those who takes bath in the pond where Gayasur lies and visits the god would  get salvation. His body which had been growing earlier takes normal size. Earlier people used to take bath in Pada Gaya and then enter the temple.  Now it is banned as there is hardly any water and the steps are in dangerous condition.  We had the darshan of Puruhutika Devi, One of the Ashtadasha Shaktipeethams. After Daksha yagnam the parts of her body fell in different places, which are known as shakti peethams.  Her back is supposed to have fallen here. Earlier the place was known as Puruhutika puram.  Gradually it became Pithapuram.  The divine mother was supposed to have been worshipped here by Lord Indra.  Here we also had the darshan of Kukkuteswara Swami who is believed to have been there since Treta yuga and Sri Raja Rajeswari.

    Gayasur at Pada Gaya

Samarlakota

Next we went to Samarlakota which is an hour’s drive from Pithapuram.  This temple is one of the Pancharamas of Andhra Pradesh.  The other four being (Draksharama) at Draksharamam,(Amararama) at Amaravathi, (Somarama) at Bhimavaram and (Ksheerarama) at Palakollu.  This temple was built during the time of Chalukyas.According to the inscriptions in the temple, it is built by the son of King Vikramaditya (Bhimeswara)The god is also known   by the name of the king who built it as Bhimeswaraswami.  It is known as  Kumararamam because Kumaraswami  installed the lingam. The Shiva Lingam is 16 feet tall. It reaches up to the second floor.  Shiva Lingam is white in colour and the abhishekam is done from the top. It is in a huge complex and we can see some beautiful architecture depicting gods and goddesses and a huge Nandi which is carved on single stone.  Here the goddess is BalaTripura Sundari. Daily Annadanam is done in the temple.

           Nandi at Kumararamam







Next we went to Ravulapalem, had our lunch and from there we proceeded to Ainavilli. Ainavilli is very famous for its temple of  VaraSiddhi Vinayaka.  This temple of Lord Ganesha is situated in a very picturesque region of Konaseema in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. As we entered the Konaseema area we were  mesmerized by its greenery. All through the route on both the sides of the road there are coconut and other trees.  The roads were very clean and there was no garbage or polethene to be seen on the roadsides.Although it was a very hot afternoon the cool breeze over the river brought us great relief. The ride was really a joy and we were engrossed in the beautiful delta of Godavari River. This area is very well known for its coconut production.  By the time we reached the temple it was closed for afternoon.  We spent our time admiring the architecture of the temple and purchasing pooja material. Here people offer coconuts and ask for a boon.  It is believed that very soon their wish gets fulfilled and they come back to offer their thanks giving prayer to Lord Ganesha .The temple opened after lunch at 4’o’ clock.There was already a sizable crowd.We finally got our oppurtunity to offer our  prayers around 17:30. I stood in front of the Lord and was so spiritually overwhelmed that I could not take away my eyes from the Lord. After the prayer and the offerings we proceeded for our next destination.

 








Uma Kamandaleshwar and Jaganmohini temples at Ryali:

There was Kshana Mukteswar temple an old Ramalayam, 2 km away from aina villi we visited these temples and from there we headed to Ryali which was 20km away and famous for its Jagnmohini Mandir.  Here the main deity is Jaganmohini.  After offering our prayers from the front side the purohit led us to the back of the deity and we were surprised to see the Stree rupam the female form of the lord. (lord Krishna from the front and Mata jaganmohini from the back). We bowed to the divine mother and sought her blessings.  The story so goes that during the samudra manthan when the holy nector emerged from the ocean, the demons and the gods started to fight to get hold of it.  Then Lord Vishnu takes the form of Jaganmohini and assures to distribute it equally among the two fighting groups. She very cleverly gives it to the gods and avoids the rakshasas.  After the distribution Lord Shiva falls in love with her and follows her. Jaganmohini while  trying to run away from him drops her flower from the hair. Here he stops and Lord Shiva comes to know the truth. The place where Jaganmohini stood is known as Ryali. The deity here is  Jaganmohini Kesavaswami.   In Telugu Rali means to fall. Another unique feature of this temple is water constantly flows from the feet of Lord Vishnu. Opposite to this temple  there stands Lord Shiva with his consort. He is known as Uma  Kamandaleswara swami. It is very rare  to see Shiva and Vishnu temples opposite to each other.

On the last leg of our trip we went to Vadapalli. Very famous for its Venkateswara Swamy temple.  Here the deity is made of red sandlewood.   We offer our prayers here to the lord known as Kalyana Venkateswara and returned to Rajamundry at about 9 pm.

           Papi Kondalu

The next day i.e on 30^th we went boating in river Godavari up to Papi Kondalu a very picturesque and beautiful sight.  We could even see the sight of controversial Polavaram project.
 

 




     Annavaram Satyanarayana Temple

Annavaram

On 1^st we went to Annavaram Satyanarayana Swami temple. The main temple is in the form of a Chariot.  Be it a marriage or Gruha Pravesam or just for the well being  all the Hindus perform Satynarayana vratam(puja). Probably this is the only temple dedicated to him as far as I know. The main deity here is Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swami. The temple is on a hill top called Ratnagiri  and the buses ply up to the temple premises. Anna means whatever you wish  for,  varam means boon.  He is a very powerful deity and fulfills the wishes of the devotees. The temple is of two storied building and the presiding deity is on the upper story. There is yantra on the lower story.  This temple is believed to represent Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara in lower, middle and upper part of the temple.  On four sides of the Yantra there are Lord Ganesha, Bala Tripura Sundari, Suryanarayana and Maheshwara.  The Yantra is believed to have power to attract Jana and Dhana. There are temples dedicated to Vana Durga and Kanaka Durga in the complex  and these goddesses gaurd the lord day and night.

The Lord is beautifully decorated with flowers along with his consort Rama Devi. There was not much rush and we could sit there for our heart's content. 
 Annadanam is organised to all the devotees and Prasadam is distributed. They give so much prasadam that you don't need to have lunch. Steaming hot and very tasty. We came back to Rajamundry by evening and on 2^nd morning we boarded the train back to Delhi to join our respective duties and face the hustle and bustle of city life. For planning, arranging transport and accompanying us to most of the places,  I must thank my brother who left his aged father behind requesting his friends to look after him.