Normally a ready traveler, I am always hesitant to visit Thirupathi, just for the challenge of the crowd and the uncertainty about the waiting time for the dharshan. I set out on a day long trip to the holy hills, egged on by my co-brother who introduced a good driver, but thankfully, he made the day better.
Being early Feb, the notorious heat of AP was yet to set in and I was thanking my stars for one of the quickest decisions; to undertake this trip now, rather than in Apr/May. Some of the things that astonished me was the crowd that gathers every day and the administration's dynamic methods to meet the ever increasing demands of the devotees.
To beat the touts, I was told, even the daily routes of the Queue pattern is changed ! Separate lines for senior citizens, people with infants, the trekkers ... make it evident that the think tank of the crowd management is up on their toes all the time. The compartments built for the crowd to wait are very spacious and for the crowd that steams in daily , the maintenance is laudable. Even the normally avoidable public conveniences at such crowded spots are kept tidy and clean.
Few areas where the temple management could focus to improve are the areas of post dharshan. The crowd , so well controlled and managed until then , is let lose after the dharshan. The place near the hundies is waiting for disasters, with the ground below very uneven with sudden steps, none to regulate the crowd and with the old and children shove around, a stampede will not be a surprise. The ground needs to be leveled and a single file queue will resolve the issue.
While there are enough notifications about the non admission of Cell phones and cameras, the confiscation of water bottles, even before entering the temple appears to be baseless. There are days when people stand in the line for hours after crossing this point and there is a real threat of people starving out with parched throats, particularly in the months of April to June. The authorities need to provide clean water to quench the thirst, after this point. Also, there could be a notice indicating that water will not be allowed, so that the devotees could satiate their need before the water bottle is thrown out.
On a day, where there was no crowd, I had to spend nearly three hours before the dharshan. One wonders as to what will be the waiting period during the school vacation and festival times! After undergoing these, the devotee gets a dharshan for some 20 seconds and the faces of those coming out after these seconds are to be seen to be believed! So much satisfaction, glow in their faces - very clearly indicating their readiness to face any challenge- from the onion prices to school admissions to tax issues .
A visit to Tirupathi is generally believed to bring lot of solace to the mind. It is this belief , it appears, that is driving people to spend so many hours for so few seconds of darshan !
Being early Feb, the notorious heat of AP was yet to set in and I was thanking my stars for one of the quickest decisions; to undertake this trip now, rather than in Apr/May. Some of the things that astonished me was the crowd that gathers every day and the administration's dynamic methods to meet the ever increasing demands of the devotees.
To beat the touts, I was told, even the daily routes of the Queue pattern is changed ! Separate lines for senior citizens, people with infants, the trekkers ... make it evident that the think tank of the crowd management is up on their toes all the time. The compartments built for the crowd to wait are very spacious and for the crowd that steams in daily , the maintenance is laudable. Even the normally avoidable public conveniences at such crowded spots are kept tidy and clean.
Few areas where the temple management could focus to improve are the areas of post dharshan. The crowd , so well controlled and managed until then , is let lose after the dharshan. The place near the hundies is waiting for disasters, with the ground below very uneven with sudden steps, none to regulate the crowd and with the old and children shove around, a stampede will not be a surprise. The ground needs to be leveled and a single file queue will resolve the issue.
While there are enough notifications about the non admission of Cell phones and cameras, the confiscation of water bottles, even before entering the temple appears to be baseless. There are days when people stand in the line for hours after crossing this point and there is a real threat of people starving out with parched throats, particularly in the months of April to June. The authorities need to provide clean water to quench the thirst, after this point. Also, there could be a notice indicating that water will not be allowed, so that the devotees could satiate their need before the water bottle is thrown out.
On a day, where there was no crowd, I had to spend nearly three hours before the dharshan. One wonders as to what will be the waiting period during the school vacation and festival times! After undergoing these, the devotee gets a dharshan for some 20 seconds and the faces of those coming out after these seconds are to be seen to be believed! So much satisfaction, glow in their faces - very clearly indicating their readiness to face any challenge- from the onion prices to school admissions to tax issues .
A visit to Tirupathi is generally believed to bring lot of solace to the mind. It is this belief , it appears, that is driving people to spend so many hours for so few seconds of darshan !
