Mrs.Maiya wanted the entire family to visit Tirupati & perform Kalyanothsava. We all had made the bookings 1 month before the planned date.
Ashwin organized the cab...Myself, Preeti, Ashwin & Deepti started from Bangalore in an Innova on 29th June night.
Our Driver Pradeep was well-mannered & polite (unlike the worst experience with the driver in our earlier trip); his driving was contrasting to his nature, and was way too rash.
We started Bangalore at around 11:30 in the night...with couple of breaks en-route, we reached Tirupati Railway Station by 5:00 in the morning;
Thanks to Pradeep's fearless driving...and our fearful journey!
Mr & Mrs. Maiya were also travelling by train from Nanded via Hyderabad and were scheduled to reach Tirupati Railway Station by 6:00 AM.
The train arrived at 6:30 and we picked them up & were on the way to Tirumala.
Mr. Maiya had just arrived from his 12 day Europe trip couple of days ago. Through out the trip he kept sharing his wonderful experiences he had in Europe.
He was specifically impressed with the sincerity of the people in following the rules and maintaining discipline.
We reached the Tirumala Entrance - the security toll where the vehicle is supposed to be "completely checked".
One could easily make out flaws & lack of sincerity with the security personnel in getting the security parameters in place 100%.
The guy who inspected us, made only couple of us get down the vehicle for frisking and rest of them were sitting inside the vehicle.
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The stretch up the Tirumala hill is really scenic & in a serene atmosphere. I had visited Tirupati just 2 times before this trip and I hadn't enjoyed the serene beauty so much.
We reached the hilltop by 7:30 AM and headed towards the complex to get the rooms allotted. We could finally settle down at the Panchajanya complex by 8:15 AM and we were all ready in the traditional attire by 9:30 AM. After a quick breakfast and little bit of confusion to reach the designated entry point, we were at the Que by 10:15 AM.
The long wait & the journey to see The Lord began. At the Que, many devotees kept expressing their devotion to the lord by saying "yEDu konDala vaaDa vEnkaTaaramaNa gOvinda gOvindaa"...which sometimes gets annoying for other pilgrims who would prefer to be with the lord in silence.
An Iyer family right next to us in the Que who seemed very traditional and scholarly, kept reciting the Shanti Mantras from the Vedas..Listening to that was very soothing and the journey became Pious as I could also recite few of the Vedic Recitals I knew.
We reached the Hall where they perform the Kalyanothsava at 11:30. It was a huge hall that depicts a marriage hall & could accommodate around 1000 people. As we entered the hall each couple (Grihasthas) had to perform Arghya before taking seats. The Kalyanothsava began with a priest reciting Venkateshwara Govinda Namavali, re-iterated by the entire crowd verse by verse..The synchronized singing gave a very sanctimonious environment all around, which was followed by the actual wedding of The Lord which went for an hour. The priest kept describing the events in Telugu, which was not comprehended by many of us.
Once the Kalyanothsava was over by 1:00, the crowd was directed towards the Que to enter the Sanctum sanctorum, which was by the way badly managed.
Another hour in the Que & we could finally see The Lord..It was a moment of delight & a very pleasant feeling to be with The Lord Srinivasa. The grace & charm of The Almighty was at its full glory and the sight was rejuvenating..I did not know how to react and I started reciting Venkateshwara Stotra.
We were out of the temple complex by 2:15, got Laddu Prasada and had a quick lunch & straight went to the room to rest, as we had a hectic night journey.
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By Evening we came out to visit Sri Kalahasthi and Padmavathi Devi temples.
We were lucky enough to sneak into Padmavathi temple, as it was 9:00 PM and was about to close. The Goddess was full of grace & glory and was again a pleasant sight of The Goddess.
We drove back to Tirumala and had dinner en-route...That night's sleep was so good as all were tired & sleepy.
On 1st July, we started the day early and started our journey towards Vellore.
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The Lakshmi Temple at Vellore, more popularly known as Golden Temple is a visual treat..The Star shaped walkway, Gardens all around and the Golden Temple surrounded by a water body provides the visitors a gorgeous view....Its supposed to be a visual spectacle in the night with the temple illuminated all around.
Many of us felt its too commercial and is a tourist site than a spiritual place. The Main temple is however very divine.
The temple's spiritual leader "Shakti Amma", a self-proclaimed god-man is advertised & marketed exhaustively, with his photos & displays almost everywhere and in almost everything they sell.
Any rational thinking person would ask "why build a golden temple when money could be used for schools and healthcare.". The answer to it - "the temple is meant to inspire other people to go out and build schools and hospitals, etc." This is again open for debate and criticism, as I personally WAS NOT inspired or the temple did not do anything to encourage me in investing my time & energy in any socially responsible act, after visiting the "Golden Temple".
We continued our journey towards Pondicherry...Our Spiritual part of the trip was supposed to end here :).
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We arrived Pondicherry on 1st July at around 6:30 PM...Most of us were excited as it was our first visit to Pondicherry. We reached a Guest house on the Beach Road [how does it sound :) ] and were received by Mr. Vasant's good friend in Nanded - Mr. & Mrs. Kamal Kothari. Mr. Kamal Kothari had organized for our stay at the Guest house.
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The guest house had a spectacular view of the Sea shore with a sit out.
We quickly got freshened up and head out to Mr. Kamal Kothari's residence, as he had invited us home for dinner.
As we reached his house, we were taken aback by the beautiful house he lived in. It was a beautiful French colonial villa.
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The entire family joined to welcome us and were a perfect host. Their hospitality, kind-heartedness left us speechless. Mr. Kamal's father was a very nice, soft-spoken and pious man. Mr. Maiya shared a very special affinity with the family...spiritual relation with Mr. Kamal's Father...Good friend of Mr. Kamal...and Mr. Kamal's son is sometimes a Tennis partner!
Mrs. Kamal Kothari served us with a nice, delicious dinner..We were taken around the beautiful mansion which was well maintained. The family had the style, dedication & interest in maintaining such a beautiful house.
It was interesting to know that Mr. Kamal's father in the mid-90s set out in search of the best educational institute for his children and finally settled down in Aurobindo Centre at Pondicherry.
After a nice time at Mr. Kamal Kothari's house, he accompanied us to Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The ashram was a quite, peaceful place and a perfect place for the followers to meditate and to spend some quality time.
We later headed towards our guest house with a good long walk on the Beach Road, though the ladies struggled to cover the distance.
On 2nd July, an early morning walk on the Beach Road was a perfect start. We got ready and had our morning coffee at the Canteen and got some snaps at the picturesque Garden inside the Guest House Complex.
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We caught up with Mr. Kamal who had planned out our day, started with a tasty breakfast.
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We then headed towards Autoville! Mr.Kamal again had made all bookings & arrangements for us to visit Auroville.
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Auroville - a unique, I would say a futuristic concept of a universal city that intends to provide human unity with every individual contributing to the development of the city.
The journey at Auroville started with a video presentation that presented the birth & growth of Auroville. "The Mother" who is the brainchild of Auroville started this township who coined the concept of Human Unity and the city is not owned by anyone but belonged to humanity, which was later supported by the Govt to declare the land for humanity.
We were then driven in an Electric car to the heart of the city - Matri Mandir. The construction of this city center - a huge Sphere took 35 Yrs, which is studded with thousands of Gold chips in shape of Discs.
We were taken around the Matri Mandir and a representative explained the history, importance of Auroville & Matri Mandir.
Though Auroville signifies Human Unity beyond culture & nationality, we could find separate pockets of the city differentiated as Tibetan Pavillion, International Pavillion & so on!
We were then taken inside Matri Mandir..The architecture of the structure represents the concept well, that of aspirations exploding from below and being responded by a ray of light & hope.
As we enter the sphere, we see a huge space with complete silence with volunteers of foreign origin standing with a smile guiding the visitors. We were given a pair of fresh white socks to use. It was white all around and silence occupying the space with a distant water drop echoing. We then climbed a ramp that swirled up which led to another chamber.
As we entered this chamber, we were asked to be seated on a cushion. There were 12 pillars at the inner circle and a huge crystal ball was placed at the center of the hall. A beam of light struck the crystal ball from the top of the sphere.
I had never experienced such silence ever...It was literally "pin-drop" silence. Few of them who got the spiritual impact, did some meditation.
Overall, it was quite a different experience & feel, as the concept of Auroville & structure of Matri Mandir is quite unique & futuristic.
Below the Sphere, there a Lotus pond made of marble & another smaller crystal in the center.
We further proceeded towards the Aurobindo Ashram's Dining hall and had our Lunch there...After a brief shopping in the market area, we went back to the Guest house to relax for couple of hours.
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The evening was again well planned out by Mr.Kamal. He took us to a resort on the outskirts of Pondicherry, accompanied by Mrs.Kamal. It was a beautiful resort with pool & a private beach.
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We changed to swimming suite and went straight to the beach. The sea bed was not flat and was little dangerous..We really had some good fun playing in the water.
After an hour, we came out of the beach & headed towards the changing rooms to get a shower. But some of us were not yet finished with aquatic fun...Mr.Kamal, Mr.Maiya & Ashwin entered the Swimming pool...
Ashwin got his first lessons on swimming and he seemed to pickup the swimming techniques rather quickly..He started enjoying the pool...Deepti couldn't resist any longer & she entered the pool as well. She swam like a pro, as she knew swimming. They spent a good amount of time in the pool and the Aquatic couple had a great time!
Meanwhile, couple of friends of Mr.Kamal, family & friends started joining the party.
Once out of water, me & Ashwin spent some time in the sports room playing TT, Carom, & Chess.
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It was dinner time..and all of us had a good meal as we were tired & hungry.
After a great time we had at the resort, we retired for the day, not before a good romantic walk in the Garden.
On 3rd July, it was time to check out & say good bye to Pondicherry & to Mr.Kothari's family.
We visited them early in the morning & thanked them for all the hospitality extended. Mr.Kamal & family really made our trip memorable & enjoyable.
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We met Mr.Kamal's younger brother - Mr. Brij Kothari, a very humble, interesting & a great personality. He is an IITan, Ashoka Fellow and invented SLS (Same Language SubTitling)!
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We continued our journey back to Bangalore. En-route we visited Thiruvannamalai temple & Sri Ramana Maharshi ashram. The major attraction of the Ashram was loads of Peacocks on the tree-tops.
It was yet another memorable trip...Mr.Kamal was quite impressed with the fact that the entire family were on our 2nd trip. And he advised us to keep the habit of family trip every year.
I hope all 6 of us make it a point to go out on a trip every year. And I would love to document such memorable trips every time!
