from viswapathi[MR.murthy.],with best wishes,sub:THIRUMALA IN OLDEN DAYS

[Guest guest]

THIRUMALA IN OLDEN DAYS

 

 

Dear friends

Namasthe.as all of us are aware 30,000-50,000 piligrims visit THIRUMALA

everyday to have darshan of LORD SRIVENKATESWARA[bALAJI]...and it reaches a lakh

on brahmotsavam days...similarly nowadays one has to reserve archana tickets

well in advance....as you are aware if we book abhishekam ticket now,your turn

will come only in 2021!....yes,you have to wait for fifteen years!....

How was thirumala in good olden days?...can you believe if I say children used

to play in the temple in those days?...and you can just walk into the temple

straight!....go through these few lines about how thirumala was in those

days....

 

About hundreds years ago...all these cottages,canteens,shops were not existing

on thirumla...only temple and hathiramji matt are the two constructions existing

on the sacred hill....even archakas used to stay in kothur village down the

hills...archakas used to go up the hill on walk everyday at 5.00 A.M. in the

morning and offer morning prasadams to LORD at 07.00 A.M....piligrims used to

trek the mountains in groups chanting GOVINDA,GOVINDA....old people used to go

by dolis...ten annas was the charge for doly.... archakas used to close the

temple by 4.00 p.m. and walk down the hill...

 

Devotes used to go straight through mahadwaram,main entreance...in fact till

as early sixties pilirims used to go through mahadwaram like any other temple...

there were no ques like these days...children used to play in the temple

premises...200-300 piligrims used to visit thirumala in those days....devotees

used to eat praasadams for lunch too...it was very difficult in those days to

reach thirumala by walk...one has to walk through thick forest braving wild

animals and severe cold...british government built steps in 1870...these steps

too were not like the ones we see now...the steps were just laid out with

stones...it was very difficult to climb...the steps were not symmetrical...it

used to be very cold in thirumala...added to this the fear of wild animals...

tigers and lions used to move freely in the nights...by 4.00 p.m.thirumala used

to be empty...

 

it was thought that unless thirumala developes as a small village it would be

difficult to provide amenities to piligrims...so HATHIRAM MATT gave some lands

on lease to some locals of thirupathi and encouraged them to stay on the

hill...initially about ten families used to stay on thirummala...many piligrims

used to stay in their houses only...they used to treat the piligrims very

affectionately...

 

Vada prasadam used cost be four annas in those days...there was no LADDU

PRASADAM in the initial days...sweet boondi used to the prasadam...later LADDU

PRADAM was introduced...

 

In those days KALYANOTSAVAM used to be performed 2-3 times in a month...today

almost 1,000 couples perform kalyanotsavam everyday...now one has to reserve

well in adavance for kayanotsavam...in those days only when some V.IP.asks for

KAYANOTSAVAM,only then it used to be performed...the prasadams containining 20

laddus,20 vadas and four types of annaprasadams used to be sent to the

gruhasthas cottage[those who perform the kalanotsavam]...they used to be be

taken by devasthanam persons with bhajantris...the temple HUNDI collection used

to be in couple of thousands in those days...today it is almost ONE CRORE PER

DAY!.....

 

Piligrims from NANDED in maharashtra used to be special attraction in those

days during brahmotsavams....they used be called as ‘tellaguddollu’meaning

people wearing white caps....they used to stay in the houses of locals by paying

one rupee a day...ten rupees for ten days of brahmotsavams....piligrims also

used to stay in veyikalla mandapam...this was dismantled recently by the

government inviting sharp criticism for many quarters.......many peetadhipathis

and devotees opposed the dismantling of this age old mandapam...but of no

avail...

 

 

Pilgrims rush started increasing slowly...by 1940 it was in couple of

hundreds...the first ghat road was completed in 1944 by M/S GANNON AND DUNKERLY

and was opened to devotees by ARTHUR HOPE,the then GOVERNER of MADRAS STATE in

april...slowly bullock carts and horse carts started moving on this ghat

road...a small matador type buses was introduced in late 50s...it used to be

called as budda bassu,meaning small bus...by then the number of piligrims

increased to about 700-800 a day...initially there used to be one bus in the

morning...same will return at 4.00 p.m. in the evening...then the number of

trips have been increased to thrice a day...

 

The first cottages were in the form of ASBESTOS SHEDS...they were called as

N.M.SHEDS...northmada sheds...thirty such sheds were constructed in 50s with the

donations from piligrims...later concrete block was constructed for the stay of

V.I.Ps...it used to be known as N.M.R.C.C. shed...fullfledged cottages were

built in much later years...

 

 

Dear friends,hope you found all this interesting....more interesting info in

later mails...

Srilakshmisrinivasa kataksha siddhirasthu

With best wishes

Viswapathi

[T.V.R.K.MURTHY.]

E-Mail:viswapathi

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri TVRK Murthy garu,

 

Sai Ram. Very informative mail. Many thanks for sharing. I used to

visit from my early childhood (1948 onwards) but naturally I don't

remember much as a child. But I certainly remember that I visited

Tirumala in 1962 and by then there were good buses to the Hill top

and there were several cottages. There was a sort of que complex by

then, not as big as now.

 

I do hope TTD will bring out the history of the last 100 years as a

Video for the benefit of the devotees.

 

What you wrote goes to confirm that every temple has its own cycles

of growth. I am told that Shirdi too has grown only in the last few

years. I visited Shirdi in 1998 and again in 20001. The contrast was

amazing. Other devotees who visited earlier told me several

interesting stories.

 

With best wishes,

truthseeker123x

Swamy