Urgent questions abuot Tirupati hair-cutting

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

I'm a new member. Hello you all.

 

I have a questions for which I'm looking for a very urgent response.

Is anyone here familiar with the ritual in the Tirupati shrine in India to

cut the hair?

What is the purpose, objective? Is it like giving something to god?

Do they believe in one god, or in something else? Is it idolatry?

What is done with the hair?

Is it sold? Where?

Was anyone of you already there? Did anyone of you perform this ritual?

Does anyone know contact info to an expert on this issue? Contact info of an

expert of Hindu philosophy and religion?

 

Any info in this regard would be very appreciated.

 

Thank you,

Jacob S

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

This subject " rings bells " for me - I read last week in one of the

newspapers here in UK, that Orthodox Jewish women were being told , by their

rabbis in Israel, not to wear wigs made of human hair, because someone had

found out that the source of this hair was from the Tirupati shrine - and

according to Jewish law, such hair cutting was idolatrous and therefore

incompatible with Judaism. These women have now, apparently, to wear

synthetic-made wigs.

 

Robert Vink

 

 

-

<graphana

<Ramakrishna >

Sunday, May 16, 2004 3:52 PM

[sri Ramakrishna] Urgent questions abuot Tirupati hair-cutting

 

 

>

> Hi All,

>

> I'm a new member. Hello you all.

>

> I have a questions for which I'm looking for a very urgent response.

> Is anyone here familiar with the ritual in the Tirupati shrine in India to

> cut the hair?

> What is the purpose, objective? Is it like giving something to god?

> Do they believe in one god, or in something else? Is it idolatry?

> What is done with the hair?

> Is it sold? Where?

> Was anyone of you already there? Did anyone of you perform this ritual?

> Does anyone know contact info to an expert on this issue? Contact info of

an

> expert of Hindu philosophy and religion?

>

> Any info in this regard would be very appreciated.

>

> Thank you,

> Jacob S

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

This came from Krishna Kiran...... We had to edit out the tail end of

earlier message....................................jay

 

 

-

" krishna kiran " <kiran_18m

<Ramakrishna >

Sunday, May 16, 2004 06:13

Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Urgent questions abuot Tirupati hair-cutting

 

 

dear friend,

I had performed that ritual many times;i am now 21 and offered my hair more

than 3 times first time was wen i was 2 then @10 and then @16,i never asked

my father 4 reason coz it actually bcame habit to all of us; the same i

will advice to my nex generations........ this is how it is actually

performed;but i offered recently wen i was 20 , then o thought of not giving

coz it wont look good but the next moment i thought that it to leave such

feelings i should offer afterall our physique,look ......r but trivial n v

must b ready to offer them at any given time!thats the rason y i had it 4

the last time n my reason 4 future.......going to the details.....there is a

belief that LordVenkatewara borrowed money from Kubera for his marriage with

Padmavati which he failed to pay and Kubera being Miser made multiple

intrests and

then Lord Venkateswara wished his devotees to offer their hair to pay for

the sum he borrowed (its intrest toooooo.........)

 

Wat ever the reason may b it is good to have a nice clean shave 4 ur head

once in a while..... further opinions n interpretations are welcome

> urs friendly

> KKK

[Guest guest]

Om Namah Sivaya

 

 

 

" Tirupati is the most holy Vaishnava temple-town of

South India. It lies in the midst of the Seshachalam

hills at a distance of seven miles from Tirupati East,

a railway station on the Renigunta-Katpadi section.

 

The scenery of Tirupati is very picturesque. The

temple is 2500 feet above sea level. The North Indians

call Tirupati as Bala Jee.

 

The temple of Venkateswara is situated on one

(Tirumalai) of the group of seven hills. There is a

thousand pillared mantapa in the temple. The pilgrim

making his way to the hill-temple at Tirumalai rests

and refreshes himself in the Kapila Thirtham, named

after the Sage Kapila, the founder of the Sankhya

system of Hindu philosophy. The way up the hill is

provided with electric lights.

 

The idol has four arms, two in the rear one carrying

the Sankha (conch) and the other the Chakra (discus),

and two in the front one pointing to the feet and the

other by the side of the thigh. On both the front arms

is to be seen the “Bhujanga Valaya” or the girdle of

serpent. This is the only temple where His consort is

absent fron His side.

 

There are morning darshans of God known as Shuddin,

Tomala and Archana followed by a free darshan. This is

repeated in the evening. There are Ekanta Seva,

Poolangi darshan (flower-garment darshan), Abhiseka

darshan, etc.

 

The principal annual festival is the Brahmotsavam

which lasts for 10 days. The wedding of the deity with

Padmavati Devi is celebrated in September-October. The

most popular procession is the Garuda Utsavam on the

fifth day. Ratha saptami (January-February), the

floating festival (March-April) and the Mukkoti

Ekadasi (December-January) and other minor festivals.

 

Thc temple Hundi i.e., vessel in which pilgrims drop

their offerings to the Lord is perhaps the largest of

the kind. It is five feet high.

 

The Deity has great saving power. Many incurable

diseases are cured by darshan and Sankalpa of

offerings.

 

Sri Govinda Raja Sam’s temple at Tirupati and golden

Padmavati’s temple at Tiruchanur, a village 3 miles

from Tirupati are also sacred temples.

 

Glory to Lord Venkateswara and Mother Alamalemanga! "

 

By Sri Swami Sivananda

 

 

 

Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah

Vivekananda Centre London

http://www.vivekananda.co.uk

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Most of the religious people do things handed down to

them by tradition without even asking the reason for

it or its meaning. Very few people know the meaning of

various customes and religious practices. Many people

are afraid to ask the reason becasue they feel that

they will go to hell if they question any religious

practices. If that were true, I have already gone to

hell several times!. So offering hair in Tirupathy is

one of such customs. Hair makes a person look

beautiful. So in order to symbolize that we must pay

attention to internal beauty and not external beauty,

many people offer hair to God. I have no objection if

people like to do it if it makes them to think of GOd

atleast momentarily. If we extend this example, as

Kiran said, then a person with a beautiful body( a

body builder, a model etc.) should give up his/her

whole body! Real surrender to the LOrd comes only if

at every minute of our life, we offer everything we

get and do to the great Lord, agree? The legend that

Lord Venkateshwara borrowed monay from Kubera and

could not repay and asked peope for donations of human

hair is one of the fairy tales! Essentially,we need to

go beyond the rituals and use rituals as simply the

tools to provide an atmosphere for spiritual

practices. Rituals are a means to an end and should

not be trated as ends in themselves. If we go

Tirupathy and stand in line for half a day and take a

look at the Lord's idol for 10 seconds, buy a couple

of laddus and eat them, walk down the hill without

using the bus, offer our hair, and feel that we earned

a lot of Punya, we may not necessarily go ahead

spiritually too far. Such practices will only have a

temporary positive effect on our minds. So in order to

continue our spiritual efforts, we need to pursue

other things strongly- meditation, prayer, study of

scripures, community service, etc. as long as we are

alive. Pilgrimage is just one small activity that can

help to purify our mind temporarily. Just as we need

to bathe every day to clean ourselves, we need to

pursue spiritual practices on a daily basis.

--- Vivekananda Centre <vivekananda

wrote:

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Om Namah Sivaya

 

Dear Jacob,

 

You can find more information about the temple in the

web page :

http://www.templenet.com/Andhra/tirupati.html

 

I went to temple in February this year during my

pilgrimage in india.It is not easy to worship the

deity, you need to stay in a queue for at least six

hours on average.