This morning I woke up with a strong thunder sound around 5:45 types. I got up and opened the window; I had to hold it very tight as the wind was too heavy and I fixed the door with the balance knob and switched on the TV. I heard the subrabatham in Jaya tv. I have heard it many times before but today it felt like I was standing in heaven. Thanks to the amazing climate and thunder which woke me. This reminded of my walk to Thirupati last year during Diwali. Trust me, this is the best time to get a nice darshan as the crowd will be very less. I usually travel to Thirupati in car, get a super darshan and return with full satisfaction. That’s how it has been for many years.
However, last year was an exception perhaps, an unexpected exception. We as usual took a car and reached kizh thirupati. My brother came up with the idea of climbing 7 hills. I looked at him with a red face. ‘Do you even think it is possible? – we never took this kind of risk and no way we are climbing’. I somehow thought that those who climb the hills are equal to God and it’s completely insane to even think of walking 3550 steps. I made up my mind of not climbing whatsoever.
Thanks to the driver, he gave so much insight about climbing and it’s not all that difficult is what he told me. Everyone can walk and so can you. He gave the courage. His courage gave motivation to my parents and the next thing I see is my mom calling me to climb. With a gulp reaction, we smashed a coconut and started the walk. Honestly I was preparing for the worst and got few details for rescue in the middle.
I had zero courage inside yet managed to show a courageous face.
We reached this Raja gopuram in about 10 mins from the start point. It was pretty hot. I was tired by the heat and gasped for breath as the steps were little tall and small.
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| Raja Gopuram - The first empty tower from the start. |
Okay I want to make this clear, there are 3550 steps. It does not mean you will climb just these steps; there are many corridors and roads in between the steps. So basically it’s much beyond 3550 steps. It took some time for me to realize this and surprisingly my parents were enthusiastic about climbing. This however gave me confidence.
To lighten the mood my brother kept cracking jokes and made me feel comfortable. We had our own pit stops accordingly to our strength and capacity.
After two hours of walk we reached a place where bio-metric tokens will be taken – and we reached this banner.
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| Banner detailing the outline of the path to be covered. |
I was a first timer in walking and from a distance when I saw this I thought wow we finished climbing. I scolded myself for fussing so much. I gave a closer look at this banner and realized I have not even climbed 20% and it’s just the beginning of the walk :( I saw the blue line with a huge sigh of scariness.
I wiped my fear and headed towards the steps and corridors. I must appreciate the devotees who climb the 7 hills very frequently. There were many people few were much older than my parents, climbed faster and brisker. I was nothing compared to such devotees. It showed the fire inside such bhaktas. Applaud their courage. It was a wakeup call for me until I saw a man climbing the steps with his knees. Seemed like God telling me that, ‘you think you are walking your best – see others’ I had no words seeing him. He was sweating terribly, all he chanted was Govinda Govinda. He had nothing to offer for God except his bhakti. I am sure nothing matches to such kind of bhakthis. I salute such people. This gave me the fullest motivation and started to climb with lots of hope and poise.
Without my knowledge I reached 2850 steps and felt happy about myself. So did my parents. We came across many weird animals and birds. Thanks to monkeys, they really frightened me so much (though they were less than sholinger). I always get tensed worrying whether these creatures will grab my dupatta, jump on my shoulder, pull my water bottle, scratch my skin and lots of other eerie tensions. If only they could understand when I talk and never come near me... Sigh!! I hear a lot of people say don’t get scared its ‘Lord Ánjaneyar’ – it will not harm you. Every time I hear this, I wanted to ask ''oh really then why don’t you all buy a monkey as pet at home instead of dogs and cats''. Argghhh... Tackling all these animals we preceded further.
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| 2850th step. |
I must mention the climate. When I started it was super hot and as I went towards higher altitude the place started to get chilled up. The sceneries were breath taking.
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| One of the beautiful scenery. |
I was stunned to find that there was no trash all way through the corridor. It was too crisp and looked so neat. I appreciate all the workers who are behind this amazing job.
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| The neat corridors all way. |
Though all the people who were climbing with us were tired, the walk gave some kind of peace. A positive vibe, an optimistic outlook, clearer mind set, a focused attitude-all at once is very hard to obtain. I don't know whether it is because of the smell of the fresh air or the slokas which kept running throughout the path or the dense natural beauty. But I knew one thing for sure - It is definitely heaven on earth without any doubt. A walk made it possible to rejuvenate.
We started walking at morning 9:45am and reached at 3:20pm at this final step of 3550. Yayyyyy :)))))) I was so elated and took this pic of me stamping my mark at the final step :) A sigh of satisfaction covered me.
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| Finally done :) |
Then we proceeded towards the queue and I am thankful to God for giving us darshan in less than 2 hours.
The real realization for me was when I came down from Mel Thirupathi after all darshan and prasadam. The driver showed us the walk way while we were relaxing in car. I was starring at the path we walked. Unbelievable no way I crossed so many steps. The driver kept driving from mel thirupathi to Kizh thirupati for almost 20 – 30 minutes.
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| Blurry pic of the path crossed. |
I could not click properly, but the length was amazing for me to digest the fact that we climbed. I saw the path and told, really? Did I climb? I could not do it again. My super dad said, no you did not walk, you did not climb, you had the urge to do it and Lord Srinivasa pulled you up and that’s how you did it. Very true. Really blessed to have got that strength to climb.
Thanks to my great brother, hadn't he initiated we wouldn't have been a part of this amazing journey.
Now, I want to try the climbing more often than going in car and getting a comfortable darshan. With all the pain and sweat and tiredness, the feel of getting a pleasant darshan is no way compared to VIP darshans. However, according to me those who climb are the REAL VIPs. I am happy to have been in the REAL VIP clad.
Definitely a walk to remember!
