A Holy Pilgrimage to Tirupati Balaji Temple in the State of Tamilnadu in India

There are many holy temples and the places of pilgrimage located in South India. One such famous place of pilgrimage that attracts many pilgrims on continuous basis is Tirupati Balaji. This is one of the most vital Lord Venkatesh temple in which most of the Indians have strong faith. The temple remains full of pilgrims all the time in a year. It can take as long as 8 hours wait in case of heavy rush during the peek season.

You can easily reach Tirupati Balaji via Vizag, Voltair, and Vijaywada by train. This route is slightly cumbersome. It is more convenient to reach this place by taxi or hired cars, or buses from Chennai. It takes around 4 hours to reach this place by road from Chennai. Tirupati Balaji temple is situated in Chittur district in the State of Tamilnadu. The small town of Tirupati is located at the base of Mountains. The famous temple of Balaji is on the top of the Mountain. There are seven peeks to this Mountain.

It is said that Lord Vishnu himself had stayed over here for many years to bring peace and happiness amongst the human beings. That is why this place has become one of the vital places of pilgrimage. This temple was built by Saint Ramanuja and the statue of Lord Govind Raj, which was at Chindambaram, was brought here and installed. The statue of Lord Balaji is made up of black stone and is 2 meters tall. It has 4 hands and its face is towards the East direction. This temple is around 400 feet long and 250 feet wide.

As soon as you enter the temple, there is one golden pillar. There is a Lake here near this temple, which is called Swami Pushkarni Lake. There are stone steps in all the four sides of this Lake. The pilgrims coming here take holy bath in this lake prior to going in the temple for darshnas. There can be long wait for the darshnas due to heavy rush of pilgrims at times. In that case, special darshnas can be arranged by paying some additional charges.

These additional charges can be around Rs.400 ($10) per person. It is absolutely necessary to wear the one piece white cloth only for all the male pilgrims. The female pilgrims also need to wear white sari with one white cloth on top of it. There are stone steps up to the main gate of the temple. Many pilgrims donate their complete hair to Lord Balaji and become fully bald. It is said that your wish gets fulfilled if you donate your hair here at this temple.

There is also couple of primary schools as well as the full fledged university here for study. This university is named Venkateshwar University. There is a very large museum here near the temple. This museum is having lot of specimen of ancient time. The museum remains open on all seven days of week from 9 am to 6 pm. There is no entrance fee for visiting this museum. This Balaji temple is one of the richest temples of India. Recently, one unknown person donated solid gold seat for Lord Venkatesh weighing 165 pounds with diamonds studded all over it.

The temple has got a very huge collection of gold ornaments, which are donated by the rich pilgrims. There are many very good hotels available for the pilgrims to stay at Tirupati Balaji. The Hotels like Tirupati Tirumala Devsthanam Kutir, Hotel Bheema, and Municipal Guest house, Tirupati. The Tamilnadu Government inspection bungalow is also available for staying. The rates for these hotels are around Rs.3000 ($75) per day for a nice double room. The South Indian food is served here in most of the meals. This food can be spicier sometimes. However, special continental type of food can be obtained on specific request at the hotels. Many VVIPS like Prime minister, President, top Bollywood actors, judges, and the State level ministers keep on visiting this temple on a regular basis. If you happen to visit the temple on any such day, you can have longer wait for the darshanas.

Your tour to South India may not be considered complete unless you pay a visit to this holy temple during your trip to India. Many guided tours by train and air are available from Mumbai, Chennai, and other large cities of India for the visit to this holy temple. Please try to include this temple in to your itinerary of India when you visit India next time and I am sure you will not regret it.