We got in to the temple…Tirupati
Well last time we came to Tirupati we couldnt get into the temple as there was a rule about buying tickets and it would take 2 weeks to get tickets to get in. But a couple of weeks ago they changed the rules and in keeping with the free market they have opened up a new system that allows you to spend 300 rupees ($6) and you get in a 2 hr line to get in.
The temple never closes so it doesnt matter when you arrive. But we arrived about 5pm, saw the line was at the 2hr level, then we were approached by a shady guy draped in orange… he offered for 500 rupees he would get us to the front of the line! How he did this was that he went to some police who were guarding the line for the in advance 50 rupee tickets, this line had no wait, so we went to this line, and this guy had paid a small bribe to the cops to let us in… all done in front of huge signs saying to avoid touts and conmen. But this line got us to the front , when at the front we slipped across to the front of the 300 rupee line, and no one in that line knew we bypassed the wait as they couldnt see us walk past them all, the tout was waiting on the outside of cage we were in and collected his money and slipped into the night.
So in we go, weird is all I can say. To start off with they herd groups of around 100 people into cages, yes iron walled cages with seats in them. You move through the cages as you get closer to the temple, in the last cage is chaos, people push and shove to get thru the gate when its opened into the hallway. Now the hallway into the temple is interesting, it is a caged area too, you are locked in, if there was a fire you would die thats for sure, but luckily its mainly concrete and steel. Problem is you have to go up some stairs at one point, and here you go from 4 people abreast in the hallways to a single person doorway… at this point its another squash, I feel sorry for the old people and kids in the line.
But after a 1 hr procession in the cages and hallways we make it in, its impressive, its rich and you can see the areas where they count the gold and money, the move the money thats offered in wheelbarrows there is so much and there are mounds of gold jewelry waiting to be sorted. There is one place where you make your offering, it looks like a big tied up bed sheet with a box in the bottom, but I think it leads into a pit, but people are throwing literally buckets of money in there and jewelry of all sorts. There are gods all around the inside of the temple and there are people guarding them, I watched 2 women guarding a god made of gold and this woman was wanting to touch it and touch her money against it, this woman was told not to touch it but she still made a lunge for the god, and it was freaky she was bitch slapped in the face by one of the guard, and it was a hard slap.But the woman who was hit wasnt upset at all and moved on.
In the center of the temple is the diety, this is what everyone is there to see and pray too, but with thousands of people every hour wanting to see it, its a mad experience. There is a area about 4 people wide at the point in front of it where you can see it and the diety is about 100ft in the distance, so lining this 4 people wide area in front of the diety are people dressed like boy scouts, men and women, and their job is to make sure you move along , to do this they hit you! Yes they slap and hit you all over forcing you to move, and one guy had a little stick and he was hitting people to make them move. So for a 1 hr wait you get to see the god for about 5 seconds from a distance, and you get roughed up in the process!
When you leave the temple you get some blessed food. This is made by people stirring huge vats of something in rice. They serve this in a little cup, and it consists of nasty tasting mushy rice…pretty gross, it almost made me gag, but the locals were gulping it down like it was the best thing they had ever eaten. Once you leave the temple, then you get your sacred sweety, a laduu . To get this you go to a huge hall, first counter you show your ticket and donate 20 rupees, then you get given a plastic bag each and go to another window where a man scoops what looks like a pair of bulls balls into your bag. The taste is of flour, butter and lots of sugar..pretty freaky tasting actually, in a way it has no taste. But I am taking mine back to the airport assistant as he will be excited to get a laduu from here.
But that was the temple..an experience that’s for sure. Just a pity you cant take any pics inside it, you cant enter with your shoes on, no cameras, no phones or cigarettes.
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