Darshan of Lord Balaji in the Thirumala Mountains

The temple of Lord Balaji situated in the Thirumala Mountains of Andhra Pradesh is believed to be the richest temples in India and it gets offerings of gold and silver apart from cash on a regular basis from devotees. India is a country with temples in far flung locations and many of these are on mountains and, visiting them becomes a ritual of sorts.
Fortunately, I was lucky to have visited the abode of Lord Balaji for 12-years in a row – in the same period for all the years. My visit would be in the first week of June and by the grace of the Lord, I never missed the routine. I did not fall sick, I did not face disruption in traffic and I was able to fulfill my desire.
The abode of Lord Balaji atop the Thirumala Mountains is a place of sheer beauty to behold and a magnificent spot to visit. To reach the temple on top, one has to depend on the buses of the TTD (Thirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam). It is a free ride and the buses are driven by expert drivers who know the road like the back of their hands.
The route has steep mountains on the right with deep gorges on the left and there are enclosures for wildlife like deer. It takes around 45 minutes to reach the top and, on the way, one can see private vehicles that are stranded. Also, pilgrims can be seen trudging their way up a path built specially for those who prefer to foot it to the top rather than rely on mechanized transport.
The downward journey is even more exciting as the bus has to negotiate more than 75 hair pin bends and the passengers have to hold on to the seat to maintain balance.
My first visit to Lord Balaji was when I had gone to attend a training program in our Organization’s Staff College in Bangalore.
The training course was a three week affair. I had heard a lot about the temple and decided to utilize one of the Sundays to visit Tirupathi – one of my colleagues agreed to accompany me and the two of us availed one of those conducted package tours from Bangalore. These tours are extremely popular in South India.
The package was of 24 hours duration and the charge was Rs 35.00 in a Luxury Video coach – the cost was inclusive of travel, rest for an hour or so in a hotel in Tirupathi for freshening up plus breakfast, darshan of the Lord and lunch. The visit was a refreshing change from the dull routine and, impressed by it, I decided to go it alone next year. And – with the second visit came a revelation. On this visit, I met a retired gentleman who stayed in the USA with his son and made an annual trip to India to visit the Lord.
That was a revelation - if a person can come all the way from USA to India to perform this annual pilgrimage, I can also follow in his footsteps.
I had noticed that devotees, both men and women, carried out tonsuring before having a darshan of the Lord and, with the logic of when in Rome do as Romans do, I also went in for tonsuring.
The ritual of tonsuring is simple - the hair is supposed to add to one’s beauty and by sacrificing it at the feet of the Lord, one sacrifices his ego and faces the Lord in all humility because He is supreme. The journey through a maze of barricades is a long winding one and His darshan is an experience by itself, a fulfillment of ones long cherished desire!