Tirupati

Situated in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, 704 kms. from Hyderabad, 250 kms. from Bangalore and 150 kms. from Madras is the holy city of Tirupathi.

It is famed for the shrine on the Seven Hills on the top of Tirumala, a cluster of seven hills known as Seshchala.

This shrine is an important pilgrim centre for tourists in India because of the temple of Lord Venkatesa. This is the God whose picture graces the reception areas of most lodges and restaurants in southern India.

He is the one with his eyes covered since his glaze is would scorch the world and garlanded in so many flowers that only his feet are visible.

Among the powers attributed to the Lord by his devotees is the granting of any wish made in front of the idol at Tirumala. On the basis of such a legend pilgrims flock here from all over India.

They are never less than 5000 in number at any single point of time and in a day the total is often as high as 100000 although the average is a mere 30000. The temple staff alone is nearly 6000. Such popularity makes the temple one of the richest in India with the annual income running in several billion rupees.

A lot of this money is ploughed back to help the poor and into providing shelter for pilgrims on their way to Tirumala. It is considered auspicious to have your head shaved when visiting the temple.

The temple is one of the few in India that will allow non-Hindus into the sanctum sanctorum. As you face the entrance of the temple there is a small museum at the top of the steps to the left. Among other things it has a good collection of musical instruments including a tabla-type drum called 'Ubangam'.

It is an engrossing place where you can spend the whole day just wandering about and despite the large number of pilgrims the place sees very few visitors.