For Sri
Vaishnavaites, the word Kovil, Thirumalai, Perumal Kovil would refer to “Sri
Rangam, Thirumala Tirupathi and Kanchipuram” respectively. The sacred and most
reverred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak –
Venkatachala hill of Tirumala. The Lord
stands tall as bestower of all boons and lakhs of people reach here to have a
glimpse – a few seconds darshan of the Lord.
This beautiful temple in its present form owes a lot to the works of the
greatest Vaishnava Acharya – Sri Ramanujar.
The very thought of Tirumala and chanting the name of Lord of Seven
Hills would cleanse our souls.
“Adi vo Alladi Vo Sri Hari Vasamu…. Padi Velu Seshula
Padagala Mayamu” … sang the famous Annamayya …. Look and behold, this is abode
of Hari- the place where He resides, formed by the hood of Adisesha; places
where sages dwell uttering His name all the time; the place replete with riches
and prosperity, the Holiest of all places …. The sacred Thirumala, the abode of
Lord Venkataramana, Balaji, Govinda.
Alipiri is the starting place at foothill of seven
hills in Tirupathi, from where pilgrims starts ascending the Holy Thirumala. Alipiri
literally would mean resting place. In olden days pilgrims used to climb all
the seven hills only through the stepped way on foot, as there was no other
option. Hence the pilgrims came from long distances used to take rest for some
time there, cooked their food, eat there. After taking rest they started to
climb the steps. What was thick vegetation and foothill of a forest has in the
recent decade been converted– to a spacious hub where vehicles and persons
undergo ‘security check-up’.
There are now 3550 steps and for a healthy person would
take around 4 hours to climb the hill.
The footsteps in most places are well covered and there are shops which
make available things to the pilgrims.
The Tirumala Temple Devasthanam has made good arrangements which include
taking care of the luggage of the devotees who ascend the hill on foot. The baggage deposited at Alipiri is carried
free of cost and the ones deposited at the foot of the hill can be collected at
the top. Also there are arrangement for
issuance of tokens facilitating special darshan for them. On the way stands a deer park which attracts
people. At any point of time, you can see thousands of people climbing the hill
by foot – the pilgrims include children, youth, old people and those with some
disabilities – all in the faith and wanting to have darshan of the Lord
Srinivasa climb happily singing paeans in praise of the Lord and speaking of
the greatness of the Lord.
The transformation at
this place in someways owes to that ghastly incident in Oct 2003, when the
then CM of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu
Naidu, survived an attempt on his life when suspected People's War naxalites exploded
improvised claymore mines targeting his motorcade on the Tirumala ghat road at
4.15 p.m. Mr. Naidu suffered fractures on his right hand and collar bone and
minor injuries on the chest and nose. The impact of the blast was so severe that
the bullet-proof car was hurled in the air. The explosion left a huge crater on
the road. The car was virtually reduced to metal scrap, but its interior was
intact. A catastrophe was averted because the car could absorb the impact of
the powerful blast.
……. Years later a
Tirupati court on Thursday sentenced three persons -- G. Rammohan Reddy, S.
Narasimha Reddy and P. Chandra alias Kesava -- accused in the Alipiri blast
case to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years and to pay fine of Rs.
5,000 each. The final verdict delivered by Additional Senior Civil Judge O.
Venkata Nageswara Rao pertained to the second charge-sheet filed in the case.
While the trio was being taken away from the court complex amid tight security,
the fourth one, Rammohan Reddy, who worked as a sub-editor in a newspaper,
claimed innocence and said even the investigating officials could not establish
his link.
Of the 33 accused in
the case registered in Alipiri police station in 2003, 11 died during trial and
15 were still at large. Besides Mr.
Naidu, others who were travelling in his bullet proof car, Minister Bojjala
Gopalakrishna Reddy, MLAs Reddivari Rajasekhara Reddy and Chadalawada
Krishnamurthy were injured.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26th Sept.
2014.
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