[Rajesh Rawal]

pandeyji firstly seeking blessings of the lord almighty via your travelogue.(seeked blessings on akroy's travelogue as well)

you walked all the way up itself makes me give you 'mahavir chakra' next time we meet.

but i guess you get those special will/powers after reading all those notice boards insisting one should walk and all.

somehow i always had this opinion that visiting temples/places of pilgrimage should not have 'terms and conditions'.

when i saw the picture where in you have captured people putting the diya (lamp) and kumkum on every step ,i was like asking myself i believe in god but somehow with not the dedication as those people ,does that make me less dhaarmik?

my mum is asking me not to eat non veg for the next 9 days due to navratri ,(how does not eating non veg be a report card of my dedication and faith towards god)hehehe

but as they say in india religion and politics(enjoying every moment of the varun gandhi thing on tele) least said the better

tirupati is some place which i always wanted to go ,so the travelogues of you and ak roy are a good due diligence for me before i actually go there.

good you posted the link of your trip in the meet section ,as off late tbhp for me has been just our hyderabad meets.lol

infact someone was asking about some leads to places to avoid hair loss and all in our meet section.(hope he got some gyaan on that as well)

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by pulsar56

That thread is always open in a dedicated tab! It's been almost a month and I have never closed it! LOL.

Thanks dude. Yeah, i know the reason why

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

nice photoblog. mobike, have you enjoyed goti soda/ nimbu paani along the way while climbing?

Oh you bet, i was drinking them like they were going out of fashion...LOL. Otherwise, there is no way you can survive that climb.

@Rajesh bhai, Just like your mom, mine is also very very religious and you wont bieleve it she practically celebrates every festival with equal fervor and i also get the same request of dropping all my good habits for a certain time period. I find it difficult to manage for all the ones she cares for but, do it for sure for Navratri's ( next one in October) each year. I think that's the least you can do for your mom

Some more random pictures of Tirumala

[PVS]

Originally Posted by mobike008

This walk will take you across 7 duanting hills to reach Tirumala

Those seven Hills (not mentioned in the order) are -

Garudadri
Vrishabhadri
Narayanadri
Anjanadri
Seshadri
Venkatadri and
Neeladri .

Please correct If I am wrong here..

Originally Posted by mobike008

and there are approximately 5000 steps or more and a total uphill distance of ~ 11kms.(someone correct me if i am wrong, just couldn't remember these details even after being a regular visitor. Too bad on my part).

Me Thinks it is 8 Kms? I have been a regular visitor up the steps for about 7 times now.. of course, it has been quite some time, since I went up those steps.

Originally Posted by mobike008

The first and last being frightfully tough to traverse where the steps are so steep, you need to sometimes balance with your hands to cross a few of them.

In Telugu, they are called' Chukkala Parvatamu' and 'Mokalla Parvatamu' respectively.
'Chukkala Parvatamu' means that by the time you are finished climbing those steps, you are so exhausted - you end up seeing stars???

Chukkalu (Pronounced CHUK-KA-LU) = Stars
Parvatamu = Mountain

Mokalla Parvatamu - By the time you climb the 2nd stretch, your knees start to pain -

'Mokallu' - Pronounced as 'MOH - CALL - LOO') - Knee in Telugu.

Originally Posted by mobike008

What can i say, i have been visiting Tirupathi about once a year and it has become kind of a ritual in our family and each time we go it brings us some peace. But, each year i visit, i realize with some disdain that due to huge opportunities for people living on the hills for commercialization, it isn't the same beautiful place that i visited the previous year, such are changes which neccesarily isn't for the better.

A majority of the properties in Tirumala are owned by TTD, and I doubt if property in Tirumala is available for private purchase. TTD has to go in for new constructions just to keep pace with the increasing influx of pilgrims every year. True, summers in Tirumala hills have become less pleasant owing to increased constructions on the hills.

[mobike008]

@PVS, thanks for the insight. The first and last indeed are tough nuts to crack but then the satisfaction you get when you cross them cannot be described. It's almost as good as scaling Mt.Everest.

So have you returned to STC?

We hired a jeep when we returned to Tirupathi, here are the final set of pictures of this photoblog.

[vdiatech]

I am sorry that you wore footwear. I have trekked many a times and all barefoot. Wearing footwear and climbing the hills amounts to sacrilege.
Lord venkateshwara himself tells anamaya about this ( I had heard from my granny and later saw in the telugu movie too)

I am sorry, that you failed to even adhere the notice by which you took pics ! It clearly says ' No Footwear'.

Next time, please dont wear footwear. Actually TTD has banned but is not strictly implementing.

May be, next time, you could ask for the lord's forgiveness. Ignorance is not accepted !

I stumbled upon this just now , I am off on my next tirupati-tirumala trek tomorrow.

Cheers

[Fordmanchau]

Pandey ji, I just stumbled upon this thread. Nice photos there. I have been to Tirupati just once in 2004. Didn't cary camera then.It must have changed a lot.Need to go again.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Pandey ji, I just stumbled upon this thread. Nice photos there. I have been to Tirupati just once in 2004. Didn't cary camera then.It must have changed a lot.Need to go again.

Manish, glad you liked the pictures. This was related to my trip in Nov'08.

Btw, I have been to Tirupathi just last weekend ( Fri to Sunday) so have almost the same type of pictures again

[B.R.S.Rao]

Whenever I have free time, I visit your travelogue.Those lovely pictures takes me directly to Tirupati..
Regards.

[Indizen08]

Nice set of pictures from Tirumala hills.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by B.R.S.Rao

Whenever I have free time, I visit your travelogue.Those lovely pictures takes me directly to Tirupati..
Regards.

Thanks, each time we visit tirupathi ( around once a year) we decide we wont go back atleast till 2-3 years considering the rush and suffocation that you go through in the queue for the darshan but there is something about Tirupathi that pulls you back again soon

[mobike008]

Well, after my Nov'08 visit to Tirupathi. I went there again a couple of weeks ago. Sharing some random pictures from this trip

[ramzsys]

Some clicks from the recent tirupathi visit during the bramhotsav.

Route coimbatore-salem(byepass)-NH7 until vellore-chittor-tpty.
returning chittor-palamner-kuppam-bargur-NH7-Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-NH47.

Bolero DI was in turbo zone all the time, effeciency around 12 with 5 passengers.

Suggestions:

NH47-NH7-vellore-tirupathi is the best route for now. Total toll is Rs.150. Took about 9 hours. Chittor-palamner-kuppam route was equally good through green countryside, and avoids a few tolls.

Snaps
1)We are like that only.
2)A long truck with a swaying rear!!
3)DI engine impotent@110.
4)Even 4 lanes wont be enough-they drove like this for 3-4 minutes.
5)Amazing Indian load hauler-15 people with luggage, 70kmph, 14kmpl. There are two versions-cruiser and toofan. But i couldn't find a difference.
6)Temple.

[mobike008]

Nice Pictures.

Btw, is that you driving or is that a driver? Asking because the way steering wheel is being held and also shoes are removed

[ramzsys]

Yeah, it is the driver. He drives trucks and 407s so he is pretty comfortable without footwear. With speedo maxing at 110, this is really a boring UV on the highways.