AN ENCHANTING TALE OF OUR TOUR OF SOUTH INDIA-PART 7 of 20

OUR SOUTH INDIA TOUR IN 1975 (Episode 7 of 20)

Continuing with the saga of our sojourn in South India

Mountains of Money, Hair, and Tamarind Rice

The Money Bin:

 

At the sanctum of Tirupati Temple, we got only about a few seconds to stand before the Lord and pray. The priests kept urging us to move on. 'Jarugandi, Jarugandi' they kept repeating and urging us forward. Not even five seconds of darshan, after five hours of waiting, I thought in irritation. But still, the word jarugandi made me laugh. The other devotees stared at me in incredulity. My father had to shush me quite harshly.

 

After the darshan, the queue moved toward a room where the donation box was kept. It was not a box but a huge, thick canvas bag about 8 feet high, tied to the ceiling. There were 4-5 openings at the height of about 5-6 feet through which you could drop your donations into the bag. I was astonished when the person standing in front of me in the queue took out wads of Rs.100.00 notes and dropped them into the bag. It must be amounting to many thousands, if not a lakh of rupees, I thought. My sister said that she saw a lady dropping a couple of gold chains into the donation bag.

 

When we came outside the sanctum, we observed a cage-like enclosure that was heavily guarded with armed sentries. Inside it, we saw huge piles of money in currency notes and coins, gold and silver ornaments, etc., spilled on the floor. There were lots of people who were in the process of sorting the cash from the jewelry. A few other people were using huge sieves to sort the coins, denomination-wise. Some were counting the currency notes, and some were weighing the ornaments. It was just like the movies. No wonder Tirupati Temple is known as the richest temple in India.

 

The Mountain of Hair:

 

We also saw people offering their hair at the temple, which I learned is a part of a ritual. There was a mountain of hair lying on the premises where the tonsuring was going on. I learned that the amount of daily collection of hair is over a ton, which is sold by the temple authorities.

 

But the surprises that Lord Balaji had in store for us were not over yet.

 

The Mountain of Puliyodharai (Tamarind Rice):

 

My head was reeling after getting to see such riches galore. But your stomach has its own rules. Its need can’t be satiated by having a glimpse or even possessing riches. It needs solid food in the form of carbohydrates. And remember, we did not have anything but water since 8 a.m.

 

So, when we came across a signboard saying queue up here for free prasadam, our joy knew no bounds. Here also, about a couple of hundred people were waiting in a queue. But by now, I had learned to let things be and remain calm.

 

As I neared the counter, I was knocked out by the sight in front of me. Behind the prasadam counter was a huge mountain of puliyodtharai (Tamarind Rice), the prasadam offered to Lord Balaji. It must be more than 4 feet high; I thought in amazement.

 

The persons behind the counters were using a garden spade to scoop out the rice and serve it to devotees. Many of the devotees had brought utensils. But we were not prepared for this and so had to accept the prasadam in our hands. It was hot and smelled wonderful. We sat down on the steps of the temple and relished the prasadam, which, by the way, was amazing. Maybe hunger had a big role to play, but we were aware that Tirupati’s prasadams are of good quality.

 

Thus was our day of surprises at Lord Balaji’s Temple at Tirumala, Tirupathi.

 

In the next episode, I will share how we were amazed to witness a 25-tonne stone bull taking an oil bath and other stories.