A lovely and insightful account of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Setup from The Hindu
I was 'persuaded' to buy a copy of "Srivari Brahmotsavam- A celestial spectacle on earth" from The Hindu by my Hindu newspaper vendor/supplier for Rs. 150/- a few days (perhaps weeks) ago. I thank the vendor for making me buy it :).
I have yet to read it in full but have found it to have fascinating insights of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam setup with wonderful photographs as well. I thought I should let readers know that it can be bought from the net here: http://hindu.com/books/srivari/srivari13.htm. Some points about the issue.
The financial picture
I think TTD has heavily benefited materially by South India's economic boom. Some figures of revenue:
2012-13 Rs. 2125 crores
2003-04 Rs. 496 crores
1993-94 Rs. 121 crores
1983-84 Rs. 33 crores
1972-73 Rs. 9 crores
1962-63 Rs. 0.98 crore
1954-55 Rs. 0.20 crore
Now for us to get a proper value of the above figures they should be adjusted for inflation which I am quite sure may change the old decade figures significantly. But even the inflation adjusted figures would show a significant growth in revenue over decades, I think.
The issue has articles on the laddu, geology of Tirupati, Nithya Annadanam (serves meals to 60,000 pilgrims daily for free! - Awesome), tonsuring the head, Security, Biosphere reserve, Volunteer service groups, Social Service activities of TTD, Cow donations (and cow care), interviews with a spiritual head and administrators, fascinating images from the past etc.
For those who are devoted in some way to Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati, I think this book/supplement is a must-have.
My Tirumala Experience & Thoughts
I also thought I should add some key things that I remember from my only trip to Tirumala-Tirupathi in the late eighties (IIRC).
At that time I was an agnostic who was into whatever I had understood then of Vedanta philosophy & contemplation but did not really believe in a supernatural power which could/would intervene in human/worldly affairs and so I was not into devotion (Bhakti). I had come under the impression that Tirupathi Balaji was a money God and I tended to prefer lower-profile temples and spiritual centres as more suitable for my path to God. I went to Tirupathi on this trip along with friends & a relative as a kind-of curious visitor.
The first key memory I have of Tirumala is hearing Venkatesa-Suprabhatam, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprabhatam, (sung by M.S. Subbulakshmi if I recognized it and remember it correctly) as we were going towards the temple proper. It seemed to be so holy and seemed to settle the mind into a higher/purer state. Of course, I had heard it earlier in other environments like a residential flat. But hearing it on the Tirumala hill during early morning right in front of the temple was different - it was an uplifting experience.
The other very striking memory is of a wealthy family in the queue just before the sanctum sanctorum with a fiftyish perhaps male who was quite heavily built and had a few large gold rings on his fingers. The lady of the family had lots of gold jewelry and there were some children too along with them. As the queue advanced and turned to the sanctum sanctorum (or a point very close to it), the fiftyish heavily built man broke into a run, shouting Govinda Govinda! His face reflected anticipation and desire of a 'mad' but pure 'mad' kind.
I had not seen anything like that before in my life in temples that I had visited mostly in and around Bombay. Yes, of course, one could see devotion writ large on the face of many people in temples, and also at homes of devout people (my mother was quite devout). But this was different. The running was like how a cricket-fan may run to see a cricket star or a film fan may run to see a film star (though that hero-worship is different from God-worship).
And this man was fiftyish and obviously well off! But he seemed to have forgotten his status and everything and just wanted to rush to have his beloved God's darshan!
That made a lot of impact on me. I now had seen 'crazy' but pure-type of Bhakti from rather close quarters. I felt that that person had experienced something which I not only had not experienced but could also not really understand/appreciate/imagine.
Around a quarter century later, now I certainly can understand that Bhakti and sometimes, I myself, get into that very happy, blessed, 'mad' kind of love (devotion/Bhakti) for God, usually in the God-man forms of Sathya Sai Baba, Shirdi Sai Baba, Krishna, Rama, Jesus etc. In those moments it is just that love, admiration and/or worship of/for God that matters - all else simply disappears from the consciousness or becomes very unimportant. Such moments are the cherished moments of my life - the rest of my life just pales into insignificance when compared to these blessed moments. I think these uplifting moments are the common experiences of devotees of God from various religions, regions of the world as well as periods of time. And that perhaps is, and has been over millenniums, the vital magnetic pull of various religions, religious centres, saints and god-persons across the world.
I think I also understand, to some extent, the money part of Tirumala. God is all powerful and has the power to satisfy various kinds of desires of His devotees. Those who pray devotedly for wealth, like many, many businessmen devotees of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupathi, are showered with wealth by the Lord. And then they come to His image at Tirumala to offer gratitude for showering that wealth, and perhaps offer a part of that wealth to Him.
To put it in a different language and context, the mind matters. If the mind intensely focuses on desiring wealth through prayer (and, usually, backed with some business or other activity) I think the way existence works is that such intense prayer has the capability to make the desire come true.
But then wealth is transitory. Some amount is needed for survival but desiring too much of it can bring a lot of worries too. So the wise people teach us to pray instead for things that are more lasting like love, joy and peace which would usually include necessary amount of wealth for decent if not luxurious living.
I have yet to read it in full but have found it to have fascinating insights of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam setup with wonderful photographs as well. I thought I should let readers know that it can be bought from the net here: http://hindu.com/books/srivari/srivari13.htm. Some points about the issue.
- It starts with lovely photographs of the annual Brahmotsavam (mainly deity photographs).
- Average number of pilgrims having darshan every day - 63,000! On 25 to 30 days in a year the number of people having darshan crosses 1 lakh.
The financial picture
I think TTD has heavily benefited materially by South India's economic boom. Some figures of revenue:
2012-13 Rs. 2125 crores
2003-04 Rs. 496 crores
1993-94 Rs. 121 crores
1983-84 Rs. 33 crores
1972-73 Rs. 9 crores
1962-63 Rs. 0.98 crore
1954-55 Rs. 0.20 crore
Now for us to get a proper value of the above figures they should be adjusted for inflation which I am quite sure may change the old decade figures significantly. But even the inflation adjusted figures would show a significant growth in revenue over decades, I think.
- TTD has a workforce of around 20,000, half of whom are permanent employees.
- If TTD were a listed company, it will rank around 300 in the list of over 5,000 companies in Bombay Stock Exchange. It will overshadow the likes of Indian Hotels company, which owns the Taj Group of hotels, Tata Global Beverages (formerly Tata Tea), Sundaram Finance and multinationals such as Novartis and Pfizer.
The issue has articles on the laddu, geology of Tirupati, Nithya Annadanam (serves meals to 60,000 pilgrims daily for free! - Awesome), tonsuring the head, Security, Biosphere reserve, Volunteer service groups, Social Service activities of TTD, Cow donations (and cow care), interviews with a spiritual head and administrators, fascinating images from the past etc.
For those who are devoted in some way to Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati, I think this book/supplement is a must-have.
My Tirumala Experience & Thoughts
I also thought I should add some key things that I remember from my only trip to Tirumala-Tirupathi in the late eighties (IIRC).
At that time I was an agnostic who was into whatever I had understood then of Vedanta philosophy & contemplation but did not really believe in a supernatural power which could/would intervene in human/worldly affairs and so I was not into devotion (Bhakti). I had come under the impression that Tirupathi Balaji was a money God and I tended to prefer lower-profile temples and spiritual centres as more suitable for my path to God. I went to Tirupathi on this trip along with friends & a relative as a kind-of curious visitor.
The first key memory I have of Tirumala is hearing Venkatesa-Suprabhatam, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprabhatam, (sung by M.S. Subbulakshmi if I recognized it and remember it correctly) as we were going towards the temple proper. It seemed to be so holy and seemed to settle the mind into a higher/purer state. Of course, I had heard it earlier in other environments like a residential flat. But hearing it on the Tirumala hill during early morning right in front of the temple was different - it was an uplifting experience.
The other very striking memory is of a wealthy family in the queue just before the sanctum sanctorum with a fiftyish perhaps male who was quite heavily built and had a few large gold rings on his fingers. The lady of the family had lots of gold jewelry and there were some children too along with them. As the queue advanced and turned to the sanctum sanctorum (or a point very close to it), the fiftyish heavily built man broke into a run, shouting Govinda Govinda! His face reflected anticipation and desire of a 'mad' but pure 'mad' kind.
I had not seen anything like that before in my life in temples that I had visited mostly in and around Bombay. Yes, of course, one could see devotion writ large on the face of many people in temples, and also at homes of devout people (my mother was quite devout). But this was different. The running was like how a cricket-fan may run to see a cricket star or a film fan may run to see a film star (though that hero-worship is different from God-worship).
And this man was fiftyish and obviously well off! But he seemed to have forgotten his status and everything and just wanted to rush to have his beloved God's darshan!
That made a lot of impact on me. I now had seen 'crazy' but pure-type of Bhakti from rather close quarters. I felt that that person had experienced something which I not only had not experienced but could also not really understand/appreciate/imagine.
Around a quarter century later, now I certainly can understand that Bhakti and sometimes, I myself, get into that very happy, blessed, 'mad' kind of love (devotion/Bhakti) for God, usually in the God-man forms of Sathya Sai Baba, Shirdi Sai Baba, Krishna, Rama, Jesus etc. In those moments it is just that love, admiration and/or worship of/for God that matters - all else simply disappears from the consciousness or becomes very unimportant. Such moments are the cherished moments of my life - the rest of my life just pales into insignificance when compared to these blessed moments. I think these uplifting moments are the common experiences of devotees of God from various religions, regions of the world as well as periods of time. And that perhaps is, and has been over millenniums, the vital magnetic pull of various religions, religious centres, saints and god-persons across the world.
I think I also understand, to some extent, the money part of Tirumala. God is all powerful and has the power to satisfy various kinds of desires of His devotees. Those who pray devotedly for wealth, like many, many businessmen devotees of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupathi, are showered with wealth by the Lord. And then they come to His image at Tirumala to offer gratitude for showering that wealth, and perhaps offer a part of that wealth to Him.
To put it in a different language and context, the mind matters. If the mind intensely focuses on desiring wealth through prayer (and, usually, backed with some business or other activity) I think the way existence works is that such intense prayer has the capability to make the desire come true.
But then wealth is transitory. Some amount is needed for survival but desiring too much of it can bring a lot of worries too. So the wise people teach us to pray instead for things that are more lasting like love, joy and peace which would usually include necessary amount of wealth for decent if not luxurious living.
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