Tirupathi - A Glimpse of Heaven on Earth

Today afternoon, I was thinking about my first darshanam of the Divine Lord Balaji at the Tirupathi Temple. It was about 6 years ago, one fine summer morning of 2001 that me and my family visited the Tirupathi Temple for the first time. I distinctly remember that day because I was miserably ill on the day of our darshanam, and my grandmother and my cousin accompanied my parents and my sister to Tirupathi. We stayed in one of the dharmashalai alloted by TTD office the previous night, at the base of the Tirupathi hill. Our appointment with the Lord was on the following morning. My parents woke up early in the morning and left as my mother was to perform "anga-pradakshinam" at the temple. Since I was not in a state to wake up early and leave with them, my Grandmother, my cousin, my sister and I were to take a later bus up the hill for our rendezvous with Lord Venkateshwara.

We reached at about 11:00am, finished our religious ablutions before getting in line for the big moment. That was the worst part for me as I barely had the strength to stand for about 2 hours before the darshanam. As we inched closer to the main shrine, my anticipation grew steadily. As I stepped into the main alleyway that leads to the main shrine, I could feel a transformation in the surrounding atmosphere. Outside, a moment ago, it was so crowded, it felt so .... worldly.

I could see the wonderful Vigraha of Lord Balaji as we approached it. It was an "out-of-the-world" experience - completely divine and blissful. It felt as if something inside me leapt in joy as my mortal body approached the main shrine - as if it wanted to break out of my sick body, and yearn for communion. The flow of time had stopped. It felt as if a rain drop was fast approaching the vast ocean with an eager anticipation to merge within, after a long treacherous journey over many lifetimes. I could not take my eyes off the beautiful form of the Lord for the entire duration as I approached the Deity. I was shaken back into the mortal existence when the "ushers" accosted me out of the shrine area to keep the line moving. It felt like a lifetime of an eternal existence coming to an end. One cannot help turning back and taking a last view of the Lord in Vaikuntham before you step back into the world. I was sick, but my insides were leaping with joy now. It was indeed a very personal moment with the Lord in his Abode - a brief journey into Heaven. The entire darshanam would not have lasted more than 20 seconds, but it definitely felt more than that. And the memories that I carried back were priceless. I am very thankful to my parents who took me with them to experience this wonderful moment.

Above all, I am thankful to Lord Balaji to have spent those brief personal moments with me, and to have gifted with me with a remarkable experience that I cherish and remember vividly even to this day.