HYDERABAD: Hands that help are better than lips that pray. But at Tirumala, if one is lucky, you get to offer a prayer and also render some help, making you feel blessed. The voluntary service scheme of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) on Tirumala in the form of Srivari Seva gives you one such opportunity. The world-famous temple of Lord Venkateshwara attracts crores of devotees every year. It is, in fact, one of the richest temples of the world having a vast administrative mechanism headed by the TTD Board. It has always been a dream of some of my friends and me to be able to do something beyond our family, for the society.
Whenever I heard of stories of how someone volunteered a week at a temple or at a Gurudwara (Golden Temple in Amritsar gives an opportunity for devotees to volunteer there), I’ve always yearned for such an opportunity. A random lunchtime discussion about Tirumala at our office a couple of years ago inspired a bunch of us – 11 lady employees – to plan a week-long trip to Tirumala. Persistent trials which included online bookings and writing letters to the TTD for a slot allotment by my friends’ group didn’t yield solid results, yet we persevered. Finally, this year, in the last week of September, we could successfully register our group of 11 members. We were allotted seva for a week in the first week of
November.
At Tirumala
Tirumala is gorgeous in November. The climate on the seven hills was salubrious, with the Mercury touching about 15 to 18 degrees. It was pleasant during days and the nights brought spells of coolness. The ‘feel-good’ factor was prevalent throughout our stay and I don’t know if it was due to the sheer satisfaction of being near the mighty temple or the pollution-free atmosphere or the exalted feeling of freedom from the routine rigmarole, Eleven of us were filled with unlimited energy and enthusiasm. We were allotted night shifts (8 pm to 2 am) for first three days at the Laddu counters.
During these three days, we were managing and helping in distribution of the sacred and most tasty prasadam, the divine laddu. We all have craved for Tirupati laddu... now, to not only see dozens of them, but also to be giving it away to pilgrims gave me an unmatched feeling of proximity to the Lord. We would all return to our accommodation at 2.30 am, reminding me of the freedom walks usually arranged in cities for women during nights. Well, we had our freedom walks, that too without any fear. Tirumala never sleeps.
The next four days were spent assisting the vigilance staff from 11 am to 5 pm at the Vaikuntam Complex. We served food to the devotees waiting in the complexes and milk to toddlers. We guided people in depositing their mobile phones and in getting their bags and luggage scanned. We were impressed with the professionalism of the security staff and their ever vigilant attitude. With one glance, they would segregate persons carrying banned items into the temple and push them out. The Vigilance department surely deserves accolades.
Whenever time permitted, we had darshan of Sri Venkateswara through the process applicable for pilgrims. We have to remember that sevaks are not given any other privileges for darshan except on the last day, when you are eligible for the special darshan. So, we followed the regular procedure on remaining days. We visited other places of interest in and around Tirumala, like Silatoranam, Srivaari Paadalu, Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Temple etc. One of the evenings was spent at Tirupati, visiting Kapilateertham and Padmavati Ammavari Temple. We saw several places and bought laddu also.
What it feels like
Visiting Tirumala for a couple of days in a year is in itself satisfying. Imagine being there for a whole week, in the proximity of the Lord himself, that too with the purpose of serving Him and His devotees, with nothing except his grace in return. I can say that it was pure magic.
A week of enchanted devotion.. a week of waking up to melodious suprabhatam in the vicinity of the temple, a week devoid of the regular drudgery of routine life.. a week filled with Govinda namalu and Srivari Prasadalu, a week of being one with the nature, a week of discovering your spirituality, a week of letting go your comfort zone and ego. If you ever get a chance to be part of this, put aside all your apprehensions and embrace the opportunity. I was humbled through this experience. I can confidently say that this week was the best-lived week of my life, till date. I was lucky to do the Srivari Seva.
Check this out
Drinking water at Tirumala is good, the various water points through Jala Prasada Kendra are handy. We did not have to buy water
The cleanliness maintained at Tirumala caught our imagination. With lakhs of visitors every single day, it is a Herculean task to maintain the standards visible here. The roads, complexes, public toilets, and everything else is maintained quite neatly
Maatrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasada Kendram is again a great instituition. With four mega dining halls catering to the devotees, with piping hot breakfast, lunch and dinner, all for free, you need not go anywhere else for food
Do’s and Don’ts...
For doing seva, do go there with that motto only - doing seva
Do take uniforms as prescribed in the website
Do whatever is given in the website to get enrolled...it is simple and clear
Do take your Aadhaar card and its photocopies, you will need it at multiple points
Do take your passport size photo... this is not mentioned in the website, but you will need it there
Do prepare yourself by keeping fit as you will find the seva week physically exhausting
Do not believe brokers, they are not at all needed
Do not go there visualising luxury stay or getting pampered
Do not carry valuables or jewellery - you are not going there to display your wealth - you are going there with a much higher and sacred purpose
How to register
It is a simple process. Go to the link srivariseva.tirumala.org. There are three different sevas available namely Srivari Seva, Parakamani Seva and Laddu Prasada Seva. Women in the age group of 18 to 60 can apply for the Srivari Seva. You can select the duration of seva – 3 or 4 or 7 days. When we went, there was no option, it was for a standard period of seven days.
Register yourself in the given option in the page with your phone number and by selecting your password. Once this is done, you must key in your personal details like name, address, Aadhaar number, phone number, etc. You must have a minimum of 10 members to register as a group (Maximum 20 members). Keep details of all members ready. You will need details such as address, date of birth, Aadhaar numbers of the volunteers. After these details of at least 10 members are keyed in, change their status to ‘available’. Then you can book the dates slot by selecting the dates in the calender provided in the page. You are registered.
(The writer is with a Public Sector Undertaking in Hyderabad)