Tirupati Balaji : Udayastanam

Sharing my Tirupati Darshan experience on Amavasya. 

Udayastanam Darshan:

You can be a part of all Pujas from sunrise to sunset. You get to sit and be a part of the Puja closely get to see Balaji. Each Puja lasts for 40 min or so. There are 6-7 such Pujas. 

Is this booking online? No. 

This booking is done 30 years ago with a donation amount of ₹1 crore by the bhakt donor. Every day only 6 donors are allowed. Your day is fixed once a year when you give the donation. Each donor can go in with total of six people n children under 10 years. So total of 36 people allowed for this Darshan every day. This is booked from years. Now the 30 years is getting over. New Darshan for Udayastanam is for 1 crore donation but for 20 years only. For 1.5 crore it is for Friday Udayastanam as Friday is Vishnu s day. 

What kind of people were there for the Darshan? Normal people like you n me . South Indian NRIs from Hyderabad n Bengaluru. They come to India once a year for this Darshan only. One family looked so simple but had booked their Udayastanam years ago. 

This was my second Udayastanam Darshan. My brother got this pass through a colleague s Dad s employer. Very precious n lucky to get this Darshan. Reporting time for Udayastanam Darshan is 2am. We entered at 2.20am. Suprabhatam begins at 3 am where Balaji is woken up with the chanting. Almost half the book is chanted by 650 people and they know it by heart. This Darshan needs Pre booking .  I carried the Suprabhatam Sanskrit book from Giri Stores Matunga for all. Around 650 people get this Darshan where the dwar of the Garbh Gruha is opened. Basically Balaji is woken up. Three Kalash of Silver Peetal and Tamba copper n brass has holy water used for Vishnuji s snaan n puja. Fresh flowers n Malas are brought in. All this with a team of musicians playing divine music 🎵 🪕🪘. Lot of Archaks or Pandits are moving here n there doing their duties. Then the Dwar opens after the chanting n people get the first glimpse.

When this is going on inside, outside people are queuing up for Ang Pradikhshina One has yo bathe in the Kund at 1 am. Come totally wet in one cloth/ Dhoti/ Veshti to the Mandir n be in queue. Women also follow the same. Now they do not come in wet clothes but change into dry ones. Hair is wet still. The outer aangan of the Mandir just outside the Garbha Gruha, the lie down in Namsakar and roll their body. First women s queue begins n their is a whole team of volunteers, who will help you roll. Around 500 women are doing this with kids. The volunteers pull your clothes down n help if the clothes rise up while one performing the pradikhshina. It is Shaashtaang Namskar rolling all around. 

Then the men s queue begins n same procedure is followed. There are lots of senior citizens n small children in this and doing with ease. 

Then they go into a queue n get Darshan. 

Thomal Sewa :

Here I got to sit in the first row just outside the main Garbh Gruha. I experienced God in real. Could see the black blue Murti huge it is in all its grandeur. It is so powerful and so real. The room has only light from oil lamps hanging. 

The second Garbh Gruha is where we were sitting. Again 4 oil lamps hanging. All stone walls n columns n brackets. Beautiful. 

Third room is empty.

Normal Darshan happens from the Fourth large room. 

Vishnuji s bath n Srinagar. They first do all puja Archana on the Utsav Murti. Which is a small Murti of precious metal. They put the various Malas. Sprinkle holy water n purify the space with all the shlokas. Again people know these two n they are not in the Suprabhatam book. Golden feet of Vishnu are placed after Puja. 

When they are doing some special puja or climbing to put flowers etc, the curtain is drawn. 

The final Arti n Kapur Arti happens. The crown or Mukut is put on all our heads and then we step out of the sanctum . 

Next sewa was Archana :

After Thomal, we come out, take a Pradikshina n come back to our entrance . When the gate opens, one almost runs to the Sanctum all 30 of us. Though there are volunteers managing us and the queues. I am in the second row. Yet very close to Vishnuji. One Pandit is chanting Vishnu Sahastranaam like 1008 names of Vishnu like we have Ganesh Sahastranaam . Not the shloka one. There is a mike fixed outside the main Garbha Gruha on its left side of the entrance. There is a small oil lamp on the wall there. He alone chants 1008 names. The Panditji is offering Tulsi 🌿 at Vishnu ji s feet throughout this chanting. Then Arti with that big Arti ka stand with multiple storied Diyas. This Arti is done ready by another Pandit inside n we can’t see him doing the prep work. The Kapur Arti is a huge silver Kapur Arti vessel. The main Pandit puts little Jal 💧 on the handle n brushes with Tulsi. Then does Kapur Arti. This happens at the end of all Sewas.  Again we are out of the Mandir after the crown is put on our heads. One of them gives me Tulsi Prasad. Now when we go for Pradikshina , there is a huge crowd outside. When we are in for Sewa, the Darshans continue behind from the fourth hall. People are chanting Govinda Govinda. When we shout the same, the Panditji puts his hand up. Silence during the chanting of Vishnu names. 

This time when we go out, we are given the Prasad. Every Puja , our receipt with our names is checked n reconfirmed n signed by a Pandit. 

3. This sewa is AshtaPada something: here 108 gold flowers are offered to Vishnuji s feet. I was now seated on the fourth row centre view. By this ti’me I was a bit satisfied. Now the same Panditji is chanting in our room on the mike it goes like something something followed by Shri Venkateshaay Namah.

This happens 108 times. Then Arti Kapur Arti n we are moving out. One volunteer was kind n allowed me to stand a couple of minutes extra in the second room outside Garbha Gruha to see God.

The key is not to close your eyes but utaaro his chhavi within you. So keep your eyes 👀 open during Darshan. I was taught this years ago in a Tirupati Darshan by one of the employees who was helping us. Grateful to him 🙏. Now when we come out, there are hardly 50 people in the Mandir premises. It is so beautiful just being there. Seeing the Vimana Venkateswara. On the Shikhar, gold plated shikhar, there is a diver little door with Venkatesh murti . This is from where Vishnu ji goes to Vaikunth. All pray here. Huge rush every time to go to Sri Vari Hundi. I saw people put thaili bhar ke money n jewellery in the Hundi. I had envelopes ready with what I had to put n what people had told me to put. Now the Hundi darshan was easy. We do Sashtaang Namaskar 🙏 and leave to go out. There are 3 more Darshans which we didn’t do as flights to catch, Padmavati Darshan to be done n sleep to be caught up on. But not so soon. We were out of the Mandir by 7 am near the Kund or the holy pond. 

Now with the receipt, you go to get your 25 laddus including 1 big Laddu n 5 Vadas. There is a queue though this is a special line for just Udayastanam people. We have to fill the laddus in the bags ourselves. They give the tray to us. You buy bags as per your requirement. Plastic is banned in Thirumala. So your plastic water bottles are confiscated at the base gate when you enter the Venkatagiri Hills. Water is available everywhere n also sold in glass bottles. 

Bread is not allowed in Thirumala. Every day more than a lac people are fed n Anna Daan can be done .

 The third Sewa we attended is called 

Ashtadalapadapadmardhana 

Other Sewa names are: we plan to do these Darshans also next time. 

Kalyanotsavam 

Unjal sewa 

Arjitha Brahmotsavam

Sahasra Deep Alankara.