We flew a group of family down to Tirupati near Chennai in Southeastern India to see the world's richest temple at Tirumala. Lord Balaji is the god of prosperity and if you go there it is promised that you will be prosperous. This idea has obvious universal appeal, I mean who doesn't want to be prosperous. Anyway, this temple entertains between 60-100,000 visitors a day. Completely insane, of course, even by India standards. Our air hostess Mehak had wanted to go several times before and it just never worked out so she was all set to go and Dhaka was going to make it all possible so we all piled into the touring van and off we went up the mountain. Some people we walking up to 18 kilometers up the mountain and there are extra blessings promised for those that do. Many people have saved up their hair and then get their hair completely shaved so there were a lot of bald heads walking around. As the crowd got into the different lanes and started working their way towards the middle of the temple and the deity viewing, it got crazier and crazier. First of all, these people have no personal space requirement like American's do. I was being pushed and shoved the whole time by overweight Indians from behind. It was hard to maintain your balance and a couple of times as we got close to the god viewing the crowd was pressing so hard I was barely able to breathe at all and actually got worried about my personal safety. In order to not get separated from Mehak and Dhaka in the crazy crowd I was hanging on to Mehak for dear life from behind and one FAT Indian lady took humbrage at my behavior in the temple and gave me the evil eye. I barely noticed it but Mehak and Dhaka were laughing about it at breakfast. I said I didn't care what she thought, I just didn't want to get separated in that crazy, milling crowd. They have 12,000 temple workers there and many of them are using bullhorns to keep control of the crowds. I have never been through anything like it in my life. Just think the most crowded day you have ever experienced at Disneyworld or some amusement park and then remove the personal space requirements of us Americans. Also, remove the deodorant and bath that most of us have every day. The ONE saving grace was that there was a slight, cool breeze and it was blowing from our side of the cattle stantion. If it had been warmer or no breeze or from a different direction I believe I would have passed out and it wouldn't have mattered because the crowd would have carried me vertically right through the place. I know Karen and she has clausterphobic tendencies so she would have never made it. The bad thing is, once you are in there is absolutely no way you are going back out. The steel bars that keep you in your lane or area go all the way from floor to ceiling to keep people from cutting the line. I can see how people die in these religious journey's to the Middle East now because there were times last night when I really wasn't sure about survival. I told both my partners that they owed me coming to church with me now, no questions asked, and they both agreed that was fair. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I have never been pushed and shoved by so many heavy and stinky people for so long in all my days. It goes 24 hours a day and never stops. The Vatican has studied this temple for many years trying to figure out how to get money from people like this. This temple has documents in it that date back to 500 AD so it has been around awhile.
Too wild, and when I looked in the darkened hallway toward this Lord Balaji, it was just such a let down and so not what I thought it would be. My passengers who had made this special trip believe in the magic and donated several hundred thousand dollars towards the temple so there you go. Blessings return to those who give. We Christians have the same belief in our tithing and that it returns in spades when you give faithfully and generously.
Too bad they won't allow a camera or Blackberry anywhere on the place.
Dan
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