Friday, March 9, 2012

TUMBURU - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Oh wow – how beautiful is this theertham! How beautiful is the way to this theertham!! How mesmerizing!!! Is what you will feel when you near and see this theertham!!!

Friends – finally we made it to this theertham on 8th March 2012 exactly when the bridges are open for general public to kumaradhara.

Myself and my friend went with a doubt in mind to see whether we will be allowed to move to Tumburu instead of Kumaradhara on 8th – to our surprise, yes, we were allowed and there were a lot of people who have moved to Tumburu the night before itself and had overstayed there (who have actually walked from other side of the hill). Actually Tumburu is otherwise called as Palguna theertham also and taking a dip on Palguna Full moon day is more important.


mount cut path...


Since, there were lot of human movement until Tumburu – we didn’t have any trouble at all. You may recall the riverlet touching which we have returned last time. This time after reaching the riverlet, if we take the footpath on the left side, that will take you to giant ant hill (in telugu – putta) which was also worshipped by all pilgrims. From there, if you still incline to a path on the left side…..yes, you will see the mountains as if it is being broken apart to two sides by something/ somebody and in between is the rock formed path for the stream to run through, forming walking paths for the pilgrims on the sides. In some places you will have to go through waterbody at hip level and then again onto the same mesmerizing path between the mountains, at the bottom of the mountains as if you are walking through a cave which has no top and this path goes on taking left and right turn and at one point, takes a left and ends with the theertham with no path to proceed further. Strangely, I have seen only waterfalls falling from filled water bodies and here I did see the theertham flowing from underneath of rocks in a cave like structure. It is so beautiful, relaxing and blissful – to be here and to take a dip in the theertham. Thanks to Lord Venkateswara for allowing us to finish with our long aimed mission.

Mythological explanations for the creation of the theertham goes like this…..Lord Rama when was observing penance with Goddess Sita Devi in this forest during his 14 years of “vanavasa” (residing in the forest), there was no water anywhere for their need in a needy situation and so Lord Rama had let an arrow out of his bow which had split the mountains on its way and had hit a place from where the water started flowing.

To add on, as we went inside without carrying any food or anything, when we started climbing back the hills, we were feeling very hungry and had a bottle of water alone with us. Felt very tired and was resting often as it was very sunny also. Finally at Sanagana theertham (about 1.5 kms from Papanasam, enroute Tumburu), there were a group of people who were offering some free curd rice to pilgrims. Bless them all! Thanks a lot to their thoughtful service. They also talked about a number of other theerthams in the forest – Ramakrishna Theertham, Old papanasa theertham, etc.

So, now if anyone is interested to do this trip safely, gates are open again this year on Chithra Pournami (full moon day of the ‘chithirai’ month) on 6th of April 2012. If you plan well and go prepared for a sunny day and carry some food and if you could walk for 18-20 kms – yes, you could make it to Tumburu and relish in it’s memory for a long time. Along with this, if you would want to touch kumaradhara theertham also – yes, you can start early on the day and return and touch Kumaradhara and return to Tirumala – just have to walk another 10 kms to accomplish both.

Om Namo Narayanaya!!!

Cheers!!!


Sacred Tumburu...



pilgirms worshipping the "putta" - ant hill...


Tumburu theertham

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

more update on visit to Tumburu/ Kumaradhara

Hello friends

Please refer to my recent update - I re-checked again at the TTD call centre to find that on Palguna Pournami, 8th March bridges are open to visit Kumaradhara and on 6th of April, Chithra Pournami bridges are open to visit Tumburu. I hear from Mr Siddharth Reddy (follower) that in a daily today, TTD had published also about these clarifications on dates.

Cheers - Kumaran

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

GATES OPEN TO TUMBURU

Dear friends

On next thursday, 8th of March, gates (bridge over papanasam dam at Tirumala) will be open to general public to pay a visit to Tumburu theertham. This is the palguna pournami day and every palguna pournami day this bridge will be open to all to visit tumburu. For information on these dates and for any other queries, you may please call TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam) call centres at 0877-2277777 or 2233333. Google search will get you more numbers.

I, amidst busy work schedules is aiming to complete this 'tourgrimmage' along with a friend of mine. Let's see - LORD VENKATESWARA HAS TO GRANT PERMISSION!!!

Regards

S Kumaran