Faith in Chilkur Balaji Temple

Most of my articles reflect how much I am proud of the heritage that I belong to and the million year old faith and believes which have been passed on from one generation to another
While people in different parts of the world like mountaineering and rock climbing just to conquer a hill , in India people of all age set such targets in the name of God . Be it the 22kms rocky roads of Vaishno Devi Mata Temple , the snow covered Amarnath Temple requiring intensive rock clibing or the muddy roads of Poorna Giri Temple , people of all age continue walking and climbing almost all round the year . Rich or Poor , Young or Old , Indians continue showing such applaudable religious feats almost each day in India
My most recent experience was the visit to the Chilkur Balaji Temple alias Visa God . Why Visa God ? Coz according to the temple history , almost all IT professionals visiting the temple had got an onsite opportunity within a year of visting the temple .The faith here is that if a person makes 11 rounds of the entire temple and prays with some wish in mind then that wish comes true . After the 11 rounds , he / she is fit to worship God And incase if the wish comes true , one should make 108 rounds of the entire temple .

108 rounds sounded absolutely crazy to me on first sight . The funny and weird thing is that such a faith is just passed on by word of mouth . Not even a single scripture says that this is the real story and still one can find people making 108 rounds in huge groups like a massive marathon
Who doesnt have dreams and unfulfilled desires ? I too decided to make 108 rounds with a piece of paoer in my hand to mark each round completion . But unconsciously ,what I learnt that day , I cant forget ever in my life

1- Only when you have to know how much you want something or someone , you know what it is to pray like this , bare foot for someone
2- 108 rounds means atleast 4-5 hours of walking in the sun at normal pace . Hard work is the key to success but do we ever concentrate on giving this much physical pain to achieve something which only hard work can really pay ? This is called as "Sheer Faith" and the desire for the Magical to happen
3- The biggest eye opener was the sight of physicaly challenged people walking on one stick , crying in pain and yet doing the rounds . Only God knows what stamina he has given to the humna body and mind . Infact this again shows the beauty of will power
4- Ladies with tiny toddlers walking aound the temple must have made some real resolution that even the cry of their child doesnt stop them from putting an end to the tiring and exhausting walk
5- There is no drinking water , no medical aid and no availablity of food , yet people want nothing . All they know is that the unexpected will happen by the small pain to the body
6- Its a tradition to offer coconuts and flowers to God here and there are no shops inside the temple . So all the people who are making the rounds in sweat and the heat also carry the heavy coconuts that should be offered to God after the prayers . Only the poor fingers can tell the true story
7- There is no derth of the medically unfit people who want to get cured by these rounds . What amazes me is from where they get this amount of energy to walk so much ? Truely it doesnt involve normal human power or energies
8- Skinny people , whom in normal day I would prefer to assume that they would faint at the drop of a hat , also move with the same zeal and the even magical thing I noticed was that even though , people saw other fellow collegues fainting , yet everyone wanted to take the task to its completion
Somewhere Faith and Belief can drive a person to do the impossible . So far I just saw the craze in people to do everything under the Sun to get things in a smarter way but my faith will become staunch if one day the wish I prayed for comes true
I feel very proud that our nation has such a rich heritage where good beliefs and faiths are passed on from generation to another with or without scriptures . Even if the rounds did no fulfilment of dreams , atleast it kindled into many a feeling tht they can do what they want to do .
Above all , that was the day I learnt what Love is ..... what Dreams are and above all what is the meaning of Emotional Bonding , because every person in that temple was surely praying for their loved ones whether close or far