”A prayer full of belief is an antidote to a pain full of sorrow”
– Yours Obediently
One Important Point
This was the first story – which is based on a story written by Sri PVRK Prasad in his Telugu book, ‘Sarva Sambhavaam’ – I have written and posted with the title, ‘When This Shockingly Amazing Miracle Occurred Inside The Tirumala Temple’, on this website, tirumalesa.com, when I launched this site on the 3rd of October, 2014..
Within no time, this English story had become immensely popular all over the world and was read by millions of people.. Later, this same story was copied by many people and websites.. One old man had even recorded this whole story and circulated the audio clip on WhatsApp.. I have myself received this clip from many readers.
Extremely disappointed with this ungrateful behavior of such people, I have removed this story from the site and confined it only to my God On Call Book.. However, after repeated requests from many readers am posting it again now..
Now, enjoy reading this amazing story
Atop the Tirumala hills,
On the night of 7th November, 1979..
At about 1 a.m..
All the streets of the Tirumala temple town were wearing a vacant look. Right from the street urchin to the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara, the whole of Tirumala hill shrine was in a deep sleep.
Except an occasional sound here and there, the hills were filled with serene silence. Exactly during that dark hour; breaking all that silence, a great miracle occurred and occurred quite suddenly taking the entire sacred hill shrine of Tirumala by shock and surprise.
That miracle, even today is a mystery to millions of devotees of Lord Venkateswara, all over the world, and shall remain one forever. That miracle quite emphatically endorses the divine existence of Lord Venkateswara right in the midst of us today and most importantly substantiates our faith in Him.
But what exactly had happened on the Tirumala hills that night..??
Thong.. Thonggg.. Thonggggg..
The huge Bronze bells, that were hanging right in front of the Moola Virat or principal deity of Lord Venkatewsara, in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Tirumala Tirupati temple, have started ringing on their own, on that night – without anyone touching them or even ringing them – sending waves of heavy metal sound across the whole of the Tirumala hill shrine.
The security staff, the police, the pilgrims, the officials, the temple staff, the Jeeyangars and the priests, who were all shocked by that huge sound of the Bronze bells, woke up startled from their sleep and came running to the main Temple.
They all stood there, outside the temple, in utter shock and disbelief, wondering “How the huge bronze bells – hanging in the heavily guarded and fully locked up Sanctum Sanctorum – could ring on their own, without any one touching them..??”.
Shocking them furthermore, the bells rang in that fashion for a few more minutes and later have stopped on their own.
Mysterious.. Miraculous.. And Absolutely Fantastic..
It was a dream state for all those gathered there, an unbelievably true state. The entire Temple staff, that was there that moment, knows pretty well, that “All the doors of the main temple, including those of the Sanctum Sanctorum, will be locked from outside, after the Ekanta Seva (Final puja performed to Sri Varu every night in the Garbha Griha)
and will only be opened, the next morning, for the Suprabhata Seva (First puja performed to Sri Varu at 3 a.m every morning)”.
Which means there’s no way anyone could enter the main Temple, until again those doors are opened the next morning, by the authorized Temple staff, for the Suprabhatha seva.
Then how is that the bells rang on their own, without anyone touching them..??
Is there anyone inside the Sanctum Sanctorum in addition to holy Lord Sri Venkateswara ..??
Several questions were raised, several doubts were discussed and several more inferences were drawn but none of those gathered there, in front of the Maha Dwaram of the Temple, could come out with a logical explanation.
Finally, they all came to a conclusion that, “some pilgrim, by mistake, is locked up inside the temple and he must have banged those Bronze bells just to draw the attention of the temple staff”.
Well. This theory seems quite logical. At least from a human point of view. However, if that is the case why is that we are calling it a miracle today and where’s the need for me to write about it, now,after thirty eight years of its occurrence..??.. RIGHT..??
Then, what Happened..??
Why did that miracle occur..??
And what was its significance..??
To know all that, its important for us to go back in time and know about a series of crisis ridden incidents that occurred on the Tirumala hills a few weeks prior to the occurrence of that miracle.
In those days, the holy temple town of Tirumala was witnessing a never before seen water crisis that had forced its governing body, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board to impose sanctions on the daily consumption of water on the hill shrine.
As a result, the supply of water to all the employees’ quarters and also to all the pilgrim’s cottages was restricted. However, that could only regulate the water supply to a certain extent but could not offer any solid solution.
In spite of all that conditioning, the water levels in the Gogarbham reservoir and the Alwar tank, on the hill shrine, were drastically receding. A few more drinking water wells, which were already there on the Tirumala hill shrine those days, were also drying out (The current Papa Naasanam reservoir was still under construction, those days)
An Emergency Meeting Of The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board
Greatly disturbed by the acute water crisis on the Hills, P V R K Prasad, the then Executive Officer of the TTD board, had called for an emergency meeting of his executive staff to discuss about the immediate measures that are needed to be taken to combat the ongoing water crisis on the holy hills.
Prasad had a marathon discussion with all his water board engineers. They all have not only pleaded their complete helplessness but had also warned their Executive Officer, saying,
“Sir, all our tanks and reservoirs on the Tirumala hill shrine are left with very little water reserves today. They can at the most be served for a few more days and not any more than that. So what shall we do now..??”.
At length, they discussed about various other options to withstand the water crisis at least for a few more days. Every one suggested, “More sanctions be imposed on the consumption of water on the hill shrine”.
In those days, in addition to twenty five thousand visitors per day, the holy Tirumala temple town had about six thousand population living there. Water sanctions were already being imposed to the brim and any further sanctions shall only paralyze the human life
there. So no further sanctions.
Then, what to do..??.. Someone suggested to put a restriction on the number of daily pilgrims visiting the Tirumala hill shrine. At this point, PVRK Prasad intervened and said,
“Most of the pilgrims who visit Tirumala hills, plan their visit months in advance. It would be cruel on our part to stop them now.. Secondly, there is no such legislation in the TTD books to prevent any devotee of Lord Venkateswara from visiting His hill shrine, for whatever the reason. Even otherwise, we are here to serve His devotees but not to put restrictions on their visits”.
With that firm statement, Prasad had concluded the meeting that day. The entire problem had come back to square one as the water crisis on the Tirumala hills had started deepening with every passing day.
The Crucial Meeting With A Noble Saint
As an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara and also as the official head of the TTD board, PVRK Prasad had finally decided to find a solution, on his own, to the whole water crisis on the Tirumala Hills.
He had great faith in the sacred scriptures of the holy Hindu Vedas and Upanishads and also knows pretty well that only “they can offer a definite solution to every human problem”.
“But who is the competent person to offer me guidance on the Vedas and Upanishads and who will now give TTD board a proper direction in this regard..??”. Prasad was in a big dilemma.
After due consultations with scholarly personalities in the field of spirituality, Prasad had finally decided to seek guidance from the eminent Sri Uppuluri Ganapati Sastry, a saintly personality and an authentic authority on all the topics related to the Vedas, Dharma Sastras and Upanishads.
Sri Ganapati Sastry was a noble 82-year old man, those days, and also was adviser to the TTD board. In all, Sri Satsry had spent forty eight years of his precious life in learning Vedasand Upanishads.
Even today, all his followers and disciples reverentially consider Sri Ganapati Sastry as the reincarnation of Goddess Saraswati.. Apart from attaining complete mastery over the Vedas, Sri Sastry had also attained greater command over the Vedangas (sub branches of the Vedas) namely Vyakarana, Tarka, Meemamsa, Nyaya, Nirukta and a few more branches of the sacred Vedas.
By far, Sri Sastry is the only Indian spiritual master who can be attributed with complete mastery on the Vedas, the Upanishads and also on all the other Dharma Sastras. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award from the honorable
government of India.
PVRK Prasad met Sri Uppuluri Ganapati Sastry at his Secunderabad residence and explained him in detail about the water crisis on the Tirumala hills. After attentively listening to all the woes narrated by Prasad, Sri Sastry gently smiled and said,
“Dear Prasad, without keeping its solution ready God will never give us a problem.. However, we only need a little wisdom to identify that solution. Of course, there’s a solution to every human problem found in the Vedas.
In fact, our ancient Indians have depended entirely on the Vedas and Vedic rituals for all their problems.. With utmost reverence and with complete faith in these Vedas, they have collectively followed all the scriptures laid down in them and have found solutions to many of those days human problems”.
Prasad was noting down everything as Sri Uppuluri Ganapati Sastry continued,
“Even during famine and acute water crisis, people in olden times have performed Varuna (God of Rain) Japam and have immensely enjoyed the benefits of rain. But in these modern days of our sin filled world, please tell me dear Prasad, who has faith in Vedas and who will perform Varuna Japam, that too, with so much of discipline and faith required to perform it..??
However, dear Prasad, if you are ready to perform this Japam, with all the spiritual discipline required, then I am here to guide you and give you the Rithviks (Brahmins or the officiating acharyas who would perform holy religious activities on behalf of their spiritual
master) who can perform the holy Varuna Japam on Tirumala hills.. When it had given positive results those days why not now..??”
Commencement Of The Holy Varuna Japam
After noting down every point mentioned by Sri Ganapati Sastry, Prasad had finally decided to perform the Varuna Japam (A divine and holy ritual performed to appease the Hindu God of rain,Varuna) on the Tirumala hills, completely in accordance with the scriptures laid down in the Vedas.
He was determined to follow all the instructions given by Sri Sastry. He finally took blessings from the noble saint and left for Tirumala.
Later, things followed in quick succession.. In view of his old age, Sri Ganapati Sastry had excused himself from personal attendance but had however promised to offer all the necessary help to Prasad to successfully complete the Varuna Japam.
Later, Sri Sastry identified a few suitable Rithviks and instructed them to go to Tirumala and perform the Varuna Japam.
After doing all the astrological calculations, Prasad had decided to conduct the Varuna Japam on the 1st of November, 1979 but unfortunately the Rithviks, who were to conduct the Varuna Japam, could not reach Tirumala on time.
As a result, the Varuna Japam was indefinitely postponed.. A couple of days have passed.. In the mean time, the water crisis on the Tirumala hills had deepened further.
Finally one day,pleading total helplessness, the engineers of TTD board almost came running to Prasad and told him,
“Sir, it would be impossible for us to supply water to the pilgrims for more than a week. And if that happens sir”, they warned, “the holy temple town of Tirumala Tirupati should be indefinitely closed down”.
Prasad was shocked because he knows well, “in such case of an indefinite closing down of the Temple, then he would, as the official head of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam board, go down in its history as the most unpopular Executive Officer”.
With a blazing Sun rocking the holy temple town of Tirumala and with no signs of any clouds anywhere nearby, Prasad was a much disturbed man.
“What to do..??” Several questions were battling in his mind. Without wasting any more time, he immediately called every member of his executive staff for an emergency meeting in his chambers.
His message to them was loud and clear. “I want the Varuna Japam to be performed at the earliest”. The firmness in their boss’s tone had conveyed his mind to them.
Finally, they all discussed about a few more problems and a few more hurdles, however, Prasad made his stand very clear to them, saying, “Come what may, we have to perform the Varuna Japam on the 8th of this month (November, 1979)”.
Later, Prasad personally spoke to all the Rithviks, over the phone, and briefed them about the grave situation on the Tirumala hills.. Finally, after every member of his staff had left his chambers, a lonely PVRK Prasad stood up in his place and silently offered his prayers to Lord Venkateswara.
“Swamy Sri Venkateswara, as Your humble servant I have always done my best to You and also to Your devotees.. Then why these hurdles to me and what are this ordeals, Swamy..?? I now need Your guidance and approval immediately. Please offer it to me at
the earliest, Swamy”.
Will Lord Sri Venkateswara offer His approval..?? If so how..?? Although every employee of the TTD board had swung into immediate action, there were still many doubts in their minds.
The date set for the Varuna Japam too was fast approaching.. An anxiety filled Prasad was eagerly waiting for an appropriate approval from the holy Lord Sri Venkateswara..
It was then..
During that thick dark hour on the mid night of 7th of November, 1979..
Just a few hours before the commencement of the holy Varuna Japam,
The heavy Bronze bells, hanging in front of the Moola Virat or principal deity of Lord Sri Venkateswara in Tirumala Temple, have started ringing on their own without anyone touching them, thus.
Signaling the much awaited holy Lord Venkateswara’s permission and HIS most wanted approval for the Varuna Japam. That was an amazingly mind blowing miracle of the holy Lord very difficult for the human mind to understand.
PVRK Prasad was just speechless.
Later, for three full days,
Amid chanting of the Vedic hymns, the Varuna Japam was performed on the Tirumala Hills strictly in accordance with the Vedas and strictly in accordance with the instructions given by Sri Uppuluri Ganapati Sastry.
After that, once all the rituals of the Varuna Japam were complete on the third day, it was supposed to rain immediately. However, there were still no signs of any rain from any corner of the sky.
After the final rituals, carrying the Processional Deities in their hands, all the Rithviks were returning to the main temple.
PVRK Prasad, the special invitees, the engineers, the board officials, the visitors, the pilgrims, the security staff and the press personnel were also silently following them. There was an utter disappointment in everyone’s face.
“Except tear drops in our eyes, there’s not a drop of rain anywhere nearby”. Someone from the press had remarked.
Then it happened..
Perhaps the biggest miracle of all times. All those who were quietly walking back towards the main temple were still hundred paces away from the actual destination; and before they could even realize and before they could even run for their shelter,
Making a huge thunderous noise..
The skies opened up..
And it started raining heavily..
Very heavily indeed..
An unbelievable sight..
Seen to be believed..
And believed to be seen..
None of them was carrying an umbrella in their hands and before they could even run into the main temple for shelter, they were all fully drenched in rain.
Joy.. Ecstasy.. Surprise.. Disbelief..
Its very difficult to describe the mood there. In that glorious and spectacular fashion, that heavy rain had lashed the whole of Tirumala hill shrine for several hours, thereafter.
On that night..
When PVRK Prasad was monitoring the overall situation in his office chambers, a fully excited TTD water works engineer came running into his chambers and informed him,
“Sir, the Gogarbham reservoir is over flowing”
Epilogue
An emotionally ecstatic P V R K Prasad, with his eyes filled with tears of devotion, immediately got up from his chair and turned towards the main temple of Tirumala and offered his thanks, in an all joyous silence, to Lord Sri Venkateswara.
After that amazing miracle of ringing bells that night, the doors of the main temple were opened up for the Suprabtham Seva, the next morning (8th, November, 1979). Without leaving an inch, the temple staff went around searching every corner of the Sanctum Sanctorum, but to their utter shock and disbelief, they couldn’t find anything suspicious there except the ever smiling deity of Lord Sri Venkateswara.
Tirupati, Renigunta, Sri Kalahasti, Railway Koduru are a few other important places very close to Tirumala. However, none of those places have reported any rain fall at that time when it was heavily pouring down on the Tirumala Hills. A true miracle again.
Sadly, there is little information available on the web about the great Indian noble saint, Sri Uppuluri Ganapati Sastry. If any one of you have any info about this great Indian saint extraordinaire, please mail that to me to my mail id narrenaditya@tirumalesa.com.
I had the honor of meeting this noble man once personally in 1991 and was fortunate enough to be blessed by him. HONOR.
For Ten More
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“Sarvaloka Nivaasaaya Sreenivaasaaya Mangalam”
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Narrenaditya Komaragairi
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