Balaji devotee climbs Tirupati to Tirumala by foot 108 times

Srikakulam: An ardent devotee of Lord Venkareswara, Mahanthi Srinivasa Rao of Srikakulam city, reached Tirumala 108 times by foot in a span of 21 years.

He walked over by foot from Tirupati to Tirumala 108 times and set a record. He started his pilgrimage for the first time on foot in 1996 and till 2014, he visited Tirumala 50 times.

He inculcated a habit of going to Tirumala by foot whenever he visited the hill shrine. In 2015, Srinivasa Rao had darshan of Lord Venkateswara 20 times by climbing the hills. In 2016, he visited the hill shrine 15 times, and during every visit he covered the seven hills by foot.

This year between January 17 and 24, he climbed the seven hills 16 times and between February 19 and 22, 7 times. “I cover about 23 KMs from Tirupati to Tirumala within four hours and I decided to climb the seven hills up to Tirumala 108 times in 1996 as 108 is a holy figure in Hindu religion as we believe that 108 Pradaskhinams, 108 Astothara Sathanaamalu, 108 temples and 108 Gods as sacred,” Srinivasa Rao explained to The Hans India.

Srinivasa Rao is providing information to pilgrims across Srikakulam district on all sacred places across India including Tirumala to enable devotees to have hassle-free darshan and safe journey.