Seer completes Alipiri 180tz –Tirumala Padayatra

Rajamahendravaram: Chinna Venkanna Babu Swamiji, Peethadhipathi of the Sri Mahalakshmi Sametha Chinna Venkateswara Swamy Peetham at Gadala village on the Rajamahendravaram Airport Road, completed his 180th barefoot pilgrimage from Alipiri to the Tirumala shrine on Sunday.

Swamiji recalled that his first foot pilgrimage from Alipiri to Tirumala was undertaken in 1993 along with his grandfather, the late Dantulururi Suryanarayana Raju, popularly known as Abbayi Raju, and Chavvakula Srinivasa Rao. What began as an act of personal devotion later evolved into a lifelong spiritual discipline. From 2006 onwards, Swamiji has completed the Alipiri–Tirumala foot journey 180 times, a practice he said would continue in the years to come. His stated goal is to complete 365 such pilgrimages in his lifetime.

Swamiji was accompanied on the latest yatra by his 18-year-old daughter Poornima Raj, Pippala SGR Educational Institutions chairman G Sudheer Kumar Raju, and other devotees. Throughout the journey, devotees joined in chanting the Lord’s name, turning the trek into a collective act of faith.

Apart from the Tirumala pilgrimages, Chinna Venkanna Babu Swamiji has been actively involved in promoting Sanatana Dharma through sustained padayatras and long-distance spiritual journeys. On as many as 20 occasions, he led groups of devotees on foot from Rajamahendravaram to Dwaraka Tirumala. Since 2001, he has also been undertaking a padayatra every Amavasya from Rajamahendravaram to the Mathrusri Gadi Bapanamma temple at Sitapalli of Alluri Sitarama Raju district where special Abhishekams and rituals are performed without fail.

His spiritual journey formally began in 2001 with a foot pilgrimage from Peddapuram Dargah Centre to the Sri Datta Kshetram at Pithapuram. In Tamil Nadu, Swamiji has completed 89 Giripradakshinas around Arunachaleswara at Tiruvannamalai since 2008, marking another significant chapter in his devotional pursuits.

At Daksharamam, Swamiji undertook the challenging darshan of the 121 Shiva temples known as the Bhimasabha cluster for three consecutive years within record timeframes. In 2015, the entire circuit was completed in 82 hours, followed by a faster 78-hour completion in 2016, and 72 hours in 2017, drawing the attention of devotees and spiritual observers alike.

Peetham representatives Matala Ramesh and Mahitosh said that for over two decades, the Chinna Venkanna Babu Peetham has played a key role in nurturing spiritual awareness among devotees through continuous padayatras and discipline-based devotional practices. They noted that Swamiji’s journeys have become a source of inspiration for many, blending personal austerity with collective participation in faith-based traditions.