Sir.M. Visvesvaraya shares a miracle of Lord Balaji with Panditji!
The first ghat road on the holy hill of Tirumala was laid during the British period before independence in the year 1944. It’s construction was done by the reputed contractor Ganon and Dunkly and legendary engineer Mokashagundam Visvesvaraya lent his know-how for the construction of the first ghat road.
Previously many people came and assessed the nature of work to be done and declared it is not possible to lay road at one specific place between two hills. Even few foreign firms came and declared it was not feasible to lay road between two hills. The problem was there was a big valley that could not be filled as the cavity was too big. This was the real challenge. They could sort out all other issues but this could not be done.
Visvesvaraya tried his level best and he could not get any solution. He was perplexed. But somehow this task has to be completed. Otherwise it becomes meaningless. He was stationed in the hills and staying in a tent near to that site. Finding no solution to this problem, he made humble prayers to Lord Balaji before going to bed to guide him to sort out this biggest hurdle.
Around 1.A.M. when he was deep asleep, he heard an explosive noise and jumped from his bed. He was shocked. Surprisingly all other people were sleeping outside as if nothing has happened. No one has heard any such sound which he heard. He also came out of the tent and saw there was nothing but silence.
He started thinking what Lord wanted to make him know by this miracle?
The answer that came to his mind was to use dynamite to blow up rocks and when this was done the cavity got filled. This was the first time in the world that dynamite was found useful in construction industry. Rest is history.
After 30 years, in an Independent India the second road was constructed in the year 1974. The old one proved to be sturdy while the new one turned susceptible to vagaries of weather like rains. One cannot help but wonder at the new one known as second ghat road witnessing landslides resulting in the closure of the road for more than three months for repairs due to downpour that hit Chittoor and Nellore districts While the old one – the first ghat road stood intact allowing smooth flow of vehicles even in the heavy rains, all along its 18 km stretch. l feel compelled to share my following view.
We must leave it up to Lord to interpret our circumstances. Only he is capable of understanding all the facts, and only he sees the significance of every detail.