About Us
All great histories and epic start with simple thoughts and a single step. The Ashtothara Shatha (108) Chukkala’s Charitable Trust is one such noble and novel thought that is fastly working towards minimizing the social disparities, upliftment of the needy and expanding the horizons of Bhakthi as a social movement towards humanity with primary focus being “facilitating an all-costs-borne maiden Tirumala trip and His Divine Darshan for the Below Poverty Line devotees”.
From times immemorial, pilgrimage is considered to be an expensive affair consuming time, money energy and more than anything opportunity.
India being a country with spiritual roots and belief system, it is everyone`s dream to visit holy places and find solace in the presence of the God, whom we idolize.
One such favorite all powerful holy place is Tirupathi - The abode of Lord Sri Venkateshwara – considered to be all powerful by almost every Hindu, mainly South Indians.
Making it possible for all those people who are not financially sound to travel, find accommodation and have the eternal happiness of His darshan, Venu Kumar Chukkala, an ardent devotee of Sri Balaji, resident of Gowtham Nagar, Malakajgiri initiated this unique opportunity to provide free transport (to & fro to Tirupathi, lodging and boarding facility at Tirumala, and facilitate the Divine Darshan for all those who wish to be part of this spiritual retreat.
The miraculous story behind this initiate dates back to the year 1996, when Mr. Venu Chukkala, in early hours of a Saturday morning felt the strong awning presence of Lord Sri Venkateshwara in his dream and set one for his first padayatra (Journey on foot) to Tirumala. His experiences during his walking expedition to Tirumala made him come back 9 consecutive times in years to come, every time with a magnetic conviction to comeback. Inspired by our beloved president Late Mr. Shankar Dayal Sarma, who climbed the seven hills 108 times to have a Darshan, he started his “ Ahtothara shatha (108) ” yatra since then.
His unflinching faith in coming back every month acquainted him with all the Pradhana Archaka Swamies like Shri Kesari Swamy, Shri Narsimha Deekshithulu, Shri Ramana Deekshithulu whose blessing coupled with His grace enabled him to successfully complete 108 times and is now continuing it to make it 1008.
With divine blessings of Dr. K.V. Ramana Chari, Ex. EO TTD and present Telangana State Honorable Advisory Board Chairman and Shri Daivagna Sharma, the Sarswathi Upasaka, Ashtothara Shatha Chukkala’s Charitable Trust thus started.
On his 39th Birthday Sep 13th 2014, Mr. Venu Kumar Chukkala with 39 devotees of Lord Venkateshwara, bearing all the expenses of devotees, completed the darshan of both Tirumala and Tirupathi. The trip was totally a spiritual experience under the guidance of Shri Daivagna Sharma who inaugurated the program.
Again on October 6th, Second set of 33 financially backward devotees had visited Tirupathi experiencing the divine grace of the Lord throughout the journey (again all expenses completely borne by the Trust).
Mission and Vision
Vision:
Shri Ashtothara Chukkala Charitable Trust aims at giving a real spiritual experience of Tirumala Yatra free of cost to all below poverty line devotees who haven’t yet visited the holy shrine.
Mission:
To ensure all financially poor devotees of Lord Venkateswara Swamy get a chance to experience His divine grace at least once in their lifetime.
About VENU CHUKKALA
The miraculous story behind this initiate dates back to the year 1996, when Mr. Venu Chukkala, in early hours of a Saturday morning felt the strong awning presence of Lord Sri Venkateshwara in his dream and set one for his first padayatra (Journey on foot) to Tirumala.
His experiences during his walking expedition to Tirumala made him come back 9 consecutive times in years to come, every time with a magnetic conviction to comeback. Inspired by our beloved president Late Mr. Shankar Dayal Sarma, who climbed the seven hills 108 times to have a Darshan, he started his “ Ahtothara shatha (108) ” yatra since then..