You would hardly call me a religious chap, but even an agnostic like me has to visit the Tirumala temple at Tirupathi – well, there is really no choice when the entire family puts its foot down and say “you better come along with us, or else…”

This time though, I had a business objective in visiting the holy place. Having read that Tirumala is using a lot of renewable energy sources, I kept my eyes open like a hawk right from the moment we left the foothills.

And well, I was rewarded, you could say.

First, I saw a good number of solar panels on most lamps all along the road that lead to the hilltop. That was an obvious idea for a place wishing “to go renewable”, but I am glad they implemented those solar panels anyway. And then, I could see at least one big wind turbine rotating all the time I was at Tirumala itself. Whether Tirumala has more wind turbines than one, I am not sure, but I could see one myself. I tried checking out its capacity, but in vain. Most folks simply looked me queerly when I asked such technical questions.

And then some folks I asked told me that the community kitchen that serves thousands of devotees also used solar energy and it has significantly cut down on its diesel consumption.

I am impressed. And I now have a good reason to become religious and visit religious places – religion could teach me more about renewable energy!