All Hindus believe that you cannot go to pay obesience to God till He wants you to come. We had no plans to visit Tirupati Balaji temple but my SIL wanted to and we agreed to accompanying her. The plans all fitted into place and we had one of the best sightings of the God's image. Tirupati is one of the 108 holy temples in Vaishanavite faith.
The newly constructed airport welcomes the passengers with the image of and Goddess Padmavati and Lord Venkateshwar.
Tirumala hills is a collection of seven hills---
Sheshadri, hill of Sheshanaag, the serpent on whom Lord Vishnu rests
Neeladri, the hill of Neela Devi
Garudadri, the hill of Garuda, mount of Lord Vishnu
Anjanadri, hill of Hanumana
Vrishabhadri, hill of Nandi (mount of Lord Shiva)
Narayanadri, hill of Narayana or Lord Vishnu
Venkatadri, hill of Lord Venkateshwara
This is the reason these hills are also known as Saptagiri (sapta:seven, giri: hill). The seventh peak called the Venkatgiri or Venkatadri or Venkatachalam is the abode of Lord Vishnu or Venkateshwar or Srinivasa or Tirupati Balaji. Venkateshwar means Lord of Venkat, Venkat: the name of hill and Ishwar: the Lord.
It is visited by the highest number of pilgrims in the world, around 100,000 everyday, the number doubles on festivals and special occassions.
It is also one of the richest temple with a daily income of around Rs.70 lakhs ($105,000) on non festive days but the amount goes to Rs.2 crore ($300,000) on special occassions.
Hair donated after head tonsuring by devotees is auctioned in the international market and also fetches a very significant revenue for the temple.
Goddess Padmavati temple:
It is mandatory for pilgrims to seek the permission of Goddess Padmavati or Lakshmi before visiting her consort, Vishnu or Venkateshwar.
The temple is at the base of Tirumala hills in Tiruchanur, a suburb of Tirupati. No photography is permittted inside and the driver of our car saw to it that we leave our mobiles in car. So I had to be content by clicking it from outside.
Goddess image on top of the entrance
Tirumala:
Before climbing up the one hour journey, all vehicles, bags and people have to undergo a security check. After this begins the climb up winding roads to 3,000 feet above sea level.
The legend is long but I shall try to cover the major points.
Hiranyaksha (हिरण्याक्ष ), was a demon and had comitted a lot of atrocities on earth. Lord Vishnu came in the form of boar, Varahaavatar (वराहावतार), and slayed him. After this he continued staying in the Sapthagiri hills to protect his people.
Meanwhile, Rishi Bhrigu was asked to find the most suitable of the Trinity to be given the fruit of Yagna, holy worship. Bhrigu went to Brahma and Shiva where they not notice him. He then went to Lord Vishnu where the later ignored him too. Bhrigu had a extra eye at the sole of his foot. Angered by being ignored, he stomped on Vishnu's chest. Vishnu on rebound, pretending to seek forgiveness, while touching his feet, pressed his foot and squeezed the extra eye on his foot, thus destroying his ego. Goddess Lakshmi felt insulted that Bhrigu had kicked her husband, at the place where she resides- in his heart, and angered she came to earth from Vaikunth, her abode, and settled in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, deep in meditation.
Lord Vishnu came down to earth in search of his consort and took the human form of Srinivsan. He settled in Venkat hills of Saptagiri and started living in an ant hill. When Lakshmi realised that Vishnu had settled in the hills, she prayed to Brahma and Shiva to do something about his food. The Gods took the form of a cow and calf. These where presented by Lakshmi to the Chola king who ruled Tirumala at that time.
The cow satisfied the hunger of Srinivasan by providing him milk while grazing every day. Once the cowherd saw this, and angered, he threw an axe at the cow, but Vishnu emerged from ant hill at that time and was hurt by the axe. The cowherd died out of shock and the cow ran bellowing to the king who, when saw the blood on her, followed the cow into the forest. He saw the cowherd dead and Srinivasan standing there. Srinivasan cursed the ruling King. In those days the King had to take on and atone for the sins of his people. To compensate for his sins, the cowherd's descendents got a boon of opening the temple doors on time.
The King pleaded mercy and Vishnu said he would be born as Akasa Raja in his next birth and marry his daughter, Padmavati.
Srinivasan asked Bhu Varahaswamy the owner of those hills to permit him to stay and as a rental, Shri Venkateshwar Swamy granted the first visit and first offering or Naivaidyam to him. Till today all devotees first visit Bhu Varahaswamy and then go to Vekateshwar temple. The offering is also first made to Varahaswamy and then to the later. Since Srinivasan started to reside in Venkatgiri, he came to be known as Venkateshwar, Lord of Venkat.
Srinivasan married Padmavati and when Lakshmi came to know about this marriage, she confronted her husband, Vishnu, in fear of his wife, turned into a black stone. Brahma and Shiva intervened and removed the confusion. Lord Venkateshwar said that he had taken lots of money as loan from Kuber, the god of wealth to marry Padmavati and till that loan was not repaid he could not go back to Vaikuntha. Lakshmi agreed to stay with him and give lots of wealth to his devotees who would thus help in repaying the loan. The money which is put in Hundi by devotees is said to be for this purpose!
Lakshmi thus occupies the left place in Lord Venkateshwar's heart and Padmavati the right side.
Another side of mythology says that Srinivas was Rama in his previous avatar and Lakshmi was his consort Sita. When they were exiled into forest for 14 years, Sita saw a golden deer, Marich and wanted Ram to get it for her. He ran and when did not come for a long time, Sita asked Ram's younger brother, Lakshman to go in search for his elder brother. Lakshman made a ring of fire as a protection and asked Sita not to cross it.
Ravana, the King of Lanka took the opportunity of abducting Sita in the absence of Ram and Lakshman. He came in the guise of a holy man asking for alms. Since he could not get inside the ring of fire, he asked Sita to come out. As she was about to come out, the God of fire, took Sita inside and produced her replica in Vedavati or Vedavathy. Ravana, mistaking her identity took Vedavati with him. Later, Rama fought with the help of Sugriva and Hanumana and got Vedavati back. Sita, later passed the test of chastity by walking on fire.
Sita asked Rama to accept Vedavati also but Rama was bound by vow to have one wife so he promised to marry her in his next avatar. Padmavati was none other than Vedavati so in this avatar in Kalyug, he married Vedavati or Padmavati.
Rangadasa was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and once he met Gopinatha who worshipped Lord Venkateshwar. After bathing at Pushkarni, Ranganatha saw the Lord and started sending flowers to Gopinatha so that the Lord could be worshipped. One day, Ranganatha got distracted and forgot to send the flowers. The Lord appeared in his dreams and said that he was testing his devotion. Since he is so much in love with the worldly pleasures, he would be born a king in his next birth and would build a temple with beautiful vimana. In his next birth, Ranganatha was born as King Thondaiman. As per Lord's prophecy, Lord Venkateshwara appeared in the king's dream and asked him to build a temple at the place where he had turned into stone. The king built the huge temple at Venkatgiri of Tirumala hills.
If you notice carefully, green camphor or pachai karpooram is applied to the Lord's chin!
Shri Ramanujacharya, one of the most important propounder of Vaishnavism in the 10th century wished for a garden from where the flowers could come for daily worship of the Lord. He asked everyone but it was a daunting task and nobody had adequate courage to do it. Ananthalwan volunteered to take the burden of this work. Since this was a holy task he was asked not to seek help from anyone.
Ananthalwan prayed to God and along with his wife settled to work. The work on the hill was not easy. The stones had to be removed, the ground levelled, tilled and then sowing.
Anathalwan's wife was pregnant but she accepted to help her husband in this divine task. She was given the work of carrying the soil from one place to another but that also at times became too much for her.
Lord Venkateshwara had all this while been noticing the couple and He thought of helping them. He assumed the form of a 12 year boy and went to Anathathalwan asking if could help but he refused saying that the burden was on him and he alone would do it.
Ananthalwan after few days suspected that someone was helping his wife as her work was getting done faster. After careful observation he saw a young boy helping her. He got infuriated that inspite of him refusing the boy, he had the guts to approach and help his wife. He ran after the boy. The boy seeing Ananthalwan running after him ran towards the temple and before he could get inside, Ananthalwar threw a crowbar at him which hit him on his chin. The boy suddenly vanished. Ananthalwan realised he had made a grave mistake by hitting an innocent child, leave alone the divine form of Lord Venkateshwara, of which he was unaware.
He ran into the Garbha Griha, sanctum sanctorum known as Anand Nilayam to ask forgiveness from the Lord. He saw the smiling Lord with a bleeding chin! Overcome with guilt, he prostrated in front of the Lord, begging to be pardoned. The Lord told him that he in no way is to be blamed, as whatever He wants, he gets it done through us, whether it is good or bad. He told him to apply green camphor, pachai karpooram on His bleeding chin. Since then everyday, green camphor is applied to the Lord's chin.
The crow bar is still there at the right side of the main entrance!
The practice of applying camphor to the deity's chin still continues. Scientifically speaking, if camphor is applied to granite, the stone cracks but the deity stands firm even after camphor since time immemorial.
Ananthalwan lived to the age of 84 years singing the glory of the Lord on these hills.
There is also Ananthalwan vrindavan on the hills where his garden was.
Usually an image of Lord Vishnu has these four things in his four hands: Sudarshan Chakra, a conch (shankh), mace (gada), Padma (lotus flower). But here, the Lord is without any weapon (gada). He is in a Nirayudhapaani (निरायुद्धपाणि) meaning in a posture where he will not do battle.
Here, he is seen with his right hand in varad or vara hastham(वरद हस्थम) or boon giving hand fulfilling the wishes of his devotees. His other right hand holds a conch which destroys ignorance. His one left hand is on his thighs, and the other hand has a disc or chakra which destroys evil and also preserves the universe.
His eyes are partially covered because it is said that His gaze is so intense it would burn the earth.
Tonsuring of head at Venkateshwara temple:
It is a very common sight to see people with a tonsured head. But why at Tirupati? According to legend, when the cowherd hurled the axe at the cow and it hit Srinivasan on his head, a part of his hair came off. This was noticed by Gandhara princess, Neela Devi who felt that such a perfect face should not have any imperfection. She immediately cut a portion of her hair and implanted on the Lord's head. Since hair is the most beautiful feature on a person's face, tonoring meant a great sacrifice. It also denotes ending your ego.
The Lord promised that whoever comes to his abode and tonsures his head, the hair would go to Neela Devi and in return the Lord would fulfill the wishes of devotees. It is said that there is a real hair on the idol!
Not only men but women too get their head tonsured.
Paying homage to the Lord:
Tirupati's management is said to be the most organised and ensures well managed darshans. After all, managing above 100,000 devotees everyday is not easy. Many temples in India come to see how this temple functions. We had taken time earlier and were slotted for 5:00 am darshan. We were at our destination at 4:45.
There are three Mahadvaar or gates, first is the with a brass gate, second is silver and last into which only the Lord resides is golden. We did not enter through the first main entrance gate but through a side door into which we entered and after checking our ticket and identity card we were allowed to proceed.
We were ushered into a waiting hall with chairs from where we had to go further. Till that time, we heard bhajans on a huge TV. Unfortunately, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh came to pay homage that day so we had to wait till the time he finished.
After walking in line for sometime, we neared the second silver entrance. On the right side is the dwajasthambam(ध्वजस्थम्बम) inside the dwajasthambam mandap. It is a wooden pillar and is gilded with gold on outside. The flag of with Garuda flutters on top of this during Brahamotsava(ब्रह्मोत्सव), inviting other gods and goddesses to partake in this ritual. When Lord Venkateshwara seated himself in the earth, Brahma celebrated this event. Brahmotsava goes on for 9 days and is held in the month of September/October. Kalyan utsav or the divine wedding between the Lord and his consort is also celebrated during this period.
Crossing the silver gate, everyone is anxiously waiting for a glimpse of the Lord's image.
Anandanilayan or the sanctum sanctorum is the place where the main deity beautifully stands. The entry is through the golden gate and no one is permitted to go inside this. But one can have the pleasure of seeing the deity coming closer, one stands in front of Him for a split second. Hardly did I get time to absorb the full beauty of the Lord. It is sad to go away but there are hundreds behind so the line has to keep moving.
The vimaan or the gopuram is completely gilded in gold and looks beautiful.
After exiting and going in the clockwise direction to do pradikshana or circumambulation, on the left side through the glass doors, one can see mounds of money and people busy counting them.
If you climb up the steps on left side and look towards the golden vimaan or the Anandnilayan vimaan, on the extreme right highlighted in silver border with an arrow pointer is an exact replica of Lord Venkateshwar called Vimaan Venkateshwara. It holds the same importance as the Lord in sanctum sanctorum.
Video of the roof of temple. I got this video from somewhere and liked it a lot.
Moving forward on the right side is the hundi where devotees donate their offerings. A golden varalakshmi is seen at the top blessing all devotees.
I saw many people going around a pillar and on enquiring, I was told that this was the foundation pillar of the temple. Moving forward is a round wish yielding stone. Everyone was lining to write on that rough stone. It is believed that whatever wishes the devotees write with their finger are fulfilled.
We got a prasad of rice sweetened with jaggery.
Before exiting, look towards the left side and you see Hathiram Baba's Math. I in hurry forgot to visit that place :(
Worship:
Lord Venakateshwara is worshipped as Goddess Amba or Uma for 4 days since she resides in the Lord's heart, Lord Vishnu on 2 days and Lord Shiva for 1 day in a week. Bilva leaves or Belpatra leaves are offered to Lord every friday. Venkatesh sahastranaam is chanted here where the first verse speaks about Venkatesh and the second about Shiva.
Kshetra Palika is celebrated on Maha Shivratri here.
Prasadam:
Who can ever forget the taste of Tirupati temple laddus? Filled with cardamoms, raisins, cashews they are a treat for everyone. Since they are highly subsidised, for fearof their being misused, each pilgrim just gets a quota of 2 laddoos.
Around 2 lakh laddoos are prepared and distributed everyday!
The size of laddoo has become smaller over the past years. A 300 gms laddoo is sold for INR 25 but the actual cost of making it is much higher. A smaller sized laddoo is given free to all pilgrims as no one should leave the temple without any prasadam.
Bhu Varahaswamy temple and Pushkarni:
It is advisable and important for a devotee to visit Bhu Varahaswamy temple, dedicated to Varaha avatar, the third avatar of Vishnu before he visits Shri Venkateshwar. It is next to Pushkarni water body. It is said that the water from Abhishekam is passed in here, so a dip in this water is considered holy. We visited the temple at night as we were slotted for 5 am darshan. After the darshan which was very fast, we went to the back of temple to splash some water on ourselves.
We had our first glimpse of the golden Vimana of Shri Venkateshwara temple from here.
The water is very clean and clear. There are signs prohibiting washing of any clothes or using soap here. I noticed a net under a tree to catch the leaves from falling into water.
Transport:
The complex is so huge that it is necessary to have some sort of transport. There are pre-paid taxi services. TTD or Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam provides free bus services throughout for the pilgrims. Most of these buses have been donated by Ramoji Rao, a business man from Hyderabad who owns Eenadu group (and Priya pickles) has donated most of the Dharma Radhams to Tirupati.
Garuda hill:
Coming down after the darshan, Garuda hill is seen with a profile of Garuda.
How appropriate a place for Garuda, the mount of Vishnu to be standing there.
Dress code and ethics:
A strict dress code is adhered to at this temple.
There is no shortage of souvenirs to take back home. From clothes, lungis, gifts, garlands, sarees, the market has it all.
Garuda with folded hands on his right(behind the road blocker)
The newly constructed airport welcomes the passengers with the image of and Goddess Padmavati and Lord Venkateshwar.
Tirumala hills is a collection of seven hills---
Sheshadri, hill of Sheshanaag, the serpent on whom Lord Vishnu rests
Neeladri, the hill of Neela Devi
Garudadri, the hill of Garuda, mount of Lord Vishnu
Anjanadri, hill of Hanumana
Vrishabhadri, hill of Nandi (mount of Lord Shiva)
Narayanadri, hill of Narayana or Lord Vishnu
Venkatadri, hill of Lord Venkateshwara
This is the reason these hills are also known as Saptagiri (sapta:seven, giri: hill). The seventh peak called the Venkatgiri or Venkatadri or Venkatachalam is the abode of Lord Vishnu or Venkateshwar or Srinivasa or Tirupati Balaji. Venkateshwar means Lord of Venkat, Venkat: the name of hill and Ishwar: the Lord.
It is visited by the highest number of pilgrims in the world, around 100,000 everyday, the number doubles on festivals and special occassions.
It is also one of the richest temple with a daily income of around Rs.70 lakhs ($105,000) on non festive days but the amount goes to Rs.2 crore ($300,000) on special occassions.
Hair donated after head tonsuring by devotees is auctioned in the international market and also fetches a very significant revenue for the temple.
Goddess Padmavati temple:
It is mandatory for pilgrims to seek the permission of Goddess Padmavati or Lakshmi before visiting her consort, Vishnu or Venkateshwar.
The temple is at the base of Tirumala hills in Tiruchanur, a suburb of Tirupati. No photography is permittted inside and the driver of our car saw to it that we leave our mobiles in car. So I had to be content by clicking it from outside.
Padmavati temple in background in white
stone mortar and pestle on a roadside shop
Before climbing up the one hour journey, all vehicles, bags and people have to undergo a security check. After this begins the climb up winding roads to 3,000 feet above sea level.
Sapthagiri check post at Alipiri before climbing the Tirumala hills
check post before climbing the Tirumala hills
View of Tirumala hills
Just before entering the TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam), each vehicle is checked electronically to see if it reached on estimated time.
accomodation for pilgrims
hospital
Lord Venkateshwara
roads cleaned throughout the day
The legend of Venkateshwar Swamy:The legend is long but I shall try to cover the major points.
Hiranyaksha (हिरण्याक्ष ), was a demon and had comitted a lot of atrocities on earth. Lord Vishnu came in the form of boar, Varahaavatar (वराहावतार), and slayed him. After this he continued staying in the Sapthagiri hills to protect his people.
Meanwhile, Rishi Bhrigu was asked to find the most suitable of the Trinity to be given the fruit of Yagna, holy worship. Bhrigu went to Brahma and Shiva where they not notice him. He then went to Lord Vishnu where the later ignored him too. Bhrigu had a extra eye at the sole of his foot. Angered by being ignored, he stomped on Vishnu's chest. Vishnu on rebound, pretending to seek forgiveness, while touching his feet, pressed his foot and squeezed the extra eye on his foot, thus destroying his ego. Goddess Lakshmi felt insulted that Bhrigu had kicked her husband, at the place where she resides- in his heart, and angered she came to earth from Vaikunth, her abode, and settled in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, deep in meditation.
Lord Vishnu came down to earth in search of his consort and took the human form of Srinivsan. He settled in Venkat hills of Saptagiri and started living in an ant hill. When Lakshmi realised that Vishnu had settled in the hills, she prayed to Brahma and Shiva to do something about his food. The Gods took the form of a cow and calf. These where presented by Lakshmi to the Chola king who ruled Tirumala at that time.
no doubt one sees cow and calf on dashboard of vehicles there, Garuda hill in the distance
The cow satisfied the hunger of Srinivasan by providing him milk while grazing every day. Once the cowherd saw this, and angered, he threw an axe at the cow, but Vishnu emerged from ant hill at that time and was hurt by the axe. The cowherd died out of shock and the cow ran bellowing to the king who, when saw the blood on her, followed the cow into the forest. He saw the cowherd dead and Srinivasan standing there. Srinivasan cursed the ruling King. In those days the King had to take on and atone for the sins of his people. To compensate for his sins, the cowherd's descendents got a boon of opening the temple doors on time.
The King pleaded mercy and Vishnu said he would be born as Akasa Raja in his next birth and marry his daughter, Padmavati.
Srinivasan asked Bhu Varahaswamy the owner of those hills to permit him to stay and as a rental, Shri Venkateshwar Swamy granted the first visit and first offering or Naivaidyam to him. Till today all devotees first visit Bhu Varahaswamy and then go to Vekateshwar temple. The offering is also first made to Varahaswamy and then to the later. Since Srinivasan started to reside in Venkatgiri, he came to be known as Venkateshwar, Lord of Venkat.
Srinivasan married Padmavati and when Lakshmi came to know about this marriage, she confronted her husband, Vishnu, in fear of his wife, turned into a black stone. Brahma and Shiva intervened and removed the confusion. Lord Venkateshwar said that he had taken lots of money as loan from Kuber, the god of wealth to marry Padmavati and till that loan was not repaid he could not go back to Vaikuntha. Lakshmi agreed to stay with him and give lots of wealth to his devotees who would thus help in repaying the loan. The money which is put in Hundi by devotees is said to be for this purpose!
Lakshmi thus occupies the left place in Lord Venkateshwar's heart and Padmavati the right side.
Another side of mythology says that Srinivas was Rama in his previous avatar and Lakshmi was his consort Sita. When they were exiled into forest for 14 years, Sita saw a golden deer, Marich and wanted Ram to get it for her. He ran and when did not come for a long time, Sita asked Ram's younger brother, Lakshman to go in search for his elder brother. Lakshman made a ring of fire as a protection and asked Sita not to cross it.
Ravana, the King of Lanka took the opportunity of abducting Sita in the absence of Ram and Lakshman. He came in the guise of a holy man asking for alms. Since he could not get inside the ring of fire, he asked Sita to come out. As she was about to come out, the God of fire, took Sita inside and produced her replica in Vedavati or Vedavathy. Ravana, mistaking her identity took Vedavati with him. Later, Rama fought with the help of Sugriva and Hanumana and got Vedavati back. Sita, later passed the test of chastity by walking on fire.
Sita asked Rama to accept Vedavati also but Rama was bound by vow to have one wife so he promised to marry her in his next avatar. Padmavati was none other than Vedavati so in this avatar in Kalyug, he married Vedavati or Padmavati.
Goddess Lakshmi on left side near his heart and Goddess Padmavati on right side of Lord Venkateshwara
from left to right: Goddess Padmavati, Lord Venkateshwara and Goddess Lakshmi
Rangadasa was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and once he met Gopinatha who worshipped Lord Venkateshwar. After bathing at Pushkarni, Ranganatha saw the Lord and started sending flowers to Gopinatha so that the Lord could be worshipped. One day, Ranganatha got distracted and forgot to send the flowers. The Lord appeared in his dreams and said that he was testing his devotion. Since he is so much in love with the worldly pleasures, he would be born a king in his next birth and would build a temple with beautiful vimana. In his next birth, Ranganatha was born as King Thondaiman. As per Lord's prophecy, Lord Venkateshwara appeared in the king's dream and asked him to build a temple at the place where he had turned into stone. The king built the huge temple at Venkatgiri of Tirumala hills.
If you notice carefully, green camphor or pachai karpooram is applied to the Lord's chin!
Shri Ramanujacharya, one of the most important propounder of Vaishnavism in the 10th century wished for a garden from where the flowers could come for daily worship of the Lord. He asked everyone but it was a daunting task and nobody had adequate courage to do it. Ananthalwan volunteered to take the burden of this work. Since this was a holy task he was asked not to seek help from anyone.
Ananthalwan prayed to God and along with his wife settled to work. The work on the hill was not easy. The stones had to be removed, the ground levelled, tilled and then sowing.
Anathalwan's wife was pregnant but she accepted to help her husband in this divine task. She was given the work of carrying the soil from one place to another but that also at times became too much for her.
Lord Venkateshwara had all this while been noticing the couple and He thought of helping them. He assumed the form of a 12 year boy and went to Anathathalwan asking if could help but he refused saying that the burden was on him and he alone would do it.
Ananthalwan after few days suspected that someone was helping his wife as her work was getting done faster. After careful observation he saw a young boy helping her. He got infuriated that inspite of him refusing the boy, he had the guts to approach and help his wife. He ran after the boy. The boy seeing Ananthalwan running after him ran towards the temple and before he could get inside, Ananthalwar threw a crowbar at him which hit him on his chin. The boy suddenly vanished. Ananthalwan realised he had made a grave mistake by hitting an innocent child, leave alone the divine form of Lord Venkateshwara, of which he was unaware.
He ran into the Garbha Griha, sanctum sanctorum known as Anand Nilayam to ask forgiveness from the Lord. He saw the smiling Lord with a bleeding chin! Overcome with guilt, he prostrated in front of the Lord, begging to be pardoned. The Lord told him that he in no way is to be blamed, as whatever He wants, he gets it done through us, whether it is good or bad. He told him to apply green camphor, pachai karpooram on His bleeding chin. Since then everyday, green camphor is applied to the Lord's chin.
The crow bar is still there at the right side of the main entrance!
The practice of applying camphor to the deity's chin still continues. Scientifically speaking, if camphor is applied to granite, the stone cracks but the deity stands firm even after camphor since time immemorial.
Ananthalwan lived to the age of 84 years singing the glory of the Lord on these hills.
There is also Ananthalwan vrindavan on the hills where his garden was.
Usually an image of Lord Vishnu has these four things in his four hands: Sudarshan Chakra, a conch (shankh), mace (gada), Padma (lotus flower). But here, the Lord is without any weapon (gada). He is in a Nirayudhapaani (निरायुद्धपाणि) meaning in a posture where he will not do battle.
Here, he is seen with his right hand in varad or vara hastham(वरद हस्थम) or boon giving hand fulfilling the wishes of his devotees. His other right hand holds a conch which destroys ignorance. His one left hand is on his thighs, and the other hand has a disc or chakra which destroys evil and also preserves the universe.
His eyes are partially covered because it is said that His gaze is so intense it would burn the earth.
Tonsuring of head at Venkateshwara temple:
It is a very common sight to see people with a tonsured head. But why at Tirupati? According to legend, when the cowherd hurled the axe at the cow and it hit Srinivasan on his head, a part of his hair came off. This was noticed by Gandhara princess, Neela Devi who felt that such a perfect face should not have any imperfection. She immediately cut a portion of her hair and implanted on the Lord's head. Since hair is the most beautiful feature on a person's face, tonoring meant a great sacrifice. It also denotes ending your ego.
The Lord promised that whoever comes to his abode and tonsures his head, the hair would go to Neela Devi and in return the Lord would fulfill the wishes of devotees. It is said that there is a real hair on the idol!
Paying homage to the Lord:
Tirupati's management is said to be the most organised and ensures well managed darshans. After all, managing above 100,000 devotees everyday is not easy. Many temples in India come to see how this temple functions. We had taken time earlier and were slotted for 5:00 am darshan. We were at our destination at 4:45.
There are three Mahadvaar or gates, first is the with a brass gate, second is silver and last into which only the Lord resides is golden. We did not enter through the first main entrance gate but through a side door into which we entered and after checking our ticket and identity card we were allowed to proceed.
We were ushered into a waiting hall with chairs from where we had to go further. Till that time, we heard bhajans on a huge TV. Unfortunately, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh came to pay homage that day so we had to wait till the time he finished.
After walking in line for sometime, we neared the second silver entrance. On the right side is the dwajasthambam(ध्वजस्थम्बम) inside the dwajasthambam mandap. It is a wooden pillar and is gilded with gold on outside. The flag of with Garuda flutters on top of this during Brahamotsava(ब्रह्मोत्सव), inviting other gods and goddesses to partake in this ritual. When Lord Venkateshwara seated himself in the earth, Brahma celebrated this event. Brahmotsava goes on for 9 days and is held in the month of September/October. Kalyan utsav or the divine wedding between the Lord and his consort is also celebrated during this period.
Crossing the silver gate, everyone is anxiously waiting for a glimpse of the Lord's image.
Anandanilayan or the sanctum sanctorum is the place where the main deity beautifully stands. The entry is through the golden gate and no one is permitted to go inside this. But one can have the pleasure of seeing the deity coming closer, one stands in front of Him for a split second. Hardly did I get time to absorb the full beauty of the Lord. It is sad to go away but there are hundreds behind so the line has to keep moving.
The vimaan or the gopuram is completely gilded in gold and looks beautiful.
After exiting and going in the clockwise direction to do pradikshana or circumambulation, on the left side through the glass doors, one can see mounds of money and people busy counting them.
picture: wikipedia
Video of the roof of temple. I got this video from somewhere and liked it a lot.
Moving forward on the right side is the hundi where devotees donate their offerings. A golden varalakshmi is seen at the top blessing all devotees.
I saw many people going around a pillar and on enquiring, I was told that this was the foundation pillar of the temple. Moving forward is a round wish yielding stone. Everyone was lining to write on that rough stone. It is believed that whatever wishes the devotees write with their finger are fulfilled.
We got a prasad of rice sweetened with jaggery.
Before exiting, look towards the left side and you see Hathiram Baba's Math. I in hurry forgot to visit that place :(
Worship:
Lord Venakateshwara is worshipped as Goddess Amba or Uma for 4 days since she resides in the Lord's heart, Lord Vishnu on 2 days and Lord Shiva for 1 day in a week. Bilva leaves or Belpatra leaves are offered to Lord every friday. Venkatesh sahastranaam is chanted here where the first verse speaks about Venkatesh and the second about Shiva.
Kshetra Palika is celebrated on Maha Shivratri here.
Prasadam:
Who can ever forget the taste of Tirupati temple laddus? Filled with cardamoms, raisins, cashews they are a treat for everyone. Since they are highly subsidised, for fearof their being misused, each pilgrim just gets a quota of 2 laddoos.
Around 2 lakh laddoos are prepared and distributed everyday!
The size of laddoo has become smaller over the past years. A 300 gms laddoo is sold for INR 25 but the actual cost of making it is much higher. A smaller sized laddoo is given free to all pilgrims as no one should leave the temple without any prasadam.
Laddoo prasadam of Padmavati and Venkateshwar
Shri Venkateshwar laddoo
Bhu Varahaswamy temple and Pushkarni:
It is advisable and important for a devotee to visit Bhu Varahaswamy temple, dedicated to Varaha avatar, the third avatar of Vishnu before he visits Shri Venkateshwar. It is next to Pushkarni water body. It is said that the water from Abhishekam is passed in here, so a dip in this water is considered holy. We visited the temple at night as we were slotted for 5 am darshan. After the darshan which was very fast, we went to the back of temple to splash some water on ourselves.
We had our first glimpse of the golden Vimana of Shri Venkateshwara temple from here.
view of two vimaan of the Lord's temple and Pushkarni
Transport:
The complex is so huge that it is necessary to have some sort of transport. There are pre-paid taxi services. TTD or Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam provides free bus services throughout for the pilgrims. Most of these buses have been donated by Ramoji Rao, a business man from Hyderabad who owns Eenadu group (and Priya pickles) has donated most of the Dharma Radhams to Tirupati.
free shuttles or Dharma Radhams as they are called
Dining:
Eating is absolutely no problem but all food is vegetarian. It is prohibited to consume non-vegetarian food, smoke or drink on Tirumala hills.
great South Indian meal
my favorite, dosa
Apart from this, there is a choice of buffet style food where you can get dishes like chilli potatoes:)
Garuda hill:
Coming down after the darshan, Garuda hill is seen with a profile of Garuda.
How appropriate a place for Garuda, the mount of Vishnu to be standing there.
Dress code and ethics:
A strict dress code is adhered to at this temple.
- When going inside to temple for darshan, it is mandatory for everyone to wear an Indian attire. No tee-shirts, jeans, shorts or any western wear is permitted.
- Women can wear a saree or salwar-kurta with chunni.
- Women are prohibited from putting flowers on their hair as the flowers are reserved only for the Lord.
There is no shortage of souvenirs to take back home. From clothes, lungis, gifts, garlands, sarees, the market has it all.
Just outside the mall, is a beautiful image of Lord Venkateshwar with Hanumaan on one side and Garuda on the other.
Hanuman with folded hands on left of the Lord
There is so much I could have seen but if the Lord wants me to visit again, I shall do that with pleasure and have the advantage of seeing whatever I missed this time.
