The Venkateshwara Temple at Tirupati is one of the most popularly visited Hindu temples in India, and is the richest in terms of the wealth of offerings and gifts given by visiting pilgrims. It is dedicated to Vishnu as 'Venkateshwara' and attracts followers from a wide range of Hindu traditions. Within Vaishnava tradition the temple is considered as one of the 108 most sacred temples throughout India, collectively known as 'Tirupathis'. The temple is located in the hill town of Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh, India about 100 miles from Chennai.
The temple
The Venkateshwara temple complex is giant in size. It comprises a smaller traditional temple building along with a number of modern queuing and pilgrimage holding sites. The temple receives visiting devotees in a constant line, and it is not unusual for someone to wait for up to 48 hours in the queue to have a momentary darshan before the deity. The main vimana is decorated with gold and is a spectacular site to watch from any distance. The varied names ascribed to the main deity are Balaji, Srinivasa, Venkateswara and Venkatachalapathy. The goddess Sri, or Lakshmi (Vishnu's consort), resides on the chest of Venketeswara thus he is also known by the epithet Srinivasa (the one in whom Sri resides). The deity is seen by devotees as the Kali yuga varada, that is 'the boon-granting lord of Kali yuga' (the fourth and final age of Hindu cycle of ages). Tirupati is held in particular reverence by the Vaishnava sect of southern India, known as the Sri Vaishnava. When people travel to Tirupati, they chant "Yedu Kondala Vada Govinda" (in Telugu), "Yezhu malaiyaane Govinda" (in Tamil) or "Tirupati Thimmappana Padakke Govinda" (in Kannada).
The Tirumala temples nestles amidst the peaks of the seven hills of Tirumala, but can be approached from Tirupati by a 20 km road. Many pilgrims prefer to take a path by foot making an 11 km trek to the temple. For worshippers, the deity Venkateshwara symbolizes goodness. With his conch he creates the cosmic sound that destroys ignorance and with his disc he destroys evil. Venkateshwara is believed by followers to be a very merciful deity form of Vishnu, being the fulfiller of every wish made to him by the devotees.
The temple brings around 60,000 pilgrims every day.[1] The temple staff alone amounts to 18,000 [citation needed]. The popularity of the temple can be judged by the annual income which is around six billion rupees.
The Tirumala temples nestles amidst the peaks of the seven hills of Tirumala, but can be approached from Tirupati by a 20 km road. Many pilgrims prefer to take a path by foot making an 11 km trek to the temple. For worshippers, the deity Venkateshwara symbolizes goodness. With his conch he creates the cosmic sound that destroys ignorance and with his disc he destroys evil. Venkateshwara is believed by followers to be a very merciful deity form of Vishnu, being the fulfiller of every wish made to him by the devotees.
The temple brings around 60,000 pilgrims every day.[1] The temple staff alone amounts to 18,000 [citation needed]. The popularity of the temple can be judged by the annual income which is around six billion rupees.
Origins & history
There are a number of stories or legends concerning the origins of the temple site. In one story, Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam (the main deity) is believed to have manifested on its own without any human endeavour (Swayambhu). One legend is that a sage known as Bhrugu, who had an extra eye in the sole of his foot, once visited Vishnu. At that time, Vishnu was in a private meeting with his consort, Lakshmi, and failed to immediately receive and honour the sage. The sage felt humiliated and angry by this act, and kicked Vishnu in the chest, to which Vishnu did not react and instead remained silent. Within Hindu theology, Vishnu's chest is significant the abode of the Goddess Lakshmi. Lakshmi felt highly insulted at the sage's misdemeanour and Vishnu's silence at the act, thus she left Vishnu heavenly abode (Vaikunta). [citation needed]
Vishnu, in an attempt to pacify the sage, took his legs and started to press and massage them gently in a way that was comforting to the sage. During this act, he squashed the extra eye that was present in the sole of Bhrugu's foot. The extra eye is believed to represent the sage's false egotism. The sage then realised his grave mistake and begged forgiveness from his lord, Vishnu. Afterwards, Vishnu then incarnated Himself as Venkateswara and came to earth in search of Lakshmi, who had taken birth as Princess Alamelu (Padmavati) in the household of Akasa Raju. The princess's father agreed to give his daughter's hand in marriage to Venkateswara if he provided proof of his wealth. Towards this end, Venkateswara obtained a heavy loan from Kubera, a god who is considered within Hinduism to be the wealthiest entity in the Universe. Princess Padmavati and Lord Venkateswara were then duly married. The story continues that as Vishnu borrowed the wealth from Kubera, the god of prosperity, he was (and according to tradition, still is) indebted to pay him back, and thus he spends time in Tirupathi repaying his debt to Kubera.[citation needed]
In another story the discovery of the Venkateshwara deity is described as an act of divine providence: there was a huge anthill at Tirupati, and one day a local farmer heard a voice from the heavens asking him to feed the ants. By chance the local king heard the voice and began supplying milk for the ants himself. His compassion resulted in the liquid uncovering the magnificent deity form of Venkateshwara hidden beneath the anthill.
There are a number of stories or legends concerning the origins of the temple site. In one story, Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam (the main deity) is believed to have manifested on its own without any human endeavour (Swayambhu). One legend is that a sage known as Bhrugu, who had an extra eye in the sole of his foot, once visited Vishnu. At that time, Vishnu was in a private meeting with his consort, Lakshmi, and failed to immediately receive and honour the sage. The sage felt humiliated and angry by this act, and kicked Vishnu in the chest, to which Vishnu did not react and instead remained silent. Within Hindu theology, Vishnu's chest is significant the abode of the Goddess Lakshmi. Lakshmi felt highly insulted at the sage's misdemeanour and Vishnu's silence at the act, thus she left Vishnu heavenly abode (Vaikunta). [citation needed]
Vishnu, in an attempt to pacify the sage, took his legs and started to press and massage them gently in a way that was comforting to the sage. During this act, he squashed the extra eye that was present in the sole of Bhrugu's foot. The extra eye is believed to represent the sage's false egotism. The sage then realised his grave mistake and begged forgiveness from his lord, Vishnu. Afterwards, Vishnu then incarnated Himself as Venkateswara and came to earth in search of Lakshmi, who had taken birth as Princess Alamelu (Padmavati) in the household of Akasa Raju. The princess's father agreed to give his daughter's hand in marriage to Venkateswara if he provided proof of his wealth. Towards this end, Venkateswara obtained a heavy loan from Kubera, a god who is considered within Hinduism to be the wealthiest entity in the Universe. Princess Padmavati and Lord Venkateswara were then duly married. The story continues that as Vishnu borrowed the wealth from Kubera, the god of prosperity, he was (and according to tradition, still is) indebted to pay him back, and thus he spends time in Tirupathi repaying his debt to Kubera.[citation needed]
In another story the discovery of the Venkateshwara deity is described as an act of divine providence: there was a huge anthill at Tirupati, and one day a local farmer heard a voice from the heavens asking him to feed the ants. By chance the local king heard the voice and began supplying milk for the ants himself. His compassion resulted in the liquid uncovering the magnificent deity form of Venkateshwara hidden beneath the anthill.
Ancient History of the temple
The exact beginnings of the temple are shrouded in antiquity and its origins are a matter of debate. The Sangam literature of Tamil such as Silapadikaram and Satanar's Manimekalai, dated between 500 B.C to 300 A.D, mentions Thiruvengadam (now named Tirupati) as the northernmost frontier of the Tamil Kingdoms. Other Indian literature dating during the Mauryan and Guptan regimes mention it as "Aadhi Varaha Kshetra" (The ancient site of Varaha). Till the time of Ramanuja, the famous Vaishnava scholar of the 12th century, the identity of the deity was still disputed until he confirmed it to be indeed Vishnu.
The site was an established center by the 5th century A.D, and the Alvars (Vaishnava saints) belonging to the Bhakti movement in Tamilnadu sung in praise of Venketeswara. Its significance in Southern Vaishnavite tradition was at the time next only to Srirangam. The temple was richly endowed by the kings of various dynasties thus adding to its current reputation as the richest and most opulent temple in the world. The Imperial Cholas (who originally built the temple), Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara (including Krishna Deva Raya who led the temple to great popularity) were some of the key contributors for building the temple and donating gold and other ornaments for the temple. Tirupati survived the Muslim invasions of South India, unlike other temples such as the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. It is believed that during the invasions the deity of Sriranganatha from Srirangam was brought to Tirupati for safekeeping. To commemorate this event, a hall in Tirupati is still known as the Ranganatha mandapa.
The site was an established center by the 5th century A.D, and the Alvars (Vaishnava saints) belonging to the Bhakti movement in Tamilnadu sung in praise of Venketeswara. Its significance in Southern Vaishnavite tradition was at the time next only to Srirangam. The temple was richly endowed by the kings of various dynasties thus adding to its current reputation as the richest and most opulent temple in the world. The Imperial Cholas (who originally built the temple), Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara (including Krishna Deva Raya who led the temple to great popularity) were some of the key contributors for building the temple and donating gold and other ornaments for the temple. Tirupati survived the Muslim invasions of South India, unlike other temples such as the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. It is believed that during the invasions the deity of Sriranganatha from Srirangam was brought to Tirupati for safekeeping. To commemorate this event, a hall in Tirupati is still known as the Ranganatha mandapa.
Modern History
It was under the regime of the Vijayanagara emperors that the temple attained the majority of its current opulence[citation needed] and size with the donation of expensive jewellery made of diamonds and gold. The coronation ceremonies of the emperors were also held at Tirupati. In 1517, Krishnadevaraya, on one of his many visits to the temple, donated gold and jewels enabling the Vimana (inner shrine) roofing to be gilded. The Maratha general Raghoji Bhonsle visited the temple and set up a permanent administration for the conduct of worship in the temple. Among the later rulers who endowed large benefactions were the rulers of Mysore and Gadwal. In 1843, with the coming of the East India Company, the administration of the Shri Venkateshwara temple and a number of shrines was entrusted to Seva Dossji of the Hathiramji Mutt at Tirumala as Vicaranakarta for nearly a century until 1933, when the temple was under the administrative charge of the mahants. The Madras legislature passed a special act in 1933 whereby the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) committee was invested with powers of administration and control through a commissioner appointed by the Government of Madras. A Ryot Advisory Council was formed for the management of the estates of the TTD, and was assisted by a Religious Advisory Council with regard to religious matters.
Festivals
The town celebrates most Vaishnava festivals including Vaikunta Ekadasi, Rama Navami and Janmashtami with great splendor, while the Brahmotsavam celebrated every year during September is the most important festivals in Tirumala, when it receives millions of devotees over a short span of a week. Rathasapthami (Magha Shuddha Saptami) is another festival, celebrated during February, when Venkateswara's deity is taken on procession around the temple chariots.
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