Sri Venkateswara Temple Thirumala-Thirupathi

 
The ancient and sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatachal
(Venkata Hill) of the Tirupati Hill, and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, (southern India, Andhra Pradesh in Chittoor district)

This temple is believed to be the richest of all the Hindu temples in the world.

Tirupati is one of the holiest places in Hinduism and is well known as 'Kaliyuga Vaikuntam' by its
devotees. Tirupati, or "Aadhi Varaha Kshetra", as it is known in the Puranas (Scriptures on Hindu
Mythology), is an important pilgrimage site in the Hindu world, with pilgrims climbing several
hills to arrive at the hilltop town of Tirumala where the famous temple is situated.

The enormous temple complex, with the main shrine and dome in solid gold, is dedicated to Vishnu,
the second deity of the Hindu Holy Trinity who assumes the role of preserver of the cosmos. In
this temple Vishnu resides as Venkateswara, an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu. The goddess Sri,
or Laxmi (Vishnu's consort), resides on the chest of Venketeswara thus he is also known by the
epithet Srinivasa (the one in whom Sri resides). 











golden gopuram

The ancient and sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of the Tirupati Hill, and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini.

It is by the Lord’s presidency over Venkatachala, that He has received the appellation, Venkateswara (Lord of the Venkata Hill). He is also called the Lord of the Seven Hills.

The temple of Sri Venkateswara has acquired unique sanctity in Indian religious lore. The Sastras, Puranas, Sthala Mahatyams and Alwar hymns unequivocally declare that, in the Kali Yuga, one can attain mukti, only by worshipping Venkata Nayaka or Sri Venkateswara.

The benefits acquired by a piligrimage to Venkatachala are mentioned in the Rig Veda and Asthadasa Puranas. In these epics, Sri Venkateswara is described as the great bestower of boons. There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord at Tirumala.

The temple has its origins in Vaishnavism, an ancient sect which advocates the principles of equality and love, and prohibits animal sacrifice.

The sanctum sanctorum which houses the awe-inspiring idol of the Lord of the Seven Hills is situated in the main temple complex of Tirumala.

Temple History
	There is ample literary and epigraphic testimony to the antiquity of the temple of Lord Sri Venkateswara. All the great dynasties of rulers of the southern peninsula have paid homage to Lord Sri Venkateswara in this ancient shrine. The Pallavas of Kancheepuram (9th century AD), the Cholas of Thanjavur (a century later), the Pandyas of Madurai, and the kings and chieftains of Vijayanagar (14th - 15th century AD) were devotees of the Lord and they competed with one another in endowing the temple with rich offerings and contributions. It was during the rule of the Vijayanagar dynasty that the contributions to the temple increased. Sri Krishnadevaraya had statues of himself and his consorts installed at the portals of the temple, and these statues can be seen to this day. There is also a statue of Venkatapati Raya in the main temple. After the decline of the Vijayanagar dynasty, nobles and chieftains from all parts of the country continued to pay their homage and offer gifts to the temple. The Maratha general, Raghoji Bhonsle, visited the temple and set up a permanent endowment for the conduct of worship in the temple. He also presented valuable jewels to the Lord, including a large emerald which is still preserved in a box named after the General. Among the later rulers who have endowed large amounts are the rulers of Mysore and Gadwal. After the fall of the Hindu kingdoms, the Muslim rulers of Karnataka and then the Britishers took over, and many of the temples came under their supervisory and protective control. In 1843 AD, the East India Company divested itself of the direct management of non-Christian places of worship and native religious institutions. The administration of the shrine of Sri Venkateswara and a number of estates were then entrusted to Sri Seva Dossji of the Hatiramji Mutt at Tirumala, and the temple remained under the administration of the Mahants for nearly a century, till 1933 AD. In 1933, the Madras Legislature passed a special act, which empowered the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) Committee to control and administer a fixed group of temples in the Tirumala-Tirupati area, through a Commissioner appointed by the Government of Madras. In 1951, the Act of 1933 was replaced by an enactment whereby the administration of TTD was entrusted to a Board of Trustees, and an Executive Officer was appointed by the Government . The provisions of the Act of 1951 were retained by Charitable and Religious Endowments Act, 1966. god "Balaji"

elephant blessing

It is believed that Lord Sri Venkateswara enjoys festivals (utsavams), and therefore, every moment in Tirumala is considered a festive occasion. The most important festival is the Brahmotsavam.

The Tirumala Hill is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Five persons are allowed for Shrivari Darshan. Laddus will be given after darshan. Laddu Padi tickets are sold at Vijaya Bank. Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. The sacred temple of Sri Venkateshwara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatadri (Venkata Hill), and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini. There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala. The name Tirupati, meaning the 'the Lord of Lakshmi should have been appropriately applied to the village on the Venkata Hill, the abode of the Lord. However, it has been popularly assigned to the Municipal town at the foot of the Hill, while the village around the Hill near His temple is called Tirumala (the Sacred Hill). Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala is regarded as the world's richest temple with an estimated annual income of over 300 crores. The hill temple, which received a stream of royal benefactions, has a fabulous collection of very rare and precious ornaments whose antique value is beyond anybody's guess. It also has crores of rupees worth assets in the form of land and buildings spread across the country. The main source of income is derived from the "hundi" which netted an all time record of Rs.116 crores in the year 1997-98 by way of cash offerings. During the period the hundi also received 450 Kg of gold, 3,200 Kg of silver articles, diamonds weighing 2.430 Kg besides more than 2 Kg of pearls, loose stones, corals and other precious offerings. There is no dearth of funds for the sacred temple as philanthropists from all over the country and abroad queue up to make fabulous donations in fulfillment of their vows. Lord Venkateshwara who according to the mythologies is "self-manifested" (svayambhu) is regarded as the most revered Hindu God today. On any given day the main deity is adorned with not less than a hundred Kg of gold, diamond and pearl ornaments. Of all the ornaments, which adorn the deity, "Makara Kanti", "Lakshmi haram", "Shaligrama haram", "Suryakatari" (golden sword believed to have been presented to the Lord by the Sun God) are of immense antique value their history being rooted in legends. Aside the recently made diamond crown whose present value is put around Rs.30 Crores the other ornaments such as "Nagabharanams", "Sankhu-Chakram", "Kati Hastham" and "Abhaya Hastham" are also made of gold and diamonds. The "Golden Dhoti" (peethambaram) made of pure gold laces is the heaviest of all his "costumes", weighing about 40 Kg. This particular vasthram adorns the main deity during Brahmothsavam and on other main festive occasions. It is mind boggling to learn that more than 150 Kg of pure gold is used to provide a gold metal cover to the exquisite "ANANDA NILAYA VIMANAM", the granite canopy over the sanctum sanctorum. In addition to this the temple management is contemplating to provide gold-coated copper sheets to all the pillars and doors including the outer prakaram of the sanctum sanctorum to add to the aesthetic beauty of the shrine and thus transform it into a "golden temple" complex. According to rough estimates, nearly 100 Kg of gold is required for the work and the TTD is already in the process of procuring the same. An interesting feature of the temple is inspiring its rich collection of ornaments; donations are still pouring inn from devotees in the form of fabulous offerings. For instance, during 1998 year a devotee from Sri Lanka who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons had donated three diamond-studded golden crowns for the processional deities - the Lord and his two consorts. Another devotee a business tycoon from Pune offered a diamond parrot, a pair of Nagabharanams besides other princely offerings to the temple. Apart from these another devotee has come forward to donate a "Vajra Kireetam" to the goddess Padmavati of Tiruchanoor whose estimated cost is around Rs. one crore. To add further to the grandeur of the temple, the management has already initiated the task of remaking various "vahanams" used for the procession of the Lord. Beside the "surya prabha" vahanam remade last year, the TTD has recently refabricated the gold-coated "sarvabhoopala" vahanam at a cost of Rs.23 lakhs using four Kg of gold. The temple annual income which was Rs. 37 lakhs in 1945-46 rose to 9 crore in 1970-71 to Rs. 23 crore by 80-81 and then toRs. 108 cr. (90-91) and touched all time high of Rs. 300 crore during 1997-98 By the end of the millennium TTD is expecting its income to touch the Rs.350 crore mark.

alayappaswami is the utsava murthi of Lord Sri Venkateswara.His ubhaya nacchiyars (twoconsorts) are Sri Devi and Bhu Devi.

Brahmotsavam

Pushpa Yagam
	The worship of Lord Sri Venkateswara with a variety of sweets and fragrant flowers. It is conducted on Sravana Nakshatram, after Brahmotsavam.

Pushpa Pallaki
	A periodical seva performed on Anivara Asthanam, in the month of July every year.

Spl story on Tirumala goes green –saves 45percent energy,

 India’s richest temple – Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanms (TTD), at Tirumala is setting an  enviable example  in  promoting green concept in delivery of  free services to the common devotees .

Today  it is relying entirely on clean energy to feed over 70,000 people everyday. The temple has installed solar powered lights, solar cooking system, windmills and a water recycling station in its bouquet of energy conservation systems to facilitate the devotees.
“We are making all attempts to  convert  Tirumala  into  a green haven  with rich greenery , gardens, reduce noise and  carbon pollution and also  extensively  utilise the  forest  wealth and abundant sun  and wind capacities  on the hillock “ says  Sri. I Y R Krishna Rao, Excutive officer of the TTD.
The temple has installed solar powered lights, solar cooking system, windmills and a water recycling station.  An investment of just  Rs 1  crore made eight years ago to set up the system of 106 solar dishes that use solar energy to convert water into steam, has become the pioneer effort in energy saving and also reducing oil pollution in the hill shrine .
It saves Tirupati 1.2 lakh litres of diesel every year used earlier  to run motors for producing power to run  electric heaters  and the steam used to undertake huge cooking operations in the  making of laddu prasadam and the Anna Prasadam schemes ..
The steam thus generated is used to  heat water for bathing purposes of thousands of devotees  and also  converted into steam  for cooking in the numerous kitchens of TTD incuding the Srivari Potu where all prasadams are  prepared for the Lord Venkateswara’s Naivedyam .
..”The basic principle is conversion of water into steam energy through the solar energy. The water flows through the pipes and the solar dishes concentrate the solar energy to the concentrators. In the concentrators the water is converted into steam and that steam is utilised for cooking,” says Deputy Executive Engineer (Mechanical) KV Raman Rao.
It is not just the sun alone as Tirumala uses wind and water effectively too. The windmills  set up on the hill terrain ensure that the temple  shrine  is able to meet a some part of the power requirement by itself.
“ From the wind energy, I’m getting around 140 lakh units. As  against TTD’s annual requirements of  350 lakh units  accounting for its  40-45 per cent of the energy needs met  from its non-conventional sources,” points out Divisional Engineer (Electrical) M Ravishankar Reddy.
Nearly 50,000 kilos of rice along with sambhar and rasam are cooked in the kitchens of Tirumala every day of the year without using conventional gas. Since we started using this system, our work is easier and quicker. It’s much better than gas which took much longer. We’ve been using this for more than 8-9 years and we are really comfortable with it,” says Tirumala chef Goravaiyya Rao.
Green concept has made major inroads into the hill shrine .The TTD health officer  Dr Vijayalakshmi says that the  plans were afoot to completely ban use of plastics on the hill shrine of Tirumala . “We are scouting for alternatives for plastics as it a major  utility for pilgrims  who walk the foot path and also visit Tirumala during peak summers “, she said .
TTD  is also promoting massive  green cover  with avenue plantation all along the  three  kms radius of the temple establishments “We are promoting social forestry at all the guest houses  and also set up  flower  tableau’s  at   centres thronged by the pilgrims “ said Srinivasulu , director of gardens of TTD .

Spl Story on Thula Bharam at Srivari Padi Kavali

 On the left corner of the Padi kavili  of the Srivari Temple one will see a large steel balance kept for weighing persons who want to fulfil their vow to Lord Venkateswara.

Nearly 100-200 persons fulfill their vow at this spot  by donating  commodities, metals or even coins  worth their weight to Lord Venkateswara .

Legend says that LOrd Venkateswara had become heavily indebted  and had taken huge loans from \kubera , the lord of  wealth and hence  his devotees were contributing their mite to reduce his burden .
Devotees paid  in all formats to theri beloved deity . To facilitate  the devotees to fulfill their vow  the TTD had set up the Tula bharam at the entrance itself in association with the Indian Bank .Value of weight of  coins  was  listed out  and also the  weight of commodities  like rice, sugar,jaggery , sugar candy  etc .
" Devotees could bring their own coin or grains which they can deposit in the HUndi . But we offer to deposit only if they take it from us . Our  rates are as per the commodity and coin rates at which TTD had made the purchases " says B.Guna Sekhar Reddy, the officer  in charge of the  Tula bharam.
Tulabharam is available in two shifts  of  12 hours  and  devotees can  utilise the facility as per  their convenience ,. say temple officials .
t is  well known that devotees of Lord Venkateswara made strange vows  for fulfilment of their wishes . Many walked  long distances , some crawled and also rolled  as well .
GLITTERING START TO PADMAVATHI PARINAYOTSAVAM IN TIRUMALA

Sale of Temple Prasadam

After darshan, a small quantity of prasadam is distributed free of cost to each pilgrim .

Panyarams are sold on all days, at the counters outside the temple. Tokens for buying panyarams can be obtained at the bank counter located along the queue.