वेङ्कटाचलम्

Located on the range of the Eastern Ghats, called the Seven Hills, Tirumala is a pilgrim center of great significance and is visited daily by thousands of pilgrims, throughout the year. It is an ancient temple and its glory has been sung by Azhwars.

Claimed to be the richest temple in India, this temple attracts pilgrims from all over the country and NRI. Pilgrims stand in line for hours to obtain the glimpse of the presiding deity for a few seconds. Tirupati town is in Andhrapradesh, and is around 200 Kms from Chennai. A well-maintained ghat road as well neatly laid steps to the hill can reach the Tirumala hill temple located at 15 Kms.

Tiruvenkatam Divyadesam constitutes three temples - the hill temple at Tirumala for Srinivasa, the Govindaraja temple at Tirupati and the temple at Tiruchanur, 3 Kms from Tirupati, for Goddess Padmavathi.

The moolavar in the hill temple is Srinivasa also called Venkateswara, Balaji, in a standing posture while the utsavar is Kalya Venkateswarar with Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. There is no shrine for Thayar in the hill temple. The Tiruchanur temple enshrines Goddess Padmavathi with Utsava Vigraha of Srinivasa. The Govindaraja perumal, considered to be the brother of Srinivasa, is in a reclining posture in the temple at Tirupati and there is also a sannadhi for Pundarikavalli Thayar. The Theertham is Seshachala Theertham and the Vimanam Ananda Nilaya Vimanam.

According to the Varaha purana, Adi Varaha manifested Himself on the western bank of Swami Pushkarini, while Vishnu in the form of Venkateswara came to reside on the southern bank of the Pushkarini.

The legend has it that Rangadasa a staunch devotee of Vishnu after bathing in the swami Pushkarini found the lotus-eyed and blue-bodied Vishnu underneath a tree. The wonderful sight astounded Rangadasa and since Vishnu was exposed to sun, wind, and rain and was only protected by the extended wings of Garuda, he raised a rough wall of stones around the deity and started worshipping the Lord everyday with flowers. The Lord appreciated Rangadasa's devoted service and blessed that he would be reborn as an affluent ruler of a province and continue to serve the Lord.

Rangadasa was reborn as Tondaman, the son of the royal couple, Suvira and Nandini. One day on a hunting expedition on the Tirumala Hills, Tondaman with the help of a forester saw Lord Vishnu under a tree. In accordance with the directions given by Adi Varaha to a forester, Tondaman constructed a Gopuram and Prakaram and arranged for the regular worship of the Lord. Since the Lord was happy to see the temple being constructed the Vimanam is called Ananda Vimanam.

The stala purana also mentions that Kasyapa Maharishi once began a sacrifice on the banks of the river Ganges. Sage Narada who attended the sacrifice asked the Rishis why they were performing the sacrifice and who among the Trimurthis would be pleased by this sacrifice. Unable to respond to Narada's query the Rishis approached Sage Brigu to find the answer. With a view to reach a solution after directly ascertaining the reality, Sage Brigu first went to Satyaloka, the abode of Brahma. At Satyaloka he found Brahma attended upon by Saraswati, was reciting the four Vedas in praise of Lord Vishnu and did not take notice of Brigu offering obeisance. Concluding that Lord Branhma was unfit for worship, Brigu went to Kailasa the abode of Siva. He found Siva spending his time pleasantly in the company of Parvathi without noticing the presence of Brigu. Enraged he left for Vaikuntam. At Vaikuntam Lord Vishnu was reposing on Adisesha with Mahalakshmi attending on Him. Finding that Sriman Narayana also did not notice him, the sage was infuriated and kicked the Lord on His chest, the place where Lakshmi normally dwells. At once the Lord hastend to apologise to the angry sage and pressed his feet to allay the pain caused to his leg. In doing so the Lord also removed the third eye in the foot of the sage, which gave the power to Brigu to defy the Devas. Pleased with the act of Lord Vishnu the sage decided that Lord Vishnu was the most supreme of the Trimurthis and conveyed this to the Rishis.

In the meantime, Sri Mahalakshmi left Vaikuntam being upset and angered by the action of her Lord in apologizing to Brighu who committed an offence. After the departure of Lakshmi, a forlorn Lord Vishnu also left Vaikuntam and took abode in an anthill under a tree beside the Pushkarini on the Venkata Hills. Taking pity on the Lord, Brahma and Siva decided to assume the forms of a cow and its calf to serve Him. The king of the Chola dynasty bought the cow and its calf and sent them daily along with the herd of cattle to the Venkata Hills for grazing. Discovering the Lord in the anthill, the cow provided its milk and thus fed the Lord regularly. Meanwhile to find the reason for the lack of milk from this cow, the cowherd one day followed the cow and hid himself behind a bush and was amazed to find the cow emptying her udder over the anthill. Incensed over the conduct of the cow he aimed a blow with an axe on the head of the cow. However the Lord rose from the anthill and while saving the cow received a cut on his chin. When the cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe he fell down and died of shock. The king coming to know of this incident was wondering how it all happened and came to the anthill to checkup personally. The Lord appeared before the king and cursed that he would turn an asura because of the fault of his servant. The king pleaded innocence and the Lord blessed him saying that the curse would end when the Lord was adorned with a crown. Thereafter, the Lord decided to stay in varaha shetra requesting Sri Varahaswami to grant Him a site to stay.

Later Akasaraja came to rule over Tondamandalam. Since he had no heirs, he performed a sacrifice. As part of the sacrifice while ploughing the field his plough turned up a lotus on the ground. On examining the lotus the king found a female child in it. He carried the child to the palace and named her Padmavathi. As she grew up, the King was officiated by Brahma that she be given in marriage to Venkateswara. Accordingly Akasaraja solemnised the marriage. Kubera lent money to the Lord to meet the marriage expense. The king presented a crown to the Lord, and even today the crown adorned by the deity is called Akasaraja kireetam. At the request of Akasaraja the Lord agreed to stay at this shetram, and ordained that a pilgrimage to His shrine would not be completed unless it is preceded by a bath in the Pushkarini followed by the darsan of Sri Varahaswami. The two huge lamps that are found glowing now in the sanctum are believed to have been lit by Brahma.To worship the deity in this temple Sri Ramanuja climbed the hills on his knees for fear of desecrating the holy hills with his feet. Sri Ramanuja prescribed the elaborate rituals and the mode of worship in this temple, which are being followed even today.

There is festival every day, and several Kalyana Utsavams are being conducted each day. The annual Brahmotsavam is being conducted during the Tamil month Purattasi. The Utsavam is said to have been conducted by Brahma himself and hence gained the name Brahmotsavam. The Brahmotsavam for Thayar at Tiruchanur is being conducted during Karthigai.