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| Tirupati Venkateswara Temple, AP |
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 Lord
Venkateswara, popularly known as Balaji, is the
presiding deity of the Tirumala Hills, is one of
the manifestations of Lord Vishnu, who incarnated
in a previous Kali-yuga at the request of sage Narada.
The sage requested Lord Vishnu to settle in Tirumala,
to shower his eternal grace on mankind, who were
very much depressed and unable to follow the rigorous
yoga practices of self realization. Tirumala, the
seat of Lord Venkateswara is surrounded by seven
hills, thus He is known as Lord of the seven hills.
Located in the southern Chittoor district of Andhra
Pradesh, 130 kms from the city of Madras (Chennai).
Among all the festivals observed in Tirupati, the
most important of them is the annual Brahmotsava
festival, which derives its name from the fact that
it was originally inaugurated by Lord Brahma himself.
This festival is conducted once a year, and runs
for nine days. The term "utsava" means
a festival that raises one beyond the darkness of
material life. In Tirupati, every day is filled
with countless festivals that elevate us to spiritual
consciousness by connecting us with the deity through
service.
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. 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. Sri Venkatachala Mahatmya
is referred to in several Puranas, of which the
most important are the Varaha Purana and the Bhavishyottara
Purana. The printed work contains extracts from
the Varaha Purana, Padma Purana, Garuda Purana,
Brahmanda Purana, Markandeya Purana, Harivamsa,
Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana, Brahmottara Purana,
Aditya Purana, Skanda Purana and Bhavishyottara
Purana. Most of these extracts describe the sanctity
and antiquity of the hills around Tirumala and the
numerous teerthams situated on them.
The legends taken from the Venkatachala Mahatmya
and the Varaha Purana, pertaining to the manifestation
of the Lord at Tirumala, are of particular interest.
According to the Varaha Purana, Adi Varaha manifested
himself on the western bank of the Swami Pushkarini,
while Vishnu in the form of Venkateswara came to
reside on the southern bank of the Swami Pushkarini.
One day, Rangadasa, a staunch devotee of Vishnu,
in the course of his pilgrimage, joined Vaikhanasa
Gopinatha, who was going up the Tirumala Hill for
the daily worship of Lord Venkateswara. After bathing
in the Swami Pushkarini, he beheld the lotus-eyed
and blue-bodied Vishnu beneath a tamarind tree.
Vishnu was exposed to the sun, wind and rain and
was only protected by the extended wings of Garuda.
Rangadasa was astounded by the wonderful sight.
He raised a rough wall of stones around the deity,
and started supplying flowers faithfully to Gopinatha
everyday for Vishnu's worship. One day, Rangadasa
was distracted by a Gandharva king and his ladies.
Consequently, he forgot to supply flowers to Gopinatha
for Vishnu's worship. The Lord then revealed Himself
and told Rangadasa that He had been testing the
latter's continence, but Rangadasa had not been
steadfast and had succumbed to temptation.
However, the Lord accepted and appreciated Rangadasa's
devoted service to Him till then, and blessed Rangadasa
that he would be reborn as an affluent ruler of
a province and would enjoy the earthly pleasures.
He would continue to serve the Lord, construct a
beautiful temple with a vimana and high surrounding
walls, and thereby earn eternal glory. Rangadasa
was reborn as Tondaman, the son of the royal couple,
Suvira and Nandini. Tondaman enjoyed a pleasurable
life as a young man. One day, he set out on a hunting
expedition on the Tirumala Hill, and with the help
of a forester, saw Vishnu under the tamarind tree.
Tondaman returned home, deeply affected by the vision
of Vishnu. Tondaman later inherited his father's
kingdom, Tondamandalam. In accordance with the directions
given by Adi Varaha to a forester, Tondaman constructed
a prakaram and dvara gopura, and arranged for regular
worship of the Lord (according to Vaikhanasa Agama).
In the Kali Yuga, Akasaraja came to rule over Tondamandalam.
His daughter Padmavathi was married to Venkateswara.
The marriage, officiated by Brahma, was celebrated
with great pomp and splendour. |
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