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Monday, September 21, 2009

TIRUMALA-TIRUPATI


                                                            OM NAMO VENKATESAYA





 TEMPLE STORY:


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.

HISTORY:

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 .


LEGENDS:

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.

TEST OF 3 DIVINITIES:
At the commencement of the Kali Yuga, Vishnu left Venkatadri for Vaikuntam. Brahma was very unhappy with his departure and asked Narada to persuade Vishnu to return to Venkatadri. Narada then went to the banks of the River Ganga, where several rishis were performing a sacrifice. The rishis could not decide as to whom they intended to dedicate the fruit of their sacrifice. Bhrigu, one of the rishis undertook to solve the problem by examining the three chief divinities. 



He first went to Satyalokam, the abode of the three-headed Brahma (who is also attributed to have four heads) and found him busily chanting the Vedas with one face, uttering the name of Narayana with another and looking at Goddess Saraswati with the third. He took no notice of Bhrigu. Bhrigu resented the want of courtesy on the part of Brahma.


Bhrigu then went to Siva's abode (Kailasam). Here too, he found Siva absorbed in sporting with his consort. Siva even became indignant at Bhrigu’s intrusion.






Finally, Bhrigu went to Vaikuntam, the abode of Vishnu and found Vishnu and Sri Maha Lakshmi reclining on Adisesha. Disgusted, Bhrigu kicked Vishnu on the chest, where Sri Maha Lakshmi was reclining. Vishnu immediately got up, massaged the rishi's foot and enquired if he had been injured. Pleased with Vishnu’s attention, Bhrigu returned to the rishis and advised them to dedicate the fruit of their sacrifice to Vishnu.
Sri Maha Lakshmi was angry with Bhrigu because he had kicked the spot which was her favourite resort on the bosom of the Lord. She left Vishnu and went to stay at Karavirapura (now Kolhapur in the state of Maharashtra). Unable to bear the solitude, Vishnu left Vaikuntam in search of Sri Maha Lakshmi.
This was how he made his way to Venkatadri, and entered the ant-hill under the tamarind tree on the southern bank of Swami Pushkarini on the Tirupati hill.

 TEMPLES AROUND TIRUPATI:

VARAHASWAMY TEMPLE:




Sri Varahaswami Temple in Tirumala is to the north of the Sri Venkateswara Temple, on the banks of Swami Pushkarini.
According to legend, Tirumala was originally Adi Varaha Kshetra (the home of Sri Adi Varaha Swami), and it was with his permission that Lord Sri Venkateswara took up residence here.
According to the Brahma Purana, pilgrims should first offer naivedyam to Sri Adi Varaha Swami, before visiting the Sri Venkateswara Temple.
According to Atri Samhita (Samurtarchanadhikara), the Varaha avatara is worshipped in three forms: 
  • Adi Varaha
  • Pralaya Varaha
  • Yajna Varaha 
The idol of Sri Varahaswami in Tirumala is that of Adi Varaha, as it resembles the description of the Adi Varaha murti in Vaikhanasa Agama texts

KANIPAKAM






KANIPAKAM  is a small village on the bank of BAHUDA river.

            KANI means wetland... PAKAM means flow of water into wetland... 
   According to the legend,there were 3 brothers && each one had a handicap...viz dumb,deaf,blind...they were earning their livelihood by cultivating a small piece of land...

One day they found out thay the water in their well got dried up...So one of them got into the well and started digging up...suddenly his iron implement struck a stone like formation...

Later he was shocked to see blood oozing out...within a few seconds,the entire water turned out to RED...LO && BEHOLD...ALL THE THREE GOT RELIEVED OF THEIR HANDICAPPNESS...It became a holy shrine...
Soon the villagers tried to deepen the well...But their attempt proved FUTILE because the SWAYAMBHU idol (self manifested) of LORD VINAYAKA emerged from swirling waters...

Out of their devotion ,the villagers tendered a number of coconuts...The coconuts water flowed into the channel to a distance of 1 1/4 acres...The indication led to the modification oin the usage of tamil word KANIPARAKAM and later pronounced as KANIPAKAM...



Another striking feature of this divine idol is that it is still growing in size...At present we can see the knees and abdomen of the idol...




how to reach:
FROM VELLORE:

FROM TIRUPATI:

FROM CHENNAI(VIA VELLORE):