Friday, November 27, 2009

TIRUPATI & MONUMENTS AND SIGHT SEEING SPOTS

TIRUPATI:
Tirupati

The sacred shrine of Lord Venkateswara or Balaji is situated on top the Tirumala Hills with nature in all its glory, splendour and charm. An aerial view of the seven hills (Sapthagiri) would give one the impression of Adi Sesha with its seven hoods lying majestically. Hence this holy place is also known as Seshachala.

According to a legend, when Brigu insulted Mahavishnu in Vaikuntam, an annoyed Goddess Lakshmi proceeded to Earth and did penance in Kolhapur. The Lord came in search of the Devi, reached these hills and remained as Srinivasa. Here He met Padmavathi, an incarnation of Bhoodevi and a princess of Narayanapuram, whom he had promised to marry in Rama Avatar.

As it was a royal wedding, Srinivasa needed huge funds. He borrowed it from Kubera, the celestial cashier, who insisted on repayment with interest. Hence devotees in Andhra Pradesh call the deity VADDIKASULASWAMY (The Lord of interest), repayment Kubera's interest which never ends. Kubera, enshrined in the Govindarajaswamy temple at Tirupathi at the base of the hills, is believed to be there collecting the interest with a brass measure.

The Lord at Tirupathi is also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkatesa Perumal, Venkataramanamurthi and Edukondalavada (The Lord of Seven Hills).

The shrine can be reached either by trekking up the hills, a lush green stretch of about 11 km or by bus service of the APSRTC (from 4 am till mid night). A Journey by bus or car on the magnificent Ghat road negotiating hairpin bends up and down the hills with the valleys deep down, proves an unforgettable experience.

Tirumala is a unique pilgrim centre which never sleeps. The darshan of the Lord begins at 3 am in the morning and ends at 12 pm midnight. The offerings include special Sevas and Sarva Darshan (Free Darshan). It takes around 3 to 4 hours waiting in "Q " for either Free Darshan or Rs.50.00 or Rs.40.00 paid darshan as the TTD have come out in a novel way by issuing computerized tokens to the pilgrims with approximate time to enter the "Q" complex. This system by TTD has considerably reduced the waiting time in the "Q" by the pilgrims and facilitates them to know their turn for Darshan and depending on the time gap they can visit the other temples around Tirupathi. These computerised tokens are issued at the Venkateswara Bus Stand and Padmavathi Bus stand in Tirupathi and near the main entrance at Tirumala.

Hundi offering is an important part of the pilgrimage to Tirumala. The collections, running into crores of rupees annually, are utilised for charitable purposes besides for the upkeep of the temple and making of the Laddu Prassadam and other Neivedyams distributed among the lakhs of devotees daily. With crores worth of hundi collections and gold and diamond jewellery used to adorn the idol, the Tirumala temple is the richest in the country.

Situated by the side of the temple is a sacred tank, known as Swamy Pushkarani, where many pilgrims take a holy dip before going to the temple. The shrine of Varaha Murthy, the original deity of Tirumala, is situated here. Offering of hair is another important vow many devotees undertake. Separate enclosures are provided for this purpose.

MONUMENTS AND SIGHT SEEING SPOT:

Govindarajaswamy Temple
It is situated at Tirupathi, the base of the Sapthagiri hills. Lord Vishnu, in his Ananthasayanam Posture, is enshrined here.

Tiruchanur (Alamelu Mangapuram)
Here Devi Padmavathi in all her bridal glory is worshipped. It is customary to worship the Goddess here after darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. The deities of Lord Krishna and Venkatachalapati are enshrined on the 'Prakaram'. Nearby, there is a Shiva temple dedicated to Sri Parasareswara. Tiruchanur is about 5 km from Tirupathi.

Srinivasa Mangapuram
Srinivasa Mangapuram, a small village, is about 12 km to the west of Tirupathi. Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple is located to the south-east of this village. Legends say that Lord Venkateswara after his marriage with Padmavathi Devi stayed here for sometime before proceeding to Tirumala.

Sri Kalahasti
This ancient pilgrim centre, on the banks of Swarnamukhi river, is about 36 km away from Tirupathi. This pilgrim centre is revered as one of the "Panchabhuta Sthalams" dedicated to Vayu (Wind God), signifying this, a Deepam keeps flickering in the sanctum. Sri Kalahasti is also considered a Navagraha Sthalam dedicated to Rahu and Kethu.

The hills on either side of the temple are revered as Dakshina Kailasam or Kailasagiri. There are shrines for Lord Kannappeswara and Durgamba. The Puranic version of the origin of the temple is that a spider (Sri), a Snake (Kala) and an elephant (Hasti) worshipped the Lord here and attained 'Mukti'. Hence, the name of the Lingam Sri Kalahastiswara. His consort is Gnana Prasannamnbika.

Another incident that took place on the hills is immortalized in legends and literature. A tribal hunter by name Thinna saw a priest doing Shiva Puja. The hunter became so devoted that he started worshipping the Lord in his own way by offering meat. One day when Thinna saw the eyes of the Lord bleeding, he offered his own eyes. Lord Shiva blessed him by calling his devotee KANNAPPA. In the temple, an image of Kannappa is enshrined next to Sri Kalahastiswara. The temple is known for its sculptural wealth. The deities of Balaganapathy, Annapoorni and Viswanatha are enshrined here. Pathalaganapathy is an underground cell. Adi Sankara had worshipped the Lord here and sung in praise of him in his 'Sivananda Lahari'.
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