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Home » South India Tourist Destinations » Tirupati
Tirumala Tirupati
Lord Sri Venkateshawara, the scared and the most famous deity of Hindus, one of the Avatars of Lord Vishnu, houses on the senventh peak of Tirumala hill called as Venkatadri. The Tirumala hill is also called as Seshachalam, as it represents the seven hoods of Adishesha with seven peaks Sheshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri, and Venkatadri. It is not only recognized as Adi Varha Kshetra-the ancient of Varaha but also called as Kaliyug Vaikunta to where pilgrims would like to visit particularly on Vaikunta Ekadashi to earn punya, and they believe that God will forgive all their sins on this particular day, a doctrine in Vaishanavait Philosophy. Vekatadri is about 3200 ft., above sea level and 10.32 sq miles in area.
Tirupati is a town at the foothill of the Tirumala. The meaning of Tirupati is "the Lord of Lakshmi," but this applies to the town but not for the hill Venkatadri, the abode of Lord Venkateshwara. Tirupati is the fourth largest city (5 lakh population and 56 kmē area) situated in the Chitoor district of southern Andhra Pradesh.
The temple has a history of twelve centuries and was developed and patronized by many dynasties of South India like the Pallavas of Kancheepuram in the 9th century AD, the Cholas of Thanjavur between 10th and 13th century AD, the Pandyas of Madurai, and the kings and chieftains of Vijayanagar from 14th to 15th century AD. The kings of these dynasties were ardent devotees of Lord Venkateshwara and contributed rich offerings to their sacred deity, and the shrine of Lord Venkateshwara started getting recognition only in 15 century during the rule Vijayanagara dynasty Kings.
Venkateshwara is the incarnation Lord Vishnu himself. Srinivasa, Balaji, Venkateshawara are some of the names of Lord Vishnu. There are several legends for how Tirumala became the abode of Lord Vishnu. Few such legends are of Saint Ramanuja was blessed by the Lord and lived for 120 years to spread the gospel of Vishnu in Kaliyug. The legends of Vekateshwara is mentioned in all the Puranas and Vedas. The legends from Varaha purana and Venkatachala Mahatmya pertain to the manifastion of Lord at Tirumala. It mentions about how the devotee Ranagadasa was blessed by the Vishnu to be born to a king as Tonadaman and latter would build a temple for Lord Venkateshwara and spread the Glory of Lord Vishnu. It is believed that in kaliyug, Padmavathi the daughter of Aksaraja who ruled Todamandalam was married to Srinivasa.
The temples near the venkateshwara temple are
- Sri Varahaswami temple (to the north of the Sri Venkateswara Temple, on the banks of Swami Pushkarini)
- Sri Bedi Anjaneyaswami temple (is located on Sannidhi Street, opposite the main temple)
- Sri Anjaneyaswami temple (located opposite the Sri Varahaswami temple on the north-eastern banks of the Swami Pushkarini)
- Theeerthams (Swami Pushkarni is belived to take birth at Vaikuntamand for the sport of Lord Vishnu Garuda the vehicle of Vishnu set this Pushkarini on earth with other theerthams in and around Vekatadri-Akashaganga, Papavinashini, pandava, Kumaradhara, Ramakrishna, Chakra, Vaikunta, Sesha, Sitamma, Pasupu, Japali, Sanaka Sanandana Theerthams.
The other places are:
- Silathoranam (a natural arch formed by rock)
- TTD Gardens (460 acres of ornamental, landscape, and flower gardens)
- Asthana Mandapam (an auditorium near the main temple)
- Sri Venkateswara Dhyana Vignan Mandiram (a museum for articles used for puja, stone and wooden carvings, traditional art and arcitecture)
The management of Tirumala is done by the autonomous board Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). The requirement of pilgrims during their visit is looked after by TTD.
Transportaion:
Free bus service at preset timings, APSRTC bus service for air passengers from Airport; Railway booking at Central Reception Office Building; Automobile clinic for private transportation.
At Tirupati there are four bus-stations located in different corners of the town.
- Sri Venkateswara Bus Station (SVBS)-for pilgrims by train
- Balaji Link Bus Station (BLBS)-Pilgrims arriving from Bangalore, at Alipri
- Sapthagiri Link Bus Station (SLBS)- Pilgrims arriving from Chennai, Hyderabad and Vijayavada
- Sri Padmavathi Bus Station (SPBS)-pilgrims arriving through trains and tourist buses
pilgrims can reach Tirumala by foot also to fulfill there vows. Sopanamargas are well laid stone steps-Sopanamarga from Alipiri is 11km in length and pilgrims prefer this to other which is from Chandragiri only 6 km in length, but a difficult route.
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