THIRUPATHI TEMPLE:
Ancient History
Tirumala (Upper Tirupati)
According to Varaha Purana, during Treta Yugam, Lord Sri Rama resided here along with Sita Devi and Lakshmana on his return from Lankapuri.
The town was an established centre of Vaishnavism around the 5th century A.D. during which it was praised by Alvars. The temple rites were formalised by the Vaishnavite saint Ramanujacharya in the 11th century AD.Tirupati survived the Muslim and British invasions. During the early 1300's muslim invasion South India, the deity of Sri ranganathaswamy temple, srirangam was brought to Tirupati for safekeeping. The temple town for most of the medieval era part vijayanagara till 17th century and its rulers contributed considerable resources and wealth notable by krishna deva raya an achutya Deva Raya , Sadasiva Raya andTirumala Deva Raya.
The temple was built and upgraded in parts by various kingdoms. The inscriptions in the temple were found in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages which specify the contributions of the Pallava Kingdom 9th century AD, chola kingdom around the 10th century AD and the Vijayanagara empire in the 14th century AD.During the 15th century, Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya sung many songs in praise of the holy town in Telugu. He compared it to be divine, including the rocks, streams, trees, animals, and adds that it is heaven on the
earth .
TIRUPATI (Lower Tirupati)
There was no human settlement at Lower Tirupati until 1500 year. With the growing importance of Upper Tirupati a village is formed at the present day Kapilatheertham Road area and was named as "kotturu" . It was later shifted to the vicinity of govindarajaswamy temple which was consecrated around the year 1130 CE. Later the village was grown into its present-day form around Govindaraja Swamy Temple which is now the heart of the city. Now, it has gained a lot of popularity as a tourism place.
Modern History
In 1932, Tirumala Venkateswara Temple handed over to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams by the TTD Act of 1932. In 2006,Tirupati urban Development Authority(TUDA) and TTD together conducted "Tirupati Utsavam" which focused on the history of development of Tirupati town, kings who visited Tirumala and their contribution for development of the temple.The fourth World Telugu Conference, a conference for furtherance of Telugu language, was conducted at Tirupati during December, 2012 for three days.
PADMAPRIYA I
Medieval history:
ReplyDeleteThe Pallava dynasty of Kanchipuram (9th century), the Chola dynasty of Thanjavur (10th century), and Vijayanagara pradhans (14th and 15th centuries) were committed devotees of Lord Venkateswara. The temple gained most of its current wealth and size under the Vijayanagara Empire, with the donation of diamonds and gold. In 1517, Vijayanagara Emperor Krishnadevaraya, on one of his many visits to the temple, donated gold and jewels, enabling the Ananda Nilayam (inner shrine) roofing to be gilded. After the decline of Vijayanagara Empire, leaders from states such as the Kingdom of Mysore and the Gadwal Samsthanam worshiped as pilgrims and gave ornaments and valuables to the temple. Maratha general Raghoji I Bhonsle (died 1755) visited the temple and set up a permanent administration for the conduct of worship in the temple
N.Savitha
ReplyDeleteFACTS ABOUT THE TEMPLE:
ReplyDelete1. Tirumala Hill Ranges depict the face of Lord Balaji
One of the most shocking and amazing fact that anyone could believe is the Tirumala Hills that is located 1 km north of the temple is a natural arch and is a geological magic which represents the facial structure of Lord Balaji itself which is also known as Silathoranam in Telugu where ‘Sila’ means the rock and ‘Thoranam’ means an arch. It is estimated that the arch is 8 m in width and 3 m in height.
2. Stick at the right side of main entrance
At the main entrance of Tirupati Balaji Temple, there is a stick to the right side which was used by Ananthaalvar to hit Venkateswara Swamy when he was a small boy and once his chin was hurt by that stick and since then the tradition and practice of applying sandalwood paste (Chandan) on Swamy’s chin started.
3. Secret village is the source of flowers, milk and butter
All Gods are worshipped by flowers and at the Tirupati Balaji Temple, these flowers come from a secret village which is never seen and discovered by any outsider and even they are not allowed to get into that secret village. The villagers are the only people who are allowed to that village which is 22 km away from the temple. Not only flowers, other items like ghee, butter, milk, bilva leaves, banana leaves are also provided by that secret village
4. Lord Balaji statue has real hair
It is said and believed that Lord Balaji idol has real hair which never tangles and are super silky smooth always.
5. Waterfall behind Lord Balaji idol
A very surprising fact about Lord Balaji Tirupati temple is that there is a waterfall behind Lord Balaji idol and all the flowers that are used for worshipping Lord’s idol are thrown in the waterfall. One can hear the sound of roaring ocean placing an ear on the back of Lord’s idol.
6. Laxmi Devi on the heart of Lord Balaji idol
Lakshmi Devi is said to be present on the heart of Swamy Venkateswara. According to the temple pandits and Brahmins on Thursdays, during Nija Roopa Darshanam, Lord Balaji is decorated with white wood paste and when this paste is taken out, the imprint on Laxmi Devi remains which is later sold by the temple authorities.
7. Eathen lamps (Deepa) are lighted from an uncertain long time
The earthen oil lamps (deepam) that are used in worshipping Lord Balaji are always placed in front of the Balaji idol and the lamps never get put off as it is unknown till yet when these lamps were lit up for the first ever time. It is believed that they were lit up thousands of years ago and will remain the same forever.
8. Lord Venkateswara Swamy had once appeared in real
It is believed and said that in 1800, the temple was closed for 12 years as one King had punished 12 people for some crime by killing them and hanging them on the temple walls and it was the time when Vimana Venkateswara Swamy, Lord Balaji himself appeared in real.
9. Back of Lord Balaji idol never dries
It is said that no matter how many times, the back of the idol of Lord Balaji is dried up and cleaned, it remains wet and moist always.
10. Chemical Green Camphor cause no damage to the idol
The idol of Lord Balaji is adorned with a highly volatile chemical that is raw camphor or green camphor (Pachai Karpooram) derived from Cinnamomum camphora tree. When this chemical is applied on any stone it creates crack and fissures but when applied on Lord Balaji’s idol there was no damage on the stone.
11. Lord Balaji sweat too
Lord Balaji’s idol has a specific temperature always maintaining 110 degrees F. But the temple is situated at a height of about 3000 feet which means the climate is normally cold up there and every morning at 4:30 am after the Abhishekam Lord Venkateswara Swamy is done with water, milk as well as other holy and divine dravayam, sweat appears in the form of fine water drops and particles on the idol or Lord Balaji’s body which is also wiped off with a silk fabric cloth. Even on every Thursday when ornaments are removed from the idol before the sacred bath it is always noticed that they remain warm. J N Chandra Kala
Puja
ReplyDeleteThe temple follows "Vaikhanasa Agama" tradition of worship, which is believed to be revealed by Sage Vikhanasa and is propagated by his disciples Atri, Bhrigu, Marichi, Kasyapa. Vaikhanasa is one of the principal traditions of Hinduism and primarily worships Vishnu (and his associated Avatars) as the Supreme God. This ancient texts recommends six times puja(worship) a day for Vishnu, of which minimum one puja is mandatory.
Prathyusham puja — worship should start and finish before sunrise
Prathakala puja — worship should start after sunrise and finish before noon
Madhyahna puja — worship should start and finish at noon
Aparahana puja — worship should start when the sun starts to descend
SandhyaKala puja — worship should start and finish around the sunset
Nisi puja — worship should start after the horizon is completely dark
At present only three pujas are performed in Tirumala Temple daily which includes UshaKala puja, Madhyahna puja, Nisi puja.All the Aradhana is done by hereditary Vaikhanasa priests, who have performed the services for generations. Only priests from Gollapalli, Peddintti, Paidipalli, and Tirupathammagari family have the right to offer services to the Lord inside sanctum sanctorum.[citation needed] To assist the Archakas in temple work and rituals, Vaikhanasas from other families and Jeeyar Mattam established by Ramanuja, would take care of the temple work-deepa