Let us know what are the 15 must-visit places in and around Tirumala Tirupati.
1. SHRI VARAHASWAMY TEMPLE – TIRUMALA
2.SHRI VENKATESHWARA SWAMY TEMPLE, TIRUMALA
3.PADMAVATHI AMMA TEMPLE – TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI
4.SWAMI PUSHKARINI, TIRUMALA
5.BEDI ANJANEYASWAMI TEMPLE Tirumala
6.GOVINDARAJA SWAMY TEMPLE Tirupati
7.KAPILA THEERTHAM WATERFALLS Tirupati
8.KODANDARAMA SWAMY TEMPLE Tirupati
9.SRIVARI PADAMULU Tirumala
10.SHILATHORANAM Tirumala
11.CHAKRA THEERTHAM Tirumala
12.AKASHA GANGA THEERTHAM Tirumala
13.PAPAVINASHANAM THEERTHAM Tirumala
14.SHRI KALAYANA VENKATESHWARA SWAMY TEMPLE – TIRUPATI
15. SRIKALAHASTI TEMPLE
1. SHRI VARAHASWAMY TEMPLE
The presiding deity in the temple is Shri Bhuvarahaswamy, an incarnation of Lord shri Mahavishnu in the form of wild boar. Shri Bhuvarahaswamy was residing on the hills when Lord shri venkateshwara swami descended onto the earth. Tirumala was originally called Adivaraha kshetram .
As per Brahma Puranam, it is lord shri Bhuvarahaswamy who granted land to shri Lord Venkateshwara Swamy, on his request to reside on the sacred 7 hills. As a thanks-giving gesture, Lord Shri Venkateshwara Swamy told that devotees should first have darshan of Shri Bhuvarahaswamy before coming for his darshan. And the first naivedhyam will also be offered to Lord Shri Bhuvarahaswamy.
So devotees should first offer their prayers to Shri Bhuvaraha Swamy before visiting Lord Shri Venkateshwara Swamy.
2.LORD SHRI VENKATESHWARA SWAMY TEMPLE, TIRUMALA
The Lord Venkateshwara Swamy temple is also called kaliyuga Vaikuntam. Venkateshwara means Lord of Venkata. Word Venkata means Destroyer of sins. Venkata is derived from Sanskrit words VEM (sins) & Kata (power of immunity).
Meaning of Tirumala is 7 hills(edukondalu) and the actual/old name of this place is Venkatachalam or adivarahakshethram
There are three main reasons for Lord Vishnu to come on to the earth as Lord Venkateshwara.
1. To save people in kali yuga
Once Naradha muni visited Lord Vishnu and told that people in kali yuga will have less life span and because of influence of kalipurusha they will be not able to perform great yagas and penance, they will be busy in worldly pleasures. So Narada Muni requested Lord Vishnu to help them.
Then lord Vishnu told to Narada Muni that ” I will be taking an avatar as Venkateshwara in Kaliyuga to bless the devotees who visit me and offer their Thalanilalu (hair on the head)” (this why devotees offer head hair to god in Tirumala)
2. Boon to Yashoda Mata
During DwaparaYuga Yashoda Mata was not able to see the marriage of Lord Shri Krishna with Rukmini Mata. So once she expressed her grief to Lord Krishna. Then Lord Shri Krishna gave a boon to her that in her next life she will perform the marriage of Lord Venkateshwara with Padmavathi.
3. Boon to Vedavati
During Trethayuga there was a Brahmarshi Kushadwaja who was a great devotee of Mata Laxmi. Pleased by his devotion Mata Laxmi taken an avatar as his daughter. He named her Vedavati. In the meantime, she became a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Once when she is doing penance, Ravan has seen her and tried to touch her by force.
When he caught her hair, she has cut her hair and entered into the fire to sacrifice herself. Before entering the fire she cursed Ravan, that she will again take birth and will become a reason for his death.
Taking birth as Maya sita
In her next life, she was born as Maya Sita and brought up by God Agni. As per some Puranas, it is said that when Ravan tried to take Sita Mata. God Agni has replaced Sita with Maya Sita. So Maya Sita stayed in Lanka instead of Sita Mata. After the death of Ravan when Rama asked Sita Mata for Agni pariksha, God Agni replaced the actual Sita with Maya Sita.
Since Maya Sita (Vedavati) suffered a lot, God Agni requested Rama to marry her. But Rama told him that he can’t marry her in this life, but promised that in kali yuga when he will come as Venkateshwara he will marry Vedavati who will be reborn as Padmavathi.
So to make these 3 boons come true Lord Vishnu came to earth as Lord Venkateshwara.
3.PADMAVATHI AMMA TEMPLE
When King Akasharaja and his wife were plowing the land to perform Yagna, the couple found a child in a thousand petal lotus. A divine voice urged the king to bring up the child. The child was named Padmavathi as she was found in a lotus (Padma). When Padmavathi amma grew up Lord Venkateshwara came in search of her. Then the marriage of Lord Venkateshwara(Srinivasa) and Padmavathi amma happened in a grand way
4.SWAMI PUSHKARINI
Swami Pushkarini lies within the sacred premises of the main temple. This is the place of the utmost reverence and religious significance. It is believed that Lord Shri Venkateshwara (Balaji) himself bathed in this pond along with Mata Laxmi. A bath in this holy Pushkarini (temple tank) purifies body and soul. A dip in this is highly sacred and considered as a custom before entering the temple.
5.BEDI ANJANEYA SWAMI TEMPLE
During his childhood, once lord Hanuman wanted to leave Tirumala in search of a camel. This forced his mother Anjanadevi to tie his hands with cuffs in this place. Hence the idol of Lord Hanuman in this temple will be seen in a unique form where both his hand were handcuffed.(Bedi means Cuffs)
6. GOVINDARAJA SWAMY TEMPLE
When south India was invaded by Muslim rulers, the preceding deity of Chidambaram Sri Govindaraja swamy was brought and kept safely in Tirupati. After the situation at Chidambaram returned to normal the deity of Lord Sri govindarajaswamy was taken back to Chidambaram from Tirupati. After that one day, Sri ramanujacharya had a vision of lord Govindarajaswamy in his dreams advising to make arrangements for him to stay in Tirupati.
When Sri Ramanujarcharya visited the place which he has seen in the dream, to his surprise he found the vigraham (idol) of Lord Govindarajaswamy in that place. Sriramanujarcharya advised the king to construct a temple to the Lord. It is also told that Sri Govindarajaswami (a form of Lord Vishnu) is the elder brother of Lord Venkateshwara swami, who has taken care of the marriage of Sri Venkateshwara Swamy and Padmavati amma.
7.KAPILA THEERTHAM WATERFALLS
It is the place where Kapila muni (a form of Lord Vishnu) has performed Tapasya (penance) for Lord Shiva and got the darshan of Lord Shiva and Maa Parvathi. In the temple, there is a waterfall and water body. During the Karthika Purnima, the power of all the theerthas situated in the 3 worlds merges into Kapila theertham at noon for 10 gatikas (1 gatika = 24 minutes). If a person takes bath in Kapil theertham during that time then it is considered as he has taken bath in all the theerthas in the three worlds.
8.KODANDARAMA SWAMY TEMPLE
This temple which has a glorious history of over one thousand years was built by the Chola kings in the 10th century A.D. This temple was well developed by various kings especially by Sri Krishna Deva Raya in the 15th century. The symbols and raja mudrikas of the Vijaya Nagara dynasty can be seen on the rock walls of the outer mandapas.
9.SRIVARI PADAMULU
It is the place where Lord Vishnu first kept his feet on the earth as Venkateshwara. Footprint is available here and you can have a darshan of it.
10.SHILATHORANAM
During excavations in 1980, a very rare phenomenon of 2 different sets of rocks connected together in the form of a thin link was found. They are formed naturally. Shilathoranam is believed to be 2500 million years old
11. CHAKRA THEERTHAM
Once lord Brahma wanted to perform penance so he visited lord Vishnu and asked him to show a perfect place to perform penance. Then lord Vishnu plunged the Sudarshana Chakram which reached this place and stopped here. So it is called Chakra Theertham. The water body here will remove the sins of people who take a dip in it.
12.AKASHA GANGA THEERTHAM
Here the holy water will come out as a natural stream from the hills. It is believed that Akasha Ganga originates from the lotus feet of the main deity Shri Venkateshwara Swamy. This sacred water is used for Shri Venkateshwaraswamy daily Abhishekam.
Once God himself self told a priest to use this water for his Abhishekam. Here there is also a temple(mandir) of mata Anjanadevi (Mother of Lord Hanuman). It is also believed that this is the place where Mata Anjanadevi performed penance and got Hanuman as Son. so a dip in this theertham will remove the sins of devotees.
13. PAPAVINASHANAM THEERTHAM
Papa means sin and Vinashanam means destroyer. So Papavinashanam means destroyer of sins. The water in papavinashanam will remove the sins of devotees.
14.SHRI KALYANA VENKATESHWARA SWAMY TEMPLE
After the marriage with Padmavathi amma, Lord Venkateshwara visited sage Agasthya’s Ashram to seek the blessing. Over the wish of sage Agasthya, Lord Venkateshwara along with Padmavathi amma stayed at the ashram for 6 months. This Ashramam now became a famous temple
15.SRIKALAHASTI TEMPLE
Srikalahasti is one among the Panchabootha Lingas. Swarnamuki nadi (river) will be flowing near srikalahasti temple. Srikalahasti temple has great importance among lord shiva temples. Shiva lingam in Srikalahasti temple is Vayu (meaning air) Lingam. This is swayambu (self-manifested) Lingam. Srikalahasti got its name from the three best devotees of Lord Shiva. Srikalahasti name meaning: Sri – Spider, Kala – snake, Hasti – elephant.
Sri (spider) used to worship Lord Shiva by building a web around the shiva lingam, Kala (snake) used to worship Lord shiva by placing precious gems, and elephant used to worship by bringing water in its trunk and used to perform abhishekam. Pleased by the worship of all the three, lord Shiva offered Moksha to them in this place.
Bhaktha kannapa legend
There is one more legend associated with the temple. A hunter named Kannappa who is a great devotee of the lord(god) Shiva has offered his eyes to Shiva Lingam. Pleased by which lord Shiva offered Moksha to him. This devotee is famously known as Bhakta Kannappa and there is a temple for him on the hill. Srikalahasti temple is famous for performing Rahu Ketu Pooja and kala sarpa nivarana pooja. Below you can see the Srikalahasti temple gopuram image
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