108 Divyadesam - 106) Tiruvenkatam

Details of Kshethram:Moolavar: Sri Venkateshwara Perumal Thayaar: Padmavathy Thayaar Vimanam: Ananda Nilaya Vimanam Pushkarani: Sri Swamy Pushkarani Travel: This kshethram is located at Tirumala-Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Azhwar Pashuram: Periya Azhwar: 7 Pashurams Sri Andal: 16 Pashurams Tiruppanazhwar: 2 Pashurams Kulasekara Azhwar: 11 Pashurams Tirumazhisai Azhwar: 14 Pashurams Poigai Azhwar: 10 Pashurams Bhoodath Azhwar: 9 Pashurams Pei Azhwar: 19 Pashurams Namazhwar: 52 Pashurams Tirumangaiazhwar: 62 Pashurams Total: 202 Pashurams     Sthala Puranam:"Vina Venkatesam na natho na natha, Sada venkatesam smarami , smarami,Hare Venkatesa , praseedha praseedha, Priyam Venkatesa , prayacha prayacha.," The meaning of the above shlokam is as follows: "Without you Oh Venkateshwara I would not exist, I keep remembering your name. Please bestow me with your love and grace." “..Venkatadri Samam Sthaanam Brahmande Naasti Kinchanaa…Venkatesa Samo Devo Na Bhootho Na Bhavishyati..” The meaning of the above shlokam is as follows: “..Neither in the past nor the future would there be a sacred place in this universe that can equal the sanctity of the Venkatadri hills nor would there be a God who can equal the Holy Lord Sri Venkateswara..” This shloka appears in the Bhavishyattottara Puranam written by Maharishi Vyasa centuries before the Lord ever came to reside at the Venkatadri Hills. As per legend, after saving the Earth from Hiranyaksha, Lord Varaha stayed on this hill on the northern bank of Swami Pushkarini. Hence Tirumala Hills is also referred to as Adivarahakshetra. During the beginning of Kaliyuga, Lord Varaha donated land to Lord Venkateswara on his request. As gratitude, Lord Venkateswara offered first bell, puja, and Naivedyam to Varahaswamy before they were offered to him. This is being followed as a tradition even today.

The rishis headed by Kashyapa began to perform a sacrifice on the banks of the Gangas. Sage Narada visited them and asked them why they were performing the sacrifice and who would be pleased by it. Not being able to answer the question, the rishis approached Sage Bhrigu.To solve a direct ascertainment of reality. Bhrigu first went to Satyaloka, the adobe of Lord Brahma. At Satyloka, he found Lord Brahma, reciting the four Vedas in praise of Lord Narayana, with each of his four heads, and attend upon by Saraswati. Lord Brahma did not take notice of Bhrigu offering obeisance. Concluding that Lord Brahma was unfit for worship, Bhrigu left Satyaloka for Kailasha, the abode of Lord Shiva. At Kailasha, Bhrigu found Lord Siva spending his time pleasantly with Parvati and not noticing his presence. Parvati drew the attention of Siva to the presence of the sage. Lord Shiva was furious at Bhrigu's intrusion and tried to destroy him. The sage cursed Lord Shiva and left for Vaikuntam. At Vaikuntam, Lord Vishnu was reposing on Adisesha with Sri Mahalakshmi in service at His feet. Finding that Sriman Narayana also did not notice him, the sage was infuriated and he kicked the Lord on His chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides. At once, Lord Vishnu hastened to apologize to the angry sage and pressed his feet to allay the pain caused to Bhrigu's leg. In doing so the Lord removed the eye in the foot of the sage, which gave Bhrigu power as to defy the Devas. Thereupon, the sage decided that Lord Vishnu was the most supreme of the trimurthis and told the rishis the same. Thereupon, they decided that Lord Vishnu was the fruit of the yaga. Sri Mahalakshmi was angered by the action of her Lord in apologizing to Bhrigu who committed an offense. She, therefore, left Vaikuntam without heeding the entreaties of the Lord. At the commencement of the current Sveta Varaha Kalpa, the whole universe was filled with water and the Earth was immersed in it. Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a white boar (Sri Varaha) and dived into the water to lift the Earth. He slew the demon Hiranyaksha who was obstructing Him and rescued the Earth. Brahma and the other Devas praised Sri Varaha for saving the Earth by chanting the Vedas and showering flowers on Him. Lord Vishnu decided to stay on Earth in the form of Sri Varaha for some time, to punish the wicked and protect the virtuous. The place then came to be known as Varaha Kshetra and the Varaha Kalpa commenced. After the departure of Mahalakshmi, a forlorn Lord Vishnu left Vaikuntam and took abode in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree, beside a pushkarini on the Venkata Hill. Taking pity on Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwara decided to assume the forms of a cow and its calf to serve Him. Surya, the Sun God informed Mahalakshmi of this and requested her to assume the form of a cowherdess and sell the cow and calf to the king of the Chola country. The king of the Chola country bought the cow and its calf and sent them to graze on the Venkata Hill along with his herd of cattle. Discovering Lord Vishnu on the ant-hill, the cow provided its milk, and thus fed the Lord. Meanwhile, at the palace, the cow was not yielding any milk, for which the Chola Queen chastised the cowherd severely. To find out the cause of lack of milk, the cowherd followed the cow, hid behind a bush and discovered the cow emptying her udder over the ant-hill. Incensed over the conduct of the cow, the cowherd aimed a blow with his axe on the head of the cow. However, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to receive the blow and save the cow. When the cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe, he fell and died of shock. On the death of the cowherd, the cow returned, bellowing in fright and with bloodstains all over her body, to the Chola King. To find out the cause of the cow's terror, the King followed her to the scene of the incident. The King found the cowherd lying dead on the ground near the ant-hill. While he stood wondering how it had happened, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill and cursed the King saying that he would become an Asura because of the fault of his servant. The King pleaded innocence, and the Lord blessed him by saying that the curse would end when the Lord was adorned with a kireetam presented by Akasa Raja at the time of His marriage with Sri Padmavati. Thereafter, Lord Vishnu or Srinivasa decided to stay in Varaha Kshetra and requested Sri Varahaswami to grant Him a site for His stay. His request being readily granted, Srinivasa ordained that a pilgrimage to His shrine would not be complete unless it is preceded by a bath in the Pushkarini and darshan of Sri Varahaswami, and that puja and naivedyam should be offered to Sri Varahaswami first. Yashoda brought up Sri Krishna, the son of Devaki, in his early years. However, Yashoda was not blessed to witness the marriage of Sri Krishna with Rukmini and she felt very sad. Sri Krishna promised to fulfill her desire in her next birth as Vakuladevi in his next avatara as Srinivasa. In Yashoda's next birth as Vakuladevi, she was serving Lord Varahaswami when He sent her to serve Srinivasa. Sometime later, a King named Akasha Raja who belonged to the Lunar race was ruling over Thondamandalam. He had a brother named Thondaman. Akasha Raja had no heirs, and therefore, he wanted to perform a sacrifice. As part of the sacrifice, he was ploughing the fields when his plough turned up a lotus in the ground. On examining the lotus, the King found a female child in it. Akasha Raja was happy to find the child. He carried it to his palace and gave it to his Queen. At that time he heard a voice from above which said, "Oh! King, tend to it as your child and fortune will befall you." As the child was found in a lotus, the king named her Padmavati. Over time, Princess Padmavati grew up into a beautiful maiden and was attended to by a host of maids. One day, while she was spending her time in a garden picking flowers with her maids, Sage Narada approached her. Assuring her that he was her well-wisher, he asked her to show him her palm to read her future. He foretold that she was destined to be the spouse of Lord Vishnu himself. At this time, Lord Srinivasa, who was hunting, chased a wild elephant in the forests surrounding the hills. In the elephant's pursuit, the Lord was led into a garden, where Princess Padmavati and her maids were picking flowers. The sight of the elephant frightened the Princess and her maids. But the elephant immediately turned around, saluted the Lord and disappeared into the forest. Lord Srinivasa, who was following on horseback, and saw the frightened maidens, who accosted Him with queries When Lord Srinivasa returned, Vakuladevi brought him his usual dinner comprising various delicacies. However, she found him lying on his bed, pining for his love. When she inquired about the cause, the Lord informed her that unless he married Princess Padmavati, he would never be well again. Vakuladevi then asked Him to tell her all about the Princess. The Lord then narrated the story of her (Padmavati’s) previous birth and his promise to wed her. In olden times, Lakshmi, in the form of Vedavati, was staying in an ashram in the forests. At that time, Ravana, the lord of Lanka tried to tempt her. In anger, Vedavati cursed him saying that she would bring about his death. To show how true her words were, Vedavati walked into the fire, but Agni, the Fire God rescued her. He took Vedavati to his house and entrusted her to his wife's care. When Ravana was about to carry away Sita from Panchavati, in the absence of Rama and Lakshmana, Agni appeared and offered Vedavati to Ravana as the real Sita who was kept with him by Rama to evade Ravana. Ravana was tricked into thinking that Vedavati was the real Sita. Ravana took Vedavati to Lanka thinking she was the real Sita, while Agni took Sita to his house and asked his wife Swahadevi to look after her. After the destruction of Ravana, Vedavati entered the fire when rejected by Rama. Then, Agni offered the real Sita to Rama. Rama then questioned her as to who the other lady by her side was. Sita informed Rama that the lady was Vedavati who endured Ravana's torture for ten months in Lanka for her sake. Sita requested Rama to accept Vedavati also as his spouse. But Rama declined her request saying that he believed in having only one wife during his lifetime. However, He promised to wed her in her next birth as Padmavati, born as the daughter of Akasha Raja, when Rama himself would take the form of Srinivasa. After listening to Srinivasa's story of how he had promised to marry Vedavati in her next birth as Padmavati, Vakuladevi realized that Srinivasa would not be happy unless he married Padmavati. She offered to go to Akasha Raja and his Queen and arrange for the marriage. On the way, she met the maid-servants of Padmavati returning from a Siva Temple. She learned from them that Padmavati was also pining for Srinivasa. Vakuladevi went along with the maidservants to the Queen. Meanwhile, Akasha Raja and his queen Dharanidevi were anxious about the health of their daughter, Padmavathi. They learned about Padmavathi's love for Srinivasa of Venkata Hill. Akasha Raja consulted Brihaspati about the propriety of the marriage and was informed that the marriage was in the best interest of both the parties. After the departure of Vakuladevi, Srinivasa could not rest in peace. He doubted if she would succeed in her mission. He, therefore, assumed the form of a lady fortune-teller and entered the streets of the capital telling fortunes. Padmavathi's maids saw her and invited her to the presence of their Queen. The maid-servants informed Queen Dharanidevi that the fortune-teller was hesitating to enter the palace without the Queen's invitation. The Queen came out herself and invited the fortune-teller into the palace. The fortune- teller was taken to the presence of Princess Padmavati. The fortune-teller read the palm of the Princess and told the Queen about the cause of Padmavati's indisposition. She advised the Queen to give Padmavati in marriage to Lord Srinivasa. She also told the Queen that a lady would approach her shortly on behalf of Lord Srinivasa, to formally request Padmavati's hand in marriage. After the departure of the fortune-teller, Vakuladevi arrived at the palace and was taken by the maidservants to the Queen. She informed the Queen that she had come on behalf of Lord Srinivasa to request the hand of Padmavati in marriage. Having consulted Brihaspati and heard from his Queen about the prediction of the fortune-teller and the arrival of the messenger from Srinivasa, Akasha Raja decided to hand his daughter in marriage to Srinivasa. He asked the palace purohits to fix a muhurtam for the marriage. Akasha Raja informed his ministers and other officials of his plans. Immediately, a letter was drafted requesting Srinivasa to come and marry the Princess. Akasha Raja entrusted the delivery of the letter to Sukamahamunin. Suka went to Venkata Hill with Vakuladevi. He presented the patrika to Lord Srinivasa, who was very happy. The Lord sent his garland for Padmavati through Suka. Kubera lent money to Lord Srinivasa to meet the expenses of the marriage. In about 6 months after this celestial marriage, MahaLakshmi comes to know that her husband married again and comes to see him in disbelief. It is said that the Lord turns into Stone right when he is encountered by Mahalakshmi and Padmavathi. Lord Brahma and Shiva appear before the confused queens and explain the main purpose behind all this – The Lord's desire to be on the 7 hills for the emancipation of mankind from the perpetual troubles of Kali Yuga. Goddesses Lakshmi and Padmavathi also turn into stone idols expressing their wish to be with their Lord always. Lakshmi stays with Him on His Chest on the left side while Padmavathi rests on His Chest's right side. Rangadasa was a staunch devotee of Vishnu and in the course of his pilgrimage, joined Sage Vaikhanasa Gopinatha, who was going up the Tirumala Hill for the worship of the Lord. This was after the Lord had settled the Adivaraha region. After bathing in the Swami Pushkarini, Rangadasa viewed Lord Vishnu beneath a tamarind tree. However, Lord Vishnu was exposed to the sun, wind, and rain and was only protected by the extended wings of Garuda. Rangadasa raised a rough wall of stones around the deity and started supplying flowers to Gopinatha everyday for Vishnu's worship. One day, Rangadasa was distracted by a Gandharva king and his ladies and forgot to supply flowers to Gopinatha for Vishnu's worship. The Lord then revealed Himself and told Rangadasa that he had not been steadfast and had succumbed to temptation. However, in acceptance of Rangadasa's devoted service to Him till then, the Lord 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 vimanam and high surrounding walls, and thereby earn eternal glory. Soon the site was forgotten and an ant-hill formed over the temple. 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 cow-herd, saw Vishnu under the tamarind tree. Tondaman returned home, deeply affected by the vision of Vishnu. Tondaman later inherited his father's kingdom, Tondamandalam. Following the directions given by Adi Varaha to a forester, Tondaman constructed a (closed precincts of a temple) and dvara-gopuram and arranged for regular worship of the Lord as per Vaikhanasa Agama Shastras. Lord Venkateswara appeared in the dream of Thondaman and asks him to build a temple for him where he turned into stone. So comes into being the temple for Venkateswara on the seventh hill, named Venkatadri (Venkata Hill) at present-day Tirumala-Tirupati.

Practices established by Sri Ramanujacharya:

1. Making Lord Venkateswara to re-adorn the Sankha and Chakra in a visible manner for devotees, to end the debates over whether the Lord in Tirumala is Lord Vishnu, or someone else.

2. Renovating Ananda Vimanam.

3.  Offering, and doing pratishtapanam of Vyuha Lakshmi (two-handed Sridevi) on the Lords’ necklace (kantika).

4. Changing the schedule of the Lord’s Tirumanjanam (Abhishekam) to a weekly occurrence on every Friday, from a daily occurrence.

5. Recital of nachiyar thirumozhi every Friday during Thirumanjanam when Sridevi is taken from the Lord’s chest and is offered thirumanjanam.

6.  Commissioning of the building of wide streets around the temple, and moving back of the Brahmotsavam from Thiruchanur to Tirumala.

7. Appointing the Vaikhanasa Archaka for the Tirumala temple.

8. Establishing of Yoga Narasimha sannadhi inside the temple.

9. Installing Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman, Sugriva and Angada moorthys in the temple at Tirumala, and establishing the practice of performing Kalyana utsavam to Rama and Sita the day after Sri Rama Navami.

10. Establishing practices at Varaha Perumal Sannadhi.

11. Installing of Azhvar sannadhis in Tirupati.

12. Consecration of the svayam vyaktha tiruvadi of Lord Srinivasa and Azhvars in the foothills.

Code of Conduct established by Ramanujacharya:

Sri Ramanuja, on seeing the flawless service performed by Acharya Periya Tirumala Nambi, and Anantazhvan, and on seeing the defects in the service performed by many others at Tirumala, wanted to establish a code of conduct at Tirumala, to prevent any defects in the service to Lord Venkateswara. He called Periya Tirumala Nambi and Anantazhvan and asked them to implement and maintain the code of conduct as follows.

1. Only those who are responsible for services to the Lord that require a physical presence in Tirumala must live in Tirumala.

2. Any food that is not prasadam of Lord Venkateswara should not be eaten in Tirumala.

3. Only flowers that have already been offered to Lord Venkateswara must be offered to the home deities of those who live in Tirumala

4. The last rites (burial, or cremation) should not be performed in Tirumala.

5. Animals or birds should not be killed and eaten in Tirumala

6. Noone should wear footwear, or ride-on vehicles in the streets around the temple in Tirumala, and in any place in Tirumala where Lord goes during festival times.

7. Non-believers should not come to Tirumala

8. There should not be any temple for other deities in the region between Swami Pushkarini and Kapila Theertha

9. The above-mentioned rules should apply to all regions that are within the distance of 1 yojana (around 8 miles) from Swami Pushkarini.

Mangalam:

 Sriyah kanthaya kalyana nidhaye nidhayerthinam Sri Venkata nivasaya Srinivasaya Mangalam

Sri Vaikunta virakthaya Swami Pushkarineethate Ramaya Ramamanaya Venkateshaya Mangalam

Mangalasasana paraih madacharya Purogamaih Sarvaischa Purvai racharyaih Sathkrithayasthu Mangalam