ThiruvEnkaDa (Thiruppathi) divya desam Part 1. Origin, history and unique features of the temple

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1 ThiruvEnkaDa (Thiruppathi) divya desam Part 1. Origin, history and unique features of the temple SuprabhAtham: ȫ ã ȡ ǕĤ ȡȡ Ǘ ȡ[ ÛÚ ȡĤ[ ȯ(kausalya supraja rama purva sandhya pravartate `ǒƣæȡ[ [åȳȱȡǒƹ (uttistha narasardula kartavyam daivamahnikam) Meaning: Oh, the darling son of KausalyA, dawn has arrived. Please wake up, Oh tiger among men, and you have the daily rituals to be performed to propitiate the gods This is how Sage ViswAmitra woke up his ward Rama at dawn in the forest to exhort Rama to perform the daily human duties (ablution and oblation). These two lines from Valmiki RamayaNam were used as the starting lines for Sri VenkaTEsa SuprabhAtham (29 slokhams) composed by PrativAdi Bhayankaram annangaracaryar (ca 1500 CE) per the decree of his guru MaNavALa MAmunigaL. The SuprabhAtham (literally su+ prabhatham = good morning ) is recited every morning at the sayana mantapam (slumber hall) at Thiruppathi temple to wake up Lord VenkaTEswara. It consists of four parts with a total of 70 slokhams consisting of SuprabhAtham (29), Stotram (11), Prapatti (16), and MangaLAsAsanam (14). SuprabhAtham is recited every day at dawn at Tiruppathi except during the marghazhi month (Dec 15-Jan 15) when ANDAL s tiruppavai is recited in its time slot. (Please visit: for the complete text in Roman script and meaning for the full 70 slokhams). Location: ThiruvEnkaDa divya desam, one of the 108 divya desams, comprises a cluster of three temples the hill temple at Tirumala for Lord SrInivAsa, the GovindarAja PerumAL temple at Tiruppathi (foothills), near the railway station, and Goddess PadmAvati temple at TiruccAnUr, 3 kilometers away from Tiruppathi. All the three temples are located in the Eastern Ghats (the mountain range that runs along southeastern India) range known as the Seven Hills. The seven hills are named as: SEshAdri, neeladri,

2 GaruDAdri, anjanadri, VrishabAdri, narayanadri, and VenkaTAdri. Tiruppathi town is in ChittUr district of Andhra Pradesh (200 kilometers from Chennai). The Tirumala hill temple is 15 kilometers away from Tiruppathi reachable through a picturesque mountain road. The hill temple is said to have been consecrated by Sri RAmAnujar (founder of the VaishNavism sect) in 1130 CE. Since the temple is located on the VenkaTAdri or VenkaTAcalam hill (Adri and acalam mean mountain or hill in Sanskrit) the Lord is known as VenkaTEswara or VenkaTAcalapathi. He is also known as SrinivAsa or BAlAji. History: The actual inception date of the temple is not known precisely. SilappadikAram, the ancient Thamizh classic (ca 2 nd century CE), mentions the holy hills as nediyon kunram (the hill of the great Lord Vishnu) and thiruvengadam as the northern frontier of the Thamizh country. Literature dating to the Mauryan (4 th century BCE) and Gupta periods (5-7 th centuries CE) refer to the region as Adi VarAha kshetram (the ancient VarAha site) meaning the third avataram of Lord Vishnu. ThoNDaimAn, a PallavA king, is believed to have built the early version of this temple around 5 th -6 th century CE. The VaishNava saints (AzhwArs) of the period 6 th -9 th centuries CE have sung about the Lord of thiruvengadam in their pasurams. Several royal dynasties including the PallavA, sozha, Hoysala, and the Vijayanagara empires (from 6 th through 16 th centuries CE) also made additions and provided the temple with various gifts such as gold, ornaments, land, and other endowments. The Thamizh poet Kamban (ca 10 th century CE) in his celebrated KambarAmAyaNam refers to the ThiruvEngaDam hills and mentions that the truth enshrined in the vedas is manifested as the Lord in those hills. After the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, Maratha rulers and rulers from Mysore supported the temple. The East India Company, after administering the temple for several years, transferred the administration in 1843 to native religious institutions. In 1933 the Tirumala Tiruppathi Devasthanams (TTD) was established as the primal organization to run the temple complex. Currently it is operated by a board of trustees. The management has come under the control of the Andhra Pradesh government. Origin of the temple: There are several legends associated with how the temple got located there. According to VarAha puranam, the third avatar of Vishnu (Adi VarAha) appeared on the western bank of the pond in the hills while Vishnu in the form of VenkatEswara established on the southern bank. It is said that the sage Brigu kicked Lord Vishnu in His chest angered over being ignored by the Lord. Goddess Lakshmi got offended and left VaikuNTham and went to the nether world to do penance and finally reappeared at the foothills of Tirumala

3 seated on a lotus. That is where She has her abode now in TiruccAnUr as PadmAvati or alar mel mangai (literally the maiden on the lotus flower). Lord Vishnu was grieved over the departure of His consort and He too left VaikuNTham and took residence in an anthill on the VenkaTAdri. A cow used to feed milk to the Lord at the anthill. When the cowherd watching this threw his ax at the cow the Lord protected the cow by rising from the anthill but got hurt. Thereupon the cowherd fell and died on the spot. Later the sozha king of the region got to know this event. He was cursed by the Lord for the delinquency of his cowherd but offered a reversal of the curse when he would be reborn as a future king (Aksa Raja) and offer a crown to the Lord. In due course, when Aksa Raja was ruling the kingdom he was yearning for a child. While plowing the field as part of a yagam, he found a female child in a lotus in the ground. He took the child to his palace, named her PadmAvati, and reared her. When she came of age the king married her to the Lord. At the wedding the king offered a gold crown to the Lord. (Those who are interested in further details can visit: and read the whole story pages ). The earliest temple was constructed by the king ThoNDaimAn who was a simple devotee in his previous birth and was ordained by the Lord to become a future king and build a temple. There are several versions of the hoary events as is common with mythology. See for further details. Sri Venkatachala Mahatyam is the most commonly accepted legend and provides the history through the different eons. Temple features: As mentioned earlier the temple complex in Tiruppathi consists of three temples. They are as follows: Tirumala (on the hill), Keezh Tiruppathi (at the foothills), and TiruccAnUr (alamelu mangapuram) also at the foothills. Tirumala: The sanctum sanctorum is a 12 foot square chamber housing Lord Srinivasa in the standing posture facing east. He is also known variously as TiruvEngaDamudaiyAn, VenkaTAcalapathi, and BAlAji. The golden crown structure over the sanctum is called Ananda nilaya vimanam. This 3-tiered vimanam is 38 feet high. The festival or processional idol (utsavar) is called Malayappan or KalyANa VenkatEswara. This utsavar idol is flanked by His

4 consorts Sri devi and BhU devi. In front of the sanctum is the famous sayana mantapam where the SuprabhAtham is recited at dawn everyday. The pond associated with the temple is called SwAmi PushkaraNi. There is also a lake nearby called koneri. Accordingly the Lord is called koneri rayadu vadu (Lord of the KOnEri Lake). Within a couple of miles there is a waterfall and a river (AkAsa Ganga, PApavinAsini, and SwarNamukhi). There is no separate shrine for the goddess at the Tirumala hill temple. However, the Lord Srinivasa (the name means one within whom goddess Lakshmi lives ) has a gold pendant engraved with goddess Lakshmi adorning His chest. The Lord here has been eulogized by 10 of the 12 AzhwArs in about 202 verses (PAsurams). Keezh Tiruppathi: At the foothills the temple houses Lord GovindarAja perumal (considered to be the older brother of Lord Srinivasa). He is found in a reclining posture on a serpent bed (bhujanga sayanam) facing east. His consort is called PuNDarIka vallit tayar. TiruccAnUr: This temple is dedicated to goddess PadmAvati, also known as alar mel mangai. The goddess is seen in a sitting posture facing east. There is a processional idol (utsava vigraham) of Lord Srinivasa in the sanctum sanctorum Festivals: Everyday is a festival day at Tiruppathi. However, the annual BrahmOtsavams during the Thamizh month of purattasi (Sept-Oct) are celebrated with great pomp and pageantry. According to VarAha and BrahmANDa puranas, Lord Brahma himself instituted the 9-day festival in honor of Lord VenkatEswara. On each day during the festival the processional deities are taken out in the morning and afternoon trips on decorated mounts accompanied by Vedic chants and devotional music. On the fifth day the Lord rides on His principal vehicle, GaruDa (the celestial eagle). On the eighth day it is rathotsavam. The processional deity and His consorts are placed in a chariot which is pulled along the four main streets of the hill. On the eleventh day the Lord is taken to the Swami PushkaraNi and dipped in the water---a ritual bath. Other festivals include VaikuNTha EkAdasi, Rama Navami, and JanmAshTami. The spring festival (VasanthOtsavam) is conducted during March-April, and Rathasaptami is celebrated during February. Epilogue: The Tiruppathi temple attracts 60,000 devotees every day, on average. The annual budget of the temple was estimated at Rs. 10 billion ($200 million at current exchange rates).

5 The employees number about 14,000. All the money comes from donations big and small from devotees. The TTD organization uses the money to run the temple activities and various charitable activities, such as university, colleges, religious schools, orphanages, hospitals and several other institutions. A discussion about the etymology of ThiruvEngaDam and Tiruppathi are in order here. The name Tiruppathi is thought by some to have derived from tiru + pathi (goddess Lakshmi s Lord) which refers to Lord Vishnu and the town got the name of the Lord. Another school thinks the name derives from tiru + pathi meaning a sacred city (tiru = holy, sacred; pathi = city, town) thereby referring to the town as holy because of the temple. As for ThiruvEngaDam, couple of interpretations is given. 1. In Thamizh vem means bamboo and kadam means forest. The hill slope being full of bamboo trees is thus called venkadam or venkatam and the honorific tiru has been added in front to denote the holiness of the place. 2. VEn or vem also means fire in Thamizh and kadam means sin. Hence venkadam would denote the incineration of sin. Devotees believed that if they visited that place their sins would be destroyed. It is generally believed that the Thamizh word vengadam (mentioned in ancient Thamizh literature dating back to 2000 or more years) got Sanskritized into venkata and the lord became known as venkata+eswara = VenkatEswara. Finally it is fitting to conclude this article with a slokham from VarAha PurANam. ȮÌ ȡǑġ Ȳ è ȡ Ȳ Ħ ƺ ȡÖ Ȯ ȡǔè Ǒ Ñ ȮÌ ȯ Ȫ ȯ Ȫ Ǘ Ȫ ǒ æ Ǔ VenkaTAdri samam sthanam brahmande nasti kincana VenkaTEsa samo devo na bhuto na bhavisyati Meaning: There is no other place in the macrocosm (universe) that is on par with VenkaTAdri (Tirumala, VenkaTAcalam). There is no other god that is equal to VenkaTEsa nor will there ever be one. Note: The names vengadam and venkatam are used interchangeably. Likewise Tiruppati and Thiruppathi also denote the same. Phonetics and conformity with international transliteration scheme for these two names are somewhat compromised in using such words throughout this article. The official website for TTD For detailed pilgrimage accounts by individuals: Sethuraman Subramanian mahakavi@nc.rr.com