Tuesday, July 29, 2008

SRI Venkateswara temple


Sri Venkateswara temple is the ancient & sacred temple of Lord Venkateswara, husband of Maa Lakshmi. Lord Venkateswara is also known as Balaji. In fact he is called by many names like Lord Vishnu, Lakshmipati, and Narasimhaswami etc. It is believed that Lord Balaji has taken birth on this earth many times for the prosperity of this world by giving knowledge and removing social evils.
This temple is located on the seventh peak of Tirumala Hill, Venkata peak. Hindus have huge believe in this temple as a result average 50,000 people visit this temple everyday. People especially from south part of India believe that one can attain mukti i.e. can be immortal only by worshipping Sri Lord Venkateswara.
This temple has got a huge security. Finger prints and photo image is required to get inside this temple. One can get entry token either at Tirupathi or at Tirumala. Again to get rid of confusion I tell you, Tirupathi and Tirumala are two different places. Tirumala is the collection of seven hills and Venkateswara temple is situated on Venkata Peak (seventh peak of Tirumala Hill).The distance from Tirupathi Bus stand (APSRTC) to Venkateswara Temple is approx 20 km, by road. This temple is very well connected by road, & one can get buses at regular interval of 10 minutes from Tirupathi.

Temple Management:-

This temple & other 12 temples at Tirupathi & Tirumala are maintained under TTD- Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanames.
The board of Trustees is constituted by members appointed by the government. (Andhra Pradesh State Government).

History:-

There is no confirm history about this temple. But it is believed that it got its attention back at 9th century at the time of Pallavas & Cholas- Riles of southern part of India.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Tirupathi-Tirumala: Hindu religious place

Way to Tirupathi from Tirumala

The second richest religious place, after Vatican City, the first in the world. Vatican City is situated in Europe and is considered to Christianity. Thus we can say that Tirupathi-Tirumala is the is the richest Hindu city or Hindu religious place. The temple is also a fine example of Dravidian Art & Style. It is also a famous center for wood carving. Tirupathi-Tirumala is situated in the Chittoor district in southern Andhra Pradesh, India.
Difference between Titupathi and Tirumala:
People usually get confused between the Tirupathi and Tirumala. So don’t get confused, here is the solution. Tirumala is the collection of seven hills situated in Tirupathi. The Tirumala Hill is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha (A seven headed snake on which Venkateswara or Balaji use to sit), thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. The sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatadri (Venkata Hill), and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini. There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala.
The name Tirupati, meaning the ‘the Lord of Lakshmi’ should have been appropriately applied to the village on the Venkata Hill, the abode of the Lord. However, it has been popularly assigned to the Municipal town at the foot of the Hill, while the village around the Hill near His temple is called Tirumala (the Sacred Hill). The distance between the Tirupathi and Tirumala is 18 km and is well connected by road. One can get ‘Ghat eligible’ buses after every 10 minutes.
Tirupathi is 268 km from Bangalore and 740 from Hyderabad, capital city of Andhra Pradesh.