Tirupati
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General
Tirupati (తిరుపతి)is a temple town located on the foot hills of Tirumala. Tirupati or Aadhi Varaha Kshetra as it is known in the Puranas (Scriptures on Hindu Mythology) is an imperative moutainous pilgrimage site in the Hindu world. It is dedicated to Vishnu the second deity of the Hindu Holy Trinity who assumes the role of preserver of the cosmos. In this temple Vishnu resides as Venkateswara, a unique form of Vishnu that is not to be observed elsewhere in India. The deity is seen with two arms as opposed to the commonly seen four-armed image of Vishnu. The goddess Sri or lakshmi (Vishnu's consort) resides on the chest of Venketeswara thus he is also known by another epithet of Srinivasa (the one who Sri resides in). The deity is seen by devotees as the Kaliyuga varada, that is the boon-granting lord of Kaliyuga (the fourth age of Hindu horology) Tirupati is held in particular reverence by the Vaishnava sect of South India, known as the Sri Vaishnava. It is only second in importance to Srirangam, a temple near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu.
Tirupati is the second richest religious institution after the Vatican and is one of the most revered Hindu temples in India. The temple has universal appeal in India, regardless of state of origin.
History of the Shrine
The origins of the site are legendary. Its beginnings are shrouded in great antiquity and its origins are still a matter of scholarly debate. Sangam literature, the earliest of Tamil literature (dated between 500 B.C to 300 A.D) mentions of Tirupati as Thrivengadam which used to form the northernmost frontier of the Tamil Kingdoms. Sangam literature such as Ilango Vadigal's Silapadikaram and Satanar's Manimeghalai bear testimony to the existence of a shrine at Tirupati. Puranic literature which was composed roughly around the post-Mauryan and early-Gupta era also mentions of Tirupati as the Aadhi Varaha Kshetra. The Puranas associate the site with Lord Varaha one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Till today the Varaha shrine holds great importance in Tirupati and is said to be older than the main sanctum of Venkateswara. While some scholars accept the antiquity of the shrine they believe that the image of Venkateswara was not originally that of Vishnu but of a buddhist deity, perhaps bodhisattva avalokiteswara. The region of Andhra in which Tirupati is located in was already known for the existence of ancient Buddhist sites of the Satavahana era, namely Nagarjunakonda and Amravati thus scholars suggest that the ancient site of Tirupati was probably a buddhist site prior to its transformation into a Hindu one after Buddhism saw its decline in the face of Guptan Hindu Rennaissance. Even till up to the time of Ramanuja, the famous Vaishnava scholar of the 12 century the identity of the deity was still disputed until Ramanuja confirmed it to be Vishnu.
Whatever its origins, it was probably a well established Hindu shrine by the 5th century A.D whenceforth the Alvars or Vaishnava saints who led the Bhakti or Devotional movement in South India sung in praise of Lord Veketeswara as Vishnu. For the centuries to come Tirupati was richly endowed by the kings and emperors of various dynasties thus owing to its current reputation as the richest and most opulent temple in the world. The Imperial Cholas, Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara emperors were just some of the contributors for building the temple and donating gold and other ornamanents for the temple. Tirupati survived the Moslem plunder of South India without being plundered by the invading Moslem rulers of Delhi unlike other temples such as the Meenakshi Sundareswara in Madurai and Srirangam. Under the invasions the idol of Sriranganatha, the deity of Srirangam was brought to Tirupati for safekeeping. To remember this event a hall in Tirupati is still known as the Ranganatha mandapa. It was under the regime of the Vijayanagara emperors that the temple attained its current opulence and size. The emperors of the dynasty in particular Krishna Deva Raya lavished on the temple numrous objects of priceless value, ranging from diamond studded crowns to golden swords. The coronation ceremonies of the emperors were also held at Tirupati.
Darshan Queque System at Tirumala
Tirumala possibly has the most elaborate arrangement in India to sequence and guide visiting devotees through the holy shrine. Due to the ever increasing rush of devotees during all 365 days in a year, the temple authorities (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) have set-up a virtual queque system. This has resulted in a steep drop in time that individual devotees need to spend within the Queque Complex leading to the main temple.
Individual devotees are required to register at any of the many queque offices situated near the main shrine, at the local rail and bus stations and at TTD offices in other key cities like Chennai and Hyderabad where most devotees come in from. On registration, devotees are provided with a bar-coded wrist-band with the expected time of entry into the Queque Complex. Devotees contributing for Special Darshan or Puja Darshan tickets are moved up the queque virtually. All devotees are treated equally from the point of entry into the Queque Complex.
Typically, devotees spend between 60 to 180 minutes going through the Queque complex, depending on the season. The delay is the maximum on weekends, festival periods and special temple puja periods. The best day to visit the temple is Thursday, just before the weekend rush.
Festivals
Whilst most Vaishnava festivals such as Vaikunta Ekadashi, Rama Navami and others are held with much pomp and glory as like other temples, the Brahmotsavam festival of Tirupati is the most important and greatest festival in Tirupati. It is said that Brahma the creator himself conducts the ceremony in honour of Veketeswara. The image of the deity is carried out in procession on various vahanas or vehicles everyday.
Related Links
- Official site of Tirupati Temple. (http://www.tirumala.org/)
- http://www.srimannarayana.com
- Tirumala.net
- Tirupati.info]