Tirumala Tirupati Balaji Temple - History, Location, Legend

As you all know India is one of the countries who has still maintained and conserved their tradition and culture with lots of changes having within it such as development in science and technology.

The ideologies and thinking have changed but the faith and trust in god has not changed. One of the exemplar is Tirupati temple situated in Andhra Pradesh. From all over India and other countries, people come here to worship the idol of Venkateshwar, popularly known as Balaji.

Tirupati Balaji Temple

It is also known to the richest and most visited temple in the India. It is said if you make a wish or pray for something the Balaji grants it and for that reason people whose prayers were granted they would donate money, gold or silver to show their gratitude.

Not only it gets lots of expensive offering but also many devotees shave off their heads and tons of hair is collected, later sold by the temple. It is believed that by shaving your head there in the name of lord, you are wiping out the ego within you.

Location

Tirupati temple is situated on Tirumala Hill which is 3200 ft above sea level and around 10.33 sq miles in area. The hill comprises of seven peaks; Neeladri, Anjanadri, Venkatadri, Seshadri, Vrushabadri, Garudadri. The temple of Balaji is at seventh peak – Venkatadri which in the southern banks of the Sri Swami Pushkarini. You will find there many small traditional temples.

Ideal

The Tirupati temple is made of gold and the room where idol of Balaji is kept is lit only with diyas so you just see the outline of the idol, gold jewelry and red line (tikka) on his forehead gets lightened up by the diyas light as the whole idol is black in color. The whole scene from getting in the area to stand in queue with more than 60 thousand people is tiring as well as exciting. All the chaos around and people shouting Govinda – Govinda, makes you part of their passion to see their lord and love towards him. Once you enter the temple, except the pushing and shouting the name of god, the whole event is mesmerizing.

History

The history of this temple goes long back around 9th century AD when ruler of Kancheepuram, pallavas, supported the holy place but during Vijayanagara dynasty that’s around 15th century AD this place got recognized. Now the place is run by autonomous body called Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam Committee which is a group of trustees.

Richest Temples In India

As this temple gets lots of donation and is known as one of the richest god in the world, the whole money is spent on the renovation and development of place so the devotees coming to Tirupati won’t face any problem to reach. As lot of money is spend on constructing roads, building lodges to accommodate if any one plans to stay overnight, etc.

Legend

The legend behind this temple is said to be that in 11th century AD, Saint Ramanuja, climbed this seven hills and lord Venkateshwar appeared and blessed him. And then Saint Ramanuja lived for 120 years to spread the teachings and beliefs about his god.

Best Time to Visit

In the month of late December-January is said to be auspicious to go there. According to the Hindu calendar this time is called month of Margashira or Margashirsha. As Venkateshwar is known to be another identity of lord Vishnu, so according to the Vaishnavism culture (those who follow Vishnu) believes that in Vaikunta which comes between late December and January is very auspicious day as on this day ‘the gate of lords inner sanctum’ is opened. So during this period more than lakh of pilgrims come here to perform pujas and yagnas.

Accommodation

At the Tirumala the whole accommodation supervised by the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam committee (TTD). You will get to stay at dormitories made available around temple. During off seasons you can make advance booking by sending draft check of Rupees 100 and a letter to the TTD.

How to Reach

Bus transportation is made available from airport to Tirumala and back to the airport by the APSRTC bus for convenience for the passengers. Plus there are buses which are free of cost working in and out of Tirumala and around Tirumala.