An important temple in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh is that of Balaji / Venkateshwar / Vishnu at Tirumala near Tirupati. Two aspects of this temple are unusual, first that it is comparatively new. References to it are found in the Purans, where the site is associated with Vishnu’s Varaha avatar. The temple itself traces back to the 10th to 15th century CE. The second important aspect is that unlike most temples where the idol is representative of God, here the idol is said to be Vishnu himself.
Image outside
The story goes thus – Vishnu, in his incarnation as Srinivas had agreed to marry the daughter of Akasa Raja (and that is another story). His daughter Padmavathi (also known as Alamelu Mangamma), was found in a lotus in a pond. For the marriage Srinivas / Venkatesh / Vishnu borrowed heavily from Kuber, the treasurer of the gods. He also promised the following:
- that he would stay at the spot till the end of Kaliyug
- That he would fulfil the wishes of any devotee visiting there, and all donations at the temple would go towards repayment of the interest on Kuber’s loan.
Today the number of pilgrims visiting Venkatesh temple is very very large (in the range of 40,000 to 70,000 per day) and for a few seconds of darshan one has to stand in the queue for 8-10 hours. Photographs are strictly prohibited.
The beautiful area around
Incidentally the 30 kms drive from Tirupati ti Tirumala is enjoyable – the road is really well maintained and the view picturesque with flowers all along.
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