Sri Venkateshwara Temple – The glory of seven hills God

As I started counting my steps to reach the destination, I felt the level of my excitement raising. In my way, I was accompanied by a lot of venerators just like me who are in their journey to get a glimpse of God sitting up there. Chanting God’s name in all my way automatically energized me and cuts down the distance to the half. The closer I was to the hilltop, the more energetic I started feeling. And in this sequence, I realized that I have reached my destination – the temple of Tirupati Balaji.

Based in Tirupati, the temple finds its whereabouts at the top of the Tirumala hills in Tirupati. The shrine is in the name of Lord Venkateswara, a Vishnu avatar. The temple is also famously known as Balaji temple derived from Balaji who is lord Venkateswara himself. Other names of the deity include Srinivasa, Venkatesha, Hari Govinda, Venkatramana and many more.

As soon I step into the premises, I experienced some kind of magical vibes and undefined positive energy flowing into my body. I observed that the temple is full neat and clean and everything is systematic so that people won’t have to struggle to get into the home of God. Now what I have to do was, just follow the line which was quite long as the temple is usually jam-packed with visitors.

After a couple of hours, I reached the sanctum of the temple where the main deity is settled. A few steps closer and I got to see a bright shining idol of the lord decorated with the gold and silver ornaments, colorful clothes and garlands from top to bottom. I was just about to bow my head and everyone around me started shouting ‘Govinda-Govinda’. I also repeated a row of chants along with the crowd and moved further to receive the prasadam of the almighty. And this is to be noted that the prasadam of this temple is toothsome and delish than any other.

Temple Outlooks And Appearance

Eye-catching designs and the magnificent structure of the temple captivates the sight for every visitor. The gold plated spire of the temple adds to the grandeur of the temple. The temple follows the Dravidian style embellished by detailed carvings of small images of Gods all over the building.

The main entrance of the temple is known as Mahadwaram on which a tall 50 ft tower is built. The second entrance is the silver entrance known as Vendidwaram and finally, the last entrance is called the bangaram dwaram which leads the sanctum of Venkateswara Swamy. The place where the main deity sits is called Vimanam.

The principal deity is the God Venkateshwara (also known as Balaji) residing in the garbhagriha of the temple. Other deities besides the Balaji is the Malayappa Swamy with wives Sridevi and Bhudevi in the left of the main idol and in the right is the idol of Ugra Srinivasa, Lord Rama with consort Sita and brother Laxman, Lord Krishna with wife Rukhmani.

How the temple stood up

The temple in Tirupati put its foundation stone in the 8th century which was initiated by a Tamil ruler. After then, it was carried out by many different rulers of different dynasties between 9the to 15th centuries. The Vijaynagar king Krishnadeveraya beautified the temples by thin gold plated cover and embedded jewels on the Vimanam of the temple.

With the decline of Hindu rule, the temple was maintained and taken care of by the Muslim Karanataka rulers and later by British rulers. In 1932, this religious shrine was handed over to an NGO named Tirumal Tirupati Devastham (TTD) which looks after all the administrative activities associated with the temple including management, services, maintenance, pilgrim darshans, coverage of temple pujas, celebrations and many more.

Facts to Know

1. The temple is in the list of the 108 holy shrines of Vishnu (Divya Desams)
2. The amount of donation and earnings of this temple makes it wealthiest in India.
3. Balaji temple is the only temple where people donate their hair to please the Lord.

Tips you need to know

1. The temple follows strict rules for the dress code for both men and women. Traditional Indian attire with decent appearance is a must to enter the temple.
2. Cameras, cell phones, shoes, and leather materials are strictly restricted to take inside. Some certain other products are also not allowed in the temple.
3. Photography is not allowed in the temple complex.

How to reach the temple

Tirupathi well connected by airways, railways, and roadways. One can take a bus/car or cab to reach the main destination, from where you can start your journey to the temple top. People can take steps to reach the temple. To avoid walking, one can take the temple’s bus that directly drops you to the temple complex.