ThiruvEnkaDa (Thiruppathi) divya dEsam

ThiruvEnkaDa (Thiruppathi) divya dEsam
Part 1. Origin, history and unique features of the temple
SuprabhAtham:
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Ĥ ‡ ȡšȡ˜ ”Ǘ
 ȡ[ Ûڙ ȡĤ [ ȯ(KausalyA suprajA rAma pUrvA sandhyA pravartatE
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Meaning: “Oh, the darling son of KausalyA, dawn has arrived. Please wake up, Oh
tiger among men, and you have the daily rituals to be performed to propitiate the
gods”
This is how Sage ViswAmitra woke up his ward Rama at dawn in the forest to exhort
Rama to perform the daily human duties (ablution and oblation). These two lines from
Valmiki RamayaNam were used as the starting lines for Sri VenkaTEsa SuprabhAtham
(29 slOkhams) composed by PrativAdi Bhayankaram aNNangarAcAryAr (ca 1500 CE)
per the decree of his guru MaNavALa MAmunigaL. The SuprabhAtham (literally su+
prabhAtham = “good morning”) is recited every morning at the sayana maNTapam
(slumber hall) at Thiruppathi temple to “wake up” Lord VenkaTEswara. It consists of
four parts with a total of 70 slOkhams consisting of SuprabhAtham (29), Stotram (11),
Prapatti (16), and MangaLAsAsanam (14). SuprabhAtham is recited every day at dawn at
Tiruppathi except during the mArghazhi month (Dec 15-Jan 15) when ANDAL’s
tiruppAvai is recited in its time slot.
(Please visit: http://www.mypurohith.com/Rituals/Suprabhatam.asp for the complete text
in Roman script and meaning for the full 70 slOkhams).
Location: ThiruvEnkaDa divya dEsam, one of the 108 divya dEsams, comprises a cluster
of three temples—the hill temple at Tirumala for Lord SrInivAsa, the GovindarAja
PerumAL temple at Tiruppathi (foothills), near the railway station, and Goddess
PadmAvati temple at TiruccAnUr, 3 kilometers away from Tiruppathi. All the three
temples are located in the Eastern Ghats (the mountain range that runs along southeastern
India) range known as the Seven Hills. The seven hills are named as: SEshAdri, neelAdri,
GaruDAdri, anjanAdri, VrishabAdri, nArAyaNAdri, and VenkaTAdri. Tiruppathi town is
in ChittUr district of Andhra Pradesh (200 kilometers from Chennai). The Tirumala hill
temple is 15 kilometers away from Tiruppathi reachable through a picturesque mountain
road. The hill temple is said to have been consecrated by Sri RAmAnujar (founder of the
VaishNavism sect) in 1130 CE. Since the temple is located on the VenkaTAdri or
VenkaTAcalam hill (Adri and acalam mean mountain or hill in Sanskrit) the Lord is
known as VenkaTEswara or VenkaTAcalapathi. He is also known as SrinivAsa or
BAlAji.
History: The actual inception date of the temple is not known precisely. SilappadikAram, the
ancient Thamizh classic (ca 2nd century CE), mentions the holy hills as “neDiyOn kunRam”
(the hill of the great Lord Vishnu) and thiruvEngaDam as the northern frontier of the Thamizh
country. Literature dating to the Mauryan (4th century BCE) and Gupta periods (5-7th centuries
CE) refer to the region as “Adi VarAha kshEtram” (the ancient VarAha site) meaning the third
avatAram of Lord Vishnu. ThoNDaimAn, a PallavA king, is believed to have built the early
version of this temple around 5th-6th century CE. The VaishNava saints (AzhwArs) of the
period 6th-9th centuries CE have sung about the Lord of thiruvEngaDam in their pAsurams.
Several royal dynasties including the PallavA, sOzha, Hoysala, and the Vijayanagara empires
(from 6th through 16th centuries CE) also made additions and provided the temple with various
gifts such as gold, ornaments, land, and other endowments. The Thamizh poet Kamban (ca
10th century CE) in his celebrated KambarAmAyaNam refers to the ThiruvEngaDam hills and
mentions that the truth enshrined in the vEdAs is manifested as the Lord in those hills.
After the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, Maratha rulers and rulers from Mysore
supported the temple. The East India Company, after administering the temple for several
years, transferred the administration in 1843 to native religious institutions. In 1933 the
Tirumala Tiruppathi Devasthanams (TTD) was established as the primal organization to run
the temple complex. Currently it is operated by a board of trustees. The management has come
under the control of the Andhra Pradesh government.
Origin of the temple: There are several legends associated with how the temple got located
there. According to VarAha purANam, the third avatar of Vishnu (Adi VarAha) appeared on
the western bank of the pond in the hills while Vishnu in the form of VenkatEswara established
on the southern bank. It is said that the sage Brigu kicked Lord Vishnu in His chest angered
over being ignored by the Lord. Goddess Lakshmi got offended and left VaikuNTham and
went to the nether world to do penance and finally reappeared at the foothills of Tirumala
seated on a lotus. That is where She has her abode now in TiruccAnUr as PadmAvati or alar
mEl mangai (literally the maiden on the lotus flower). Lord Vishnu was grieved over the
departure of His consort and He too left VaikuNTham and took residence in an anthill on the
VenkaTAdri. A cow used to feed milk to the Lord at the anthill. When the cowherd watching
this threw his ax at the cow the Lord protected the cow by rising from the anthill but got hurt.
Thereupon the cowherd fell and died on the spot. Later the sOzha king of the region got to
know this event. He was cursed by the Lord for the delinquency of his cowherd but offered a
reversal of the curse when he would be reborn as a future king (Aksa Raja) and offer a crown
to the Lord. In due course, when Aksa Raja was ruling the kingdom he was yearning for a
child. While plowing the field as part of a yAgam, he found a female child in a lotus in the
ground. He took the child to his palace, named her PadmAvati, and reared her. When she came
of age the king married her to the Lord. At the wedding the king offered a gold crown to the
Lord.
(Those
who
are
interested
in
further
details
can
visit:
www.prapatti.com/slokas/english/DivyaDeshams.pdf and read the whole story—pages 99100). The earliest temple was constructed by the king ThoNDaimAn who was a simple devotee
in his previous birth and was ordained by the Lord to become a future king and build a temple.
There are several versions of the hoary events as is common with mythology.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Tirumala#Goddess_Padmavati for further details.
Sri Venkatachala Mahatyam is the most commonly accepted legend and provides the history
through the different eons.
Temple features:
As mentioned earlier the temple complex in Tiruppathi consists of three temples. They are as
follows: Tirumala (on the hill), Keezh Tiruppathi (at the foothills), and TiruccAnUr (alamElu
mangApuram) also at the foothills.
Tirumala: The sanctum sanctorum is a 12 foot square chamber housing Lord Srinivasa in the
standing posture facing east. He is also known variously as TiruvEngaDamudaiyAn,
VenkaTAcalapathi, and BAlAji. The golden crown structure over the sanctum is called Ananda
nilaya vimAnam. This 3-tiered vimAnam is 38 feet high. The festival or processional idol
(utsavar) is called Malayappan or KalyANa VenkatEswara. This utsavar idol is flanked by His
consorts Sri dEvi and BhU dEvi. In front of the sanctum is the famous sayana maNTapam
where the SuprabhAtham is recited at dawn everyday.
The pond associated with the temple is called SwAmi PushkaraNi. There is also a lake nearby
called kOnEri. Accordingly the Lord is called kOnEri rAyaDu vADu (Lord of the KOnEri
Lake). Within a couple of miles there is a waterfall and a river (AkAsa Ganga, PApavinAsini,
and SwarNamukhi). There is no separate shrine for the goddess at the Tirumala hill temple.
However, the Lord Srinivasa (the name means “one within whom goddess Lakshmi lives”) has
a gold pendant engraved with goddess Lakshmi adorning His chest. The Lord here has been
eulogized by 10 of the 12 AzhwArs in about 202 verses (PAsurams).
Keezh Tiruppathi: At the foothills the temple houses Lord GovindarAja perumAL
(considered to be the older brother of Lord Srinivasa). He is found in a reclining posture on a
serpent bed (bhujanga sayanam) facing east. His consort is called PuNDarIka vallit tAyAr.
TiruccAnUr: This temple is dedicated to goddess PadmAvati, also known as alar mEl mangai.
The goddess is seen in a sitting posture facing east. There is a processional idol (utsava
vigraham) of Lord Srinivasa in the sanctum sanctorum
Festivals:
Everyday is a festival day at Tiruppathi. However, the annual BrahmOtsavams during the
Thamizh month of puraTTAsi (Sept-Oct) are celebrated with great pomp and pageantry.
According to VarAha and BrahmANDa purANAs, Lord Brahma himself instituted the 9-day
festival in honor of Lord VenkatEswara. On each day during the festival the processional
deities are taken out in the morning and afternoon trips on decorated mounts accompanied by
Vedic chants and devotional music. On the fifth day the Lord rides on His principal vehicle,
GaruDa (the celestial eagle). On the eighth day it is rathOtsavam. The processional deity and
His consorts are placed in a chariot which is pulled along the four main streets of the hill. On
the eleventh day the Lord is taken to the Swami PushkaraNi and dipped in the water---a ritual
bath.
Other festivals include VaikuNTha EkAdasi, Rama Navami, and JanmAshTami. The spring
festival (VasanthOtsavam) is conducted during March-April, and Rathasaptami is celebrated
during February.
Epilogue: The Tiruppathi temple attracts 60,000 devotees every day, on average. The annual
budget of the temple was estimated at Rs. 10 billion ($200 million at current exchange rates).
The employees number about 14,000. All the money comes from donations—big and small—
from devotees. The TTD organization uses the money to run the temple activities and various
charitable activities, such as university, colleges, religious schools, orphanages, hospitals and
several other institutions.
A discussion about the etymology of ThiruvEngaDam and Tiruppathi are in order here. The
name Tiruppathi is thought by some to have derived from tiru + pathi (goddess Lakshmi’s
Lord) which refers to Lord Vishnu and the town got the name of the Lord. Another school
thinks the name derives from tiru + pathi meaning a sacred city (tiru = holy, sacred; pathi =
city, town) thereby referring to the town as holy because of the temple. As for
ThiruvEngaDam, couple of interpretations is given. 1. In Thamizh vEm means bamboo and
kaDam means forest. The hill slope being full of bamboo trees is thus called vEnkaDam or
vEnkaTam and the honorific tiru has been added in front to denote the holiness of the place. 2.
VEn or vem also means fire in Thamizh and kaDam means sin. Hence vEnkaDam would
denote the incineration of sin. Devotees believed that if they visited that place their sins would
be destroyed. It is generally believed that the Thamizh word vEngaDam (mentioned in ancient
Thamizh literature dating back to 2000 or more years) got Sanskritized into venkaTa and the
lord became known as venkaTa+Eswara = VenkatEswara.
Finally it is fitting to conclude this article with a slOkham from VarAha PurANam.
ȮÌ € ŠȡǑġ ˜ Ȳ
è ȡ“ ȲĦ ƺ ȡ֌Ȯ“ ȡǔè Ǒ€ х “
ȮÌ € Šȯ ˜ Ȫ‘ȯ Ȫ“ — Ǘ Ȫ“ — ǒæ™ Ǔ
VenkaTAdri samam sthAnam brahmANDe nAsti kincana
VenkaTEsa samO dEvO na bhUtO na bhaviSyati
Meaning: There is no other place in the macrocosm (universe) that is on par with
VenkaTAdri (Tirumala, VenkaTAcalam). There is no other god that is equal to
VenkaTEsa nor will there ever be one.
Note: The names vEngaDam and vEnkaTam are used interchangeably. Likewise Tiruppati and
Thiruppathi also denote the same. Phonetics and conformity with international transliteration
scheme for these two names are somewhat compromised in using such words throughout this
article.
The official website for TTD
http://www.tirumala.org/maintemple_main.htm
For detailed pilgrimage accounts by individuals:
http://srivaishnavam.com/divyadesam108/rv2003tour6.html
http://srivaishnavam.com/divyadesam108/TIRUMALAI2.pdf
Sethuraman Subramanian
[email protected]