TIRUPATI AND MORE...

Every day, thousands of tourists and devotees head towards the hilly town of Tirumala --- situated in the Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh --- to express their devotion to, or to merely catch a glimpse of the famous murti of Lord Venkateswara.

Having heard so much about the myths and glory surrounding it, I began looking for an opportunity to visit this famous temple. Some talk of a business-trip to Chennai got me hunting for guidance on the hows and dos of getting to Tirupathi. During this search, I came across valuable information about some other interesting places in the proximity of Tirupathi. With the help of an experienced friend, I drew out an elaborate itinerary covering many of the various beautiful and myth-laden temples near the more popular one at Tirumala. My pilgrimage --- for it cannot be called anything else---( I am glad that I tried to be greedy back then) covered the maximum possible sites in a period of two days The devotee inside me feels blessed and the tourist inside me has been left enamoured, and I hope that my fellow-devotee-cum-tourists can experience the same. Here is the details of the route I followed from Chennai to Tirumala and back, together with some useful gyaan on the interesting stops you can make en route.

1.Sri Kalahasteeswaraswamy temple, Kalahasti

Kalahasti is some 100 Kms from Chennai .The temple is a very old ,beautiful and serene place enshrining Lord Dakshinamurty or Sri kalahasteeswaraswamy. The inner temple was built in the 5th century and the outer temple was built in the 12th century. Later some more gopurams were also built by the devotees. This temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is one of the pancha bhuta stalams( Vayu as one of the five primary elements here).

Srikalahasti's name originates from the legend that a spider(sri), a serpent(kala) and an elephant (hasti or haathi) worshipped Shiva with great devotion .The spider worshiped the Shiva Linga by weaving a web over it while the snake offered it a gem. The elephant showered flowers and leaves and sprinkled water to bathe the linga. Due to their selfless devotion , lord Shiva was pleased and granted them the boon of moksha and they became one with Shiva. At the foot of the linga one can see a spider, two elephant tusks and a five–headed serpent to remind devotees of this act of supreme devotion.

This temple is also associated with Rahu and Ketu; in fact, it is the only temple where one can perform a puja to overcome the ill-effects (doshas) of Rahu-Ketu. The puja should be performed during the Rahu kalam of the day. There is a simple chart to calculate the Rahu kalam for all seven days of the week. The first letter of each word in the following sentence gives the day of the week and every day Rahu kalam is of one and a half hours duration.

Mother saw father wearing the turban slowly
Mon Sat Fri Wed Thu Tue Sun
7.30a 9.00a 10.30a 12n 1.30p 3.00p 4.30p

The puja can be arranged in consultation with one of the priests there.

P.S. The Rajagopuram or main gate of the temple collapsed on the 28th of May ,2010. The deep vertical crack that had been developing for 25 years was left unattended by the authorities concerned. The fissure grew deeper and, eventually, spelled doom for the elegant–looking gopuram. I consider myself lucky enough to have seen that structure just a few weeks before its collapse. The gopuram was built by Sri Krishnadevarya, a king of Vijaynagar, in the 15th century

2.Sri Padmawati temple, Alamelumangapuram or Tiruchanoor

From Srikalahasti, just 30 kms. away, on road to Tirupati, one can reach Alamelumangapuram, where this temple of Lord Venkateswara’s consort, Sri Padmavati, is situated. In this temple, Lord Vishnu’s murti is not present. This also has an interesting story behind it. The legend says that the lord, despite his reverence towards the sage Bhrigu Maharshi, was insulted by him by being kicked by the sage on the chest in a fit of anger. After hearing this, the lord’s consort --- Sri Mahalaxmi --- reached Patala loka and immersed herself in the river Swarnamukhi in penance for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, during the month of Kartik, Sri Mahalaxmi emerged from a golden lotus as Sri Padmavati. A temple was constructed for the goddess and it is said that a visit to Tirupati is fruitful only after visiting this temple.

3. ISKCON temple, Tirupati

Situated at the foot of Tirumala hills, this temple has been recently built by the followers of the ISKCON with the support of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD ) which controls and is responsible for the maintenance and planning of this temple town.

This is a beautiful temple displaying unique architecture. The outermost towers are in gold and white. Inside, all the carvings of deities are done in a very intricate style. The basic design and decor of the temple is inspired by the ancient architecture prevalent in the region. The images of dasha-avataras in wood carvings on the pillars, painted glass panels depicting Krishna leelas and Tanjore art on the ceilings ensure that the temple merges well with the existing beauty of the hill region. This is also the only Krishna temple where a special place has been allotted to ashta sakhis of Krishna along with Radha in the main prayer hall.
A master plan is already underway to carry out the mission of teaching the science of the Vedic knowledge. This temple project (a centre for Vedic culture and Theology) will further strengthen the spiritual base of India.

4. Shilatoranam Gardens, Tirupati

Situated on the road that leads to Dharmagiri, the main attraction of this garden is of geological interest. This place offers the only geological arch in Asia and one of the three such arches in the world. It derives its name from the words - 'shila' meaning rock and 'toran' meaning arch.

This formation presents a very rare geological fault and is estimated to be 2500 million years old. This rock arch has been formed by intensified weather conditions. A large part of the land around the arch has been developed into a beautiful botanical garden.

5. Sri Varahaswamy temple, Tirupati

One’s visit to Balaji temple begins with a visit to this temple. This temple is dedicated to lord Varahaswamy, who, it is said, owns the entire region of Tirupati. Lord Varahswamy , accommodated Lord Venkateswara here on his request. Therefore , the customary feeding of the lord and other such rites are performed here before being performed at the Venkateswara temple.

6.Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, Tirupati

The famous Balaji Temple or Lord Venkataswara temple is situated on the tip of one of the seven sacred hills --- symbolic of the seven hoods of the mythological serpent Adishesha of Lord Vishnu --- which lie on the southern banks of the sacred river Pushkarni. The temple has a unique sanctity in Indian religious lore, attracts thousands of devotees every day and gets the maximum pecuniary offerings among all such religious places in India. The origin of the temple is not very clear, but there is ample testimony to its antiquity as it has been worshipped by many ruling dynasties of southern peninsula.The main dome is completely gold plated, a fine example of the ancient architect inside and the hilly area provides an ideal, picturesque and tranquil ambience to the temple.

The Brahmotsava is a grand annual festival denoted by a series of prayers and rites and the arrival of the `sacred Umbrella’ (Tirupati Kodai) from numerous temples from far and wide. Another important and saced tradition is the tonsuring of the head of the devotees. The laddu prasadam and other rice preperations as prasadam are much sought after and a must have.

7. Sri Kalyan Venkateswaraswami temple, Narayanavanam

After an early morning darshan of Sri Balaji, my journey back to Chennai by road started, but not without a visit to some more places of tourist interests.
Some 40-45 kms. from Tirupati, we reached Narayanavanam town, an old time capital place, considered a holy place due to the presence of this temple. The legend has it that this is the place where lord Venkateswara married goddess Padmavati, the daughter of king Akasaraja. Padmawati’s brother built this temple to commemorate their wedding and it is here that one can see both the lord and the goddess in one temple complex. Again the temple is very old and rich in architectural heritage.

8.Kailasanathakona waterfalls

This perennial waterfall is located in the Nagiri hills valley and is 43 kms. away from Tirupati, an offshoot from the main road. The origin of this picturesque fall is from a crack in a sheet rock. The water is clear and has substantial mineral and medicinal value

9.Lord Vedanarayana temple, Nagalapuram

65 kms. away from Tirupati, the town boasts of a beautiful temple built by Krishnadevarya and his mother Nagamba. The temple is dedicated to lord Vedanarayan, an incarnation of lord Vishnu.

The temple’s design is an astonishing example of the advancement of architecture at that time. During the annual Brahmotsva ( Surya puja) festival day only, the sun rays fall on the holy feet, navel and the forehead of the deity in turns as the day progresses, symbolising worship of the lord by the Sun God Himself.

10.Kaalbhairava temple, Ramagiri

Further 5 kms. Down the road lies a small hamlet named Ramagiri, surrounded by mountains. There are two temples, one at the foothill --- Kalabhairav temple and the other at the top of the hill dedicated to lord Muruga (another name of Kartikeyan).The presiding deity of the foothill temple is Kaalbhairav - one of the several forms of Shiva and the place, therefore, is also called Bhairava Kshetra.
In addition to the Kaalbhairav statue, there is a shiva linga in the temple premises. In fact, and interestingly, in front of the linga stand the murtis of Lord Anjaneya and Nandi, the bull.

According to a popular legend, once Hanuman was carrying a Shiva linga from Kashi to Rameshwaram to be installed there. He was not supposed to keep it down anywhere on his way to Rameshwaram to install it successfully. Kaalbhairav wanted this linga to be installed in this temple. Suddenly hanuman faced adversely hot, dry and windy weather and had to land at ramagiri to drink some water. He searched for water but found it difficult to drink it by keeping the linga on his shoulders, and did not know what to do. Surprisingly at that time a small boy appeared on the scene and offered help by holding the linga for him, but only for a stipulated short time. When Anjaneya returned after quenching his thirst he saw the Linga kept on the earth and the boy was nowhere to be seen. Hanuman was quite anguished and ran to lift the linga. He tried hard but in vain. Then he put his tail around the linga and tried to uproot it by pulling it with his mighty tail but again no luck. At this juncture the boy reappeared and showed his true form i.e., of Kaalbhairava, smiled at Hanuman and told him about his intention of keeping the Linga at ramagiri. Even today we can see that there are horizontal marks of Hanuman's tail on the linga and it is tilted on one side.

Outside the temple, there's a sweet water tank which gets water from the mountains . The water flows into the tank through the mouth of a nandi bull sculpted beautifully on the side of the tank.

11.Suruttapalli

About 12 kms. from Nagalapuram lies this holy place which again houses a shiva temple on the banks of river Arani.

The temple is rich in architecture and has uniqueness of its own. This is the only temple in India where one sees Lord shiva as a deity in a human statuesque form instead of normal linga form.
It is said that Lord shiva took a brief rest here after consuming poison that came from the ocean during the Samudra Manthan .Here, we see the Shiva's statues in a reclined posture with his head on the lap of Goddess Parvati. There are goddess parvati and other deities also in the complex.

My pilgrimage culminated at this temple and it was already the fag end of the second day. I reached Chennai a very content devotee and a very happy tourist who had the opportunity to see some really unique heritage structures. I am glad to share my information here but I am sorry to be unable to present visual pictures of the interior of the most of these temples as the authorities , in most of the places, prohibit photography. I personally feel that if simple photography is allowed, more tourists and devotees will be attracted to these places to admire the magnificence of these majestic sites.