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Ancient History
venkaTAdri samam sthAnam
brahmANDe nAsti kincana;
venkateSa samo devo
na bhUto na bhaviSyati!
So declares the Varaha Purana. Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara is
the ultimate goal of all devotees from times immemorial.
The Puranas, the soul-stirring hymns of great savants like Tallapaka
Annamacharya, the Alvars and the
Haridasas unequivocally praise the supreme grandeur of this hallowed spot and
the awesome majesty of the Lord who is the embodiment of lore and compassion.
In his mangala sloka in 'Sri Bhashya', the great Vaishnava acharya Sri
Ramanuja declares in no uncertain terms the resplendent glory of Lord
Venkateswara:
akhila bhuvana janma sthema bhangAdi lIle
vinata vividha bhuta vrAta rakshaika dikshe |
Sruti Sirasi vidIpte brahmaNi SrInivAse
bhavatu mama parasmin Semushi bhakti rUpA ||
May my intellect assume the form
of Bhakti in Srinivasa, the highest Reality, revealed in the Vedanta as the Lord
who creates, protects and destroys the whole universe with sportive ease and who
has taken a vow to protects all creatures who seek him.
Kamban, in his celebrated Ramayana makes an explicit reference to the Thiru
Vengadam Hills and states that the truth enshrined in the four Vedas stands out
as the eternal satya on the Vengada Hills. 'Silappadikaram', the great Tamil
Classic calls the Holy Hills, 'Nediyon Kunrams'. It was, however, the Alvars who
brought forth the transcedental majesty of Lord Venkateswara through their poems
of praise which are surcharged with undiluted devotion to the Lord.
EPIC IMPORTANCE
The venkatam hill is believed to be a part of the celestial mount meru
brought to the earth from vaikuntam by garuda (Lord's vehicle),say the
puranas.The Hills are said to be a manifestation of Adi Sesha (the cosmic
serpent).The Seven hills of the Tirumala are the said to represent the Seven
hoods of Adi Sesha.
Many Alvars , Vaishnavacharyas and Saints have praised the Tirumala Hill with
great devotion. Tirumala Mambi, a descendent of the great ascetic Narada, spent
his whole life in serving the Lord.
References to the tirumala also found in several of Puranas. Tirumala is one
of the 108 sacred shrines of the Sri Vaishanava tradition.According to the
Puranas, Lord Vishnu stayed on the earth for some time in the Avatar of Swetha
Varaham and rose out of pushkarini as Swayambhuva. His spouse Lakshmi Devi
appeared in Thirucharnur. This Swwtha Varaha Avatharam was installed in the
temple situated to the west of Swamy Pushkarni. The great religious leader
Ramanujacharya visited this shrine on a pilgrimage and systematised the process
of worship in accordance with the SriVaishnava that continues to date.
Alvars
Nammalvar extols
Lord Venkateswara as the veritable aushadam (medicine) for curing the disease of
samsara in the areas of birth and death.
Saint Kulasekhara Alvar prays
to the Lord Srinivasa to grant him even the lowest birth in the holy Tirumala
Hills -- as a fish in the sacred Swami Pushkarini, or as a tree, or as anything
on the golden hills of Lord Venkateswara (emberumaan ponmalai mEl EdhEnum
avEnE).
Among the Alvars, Andal,
a woman saint, yearned for union with the Lord in 'Nacciyar
Tirumozhi'. In this exquisite poetic work of rare beauty, she conveys her
passionate love towards Lord Srinivasa and her desire to marry him through
clouds as messengers.
Devotion to Lord Srinivasa finds its most eloquent expression in the
Samkirthanas of Tallapaka Annamacharya. This fifteenth century Telugu
Vaggeyakara composed over 32,000 hymns in praise of Lord Venkateswara. It is
said that not a single day passed in his life without his composing at least one
song in praise of the deity of Tirumala, Lord Venkateswara.
In one of his famous songs, Annamayya says thus: He who enjoys the
unparalleled grace of Lord Sri Venkateswara is at once greater than a tapasvi
who has knowledge and learning, but grows only in body and not in the spirit of
divine worship.
It is evident from the inscriptions as well as the literary works that the
temple of Lord Venkateswara is invested with great antiquity. One of the
earliest inscriptions (614 A.D.) found in the Tirumala temple has reference to
Samavai, a Pallava princess who presented costly jewels to Lord Venkateswara.
She also arranged for the daily offering of a plate of cooked rice and holy
abhisheka to the Lord.
There are also inscriptions belongings to the Chola period. A Chola queen
offered to Sri Venkateswara, a pattam weighing 52 kalajas of gold and set with
six rubies, four diamonds and 29 pearls. The Tirumala temple received generous
patronage from the various royal families of the great Vijayanagar empire and
the temple reached the pinnacle of unprecedented glory during the reign of the
illustrious Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadevaraya.
After the decline of Vijayanagara Empire, kings from various states like the
king of Mysore and Gadwal, worshiped the lord as pilgrims and gifted various
ornaments and valuables to the temple. Raghoji Bhonsle, the Maharastrian
commander visited the temple and made a permanent arrangement regarding the
regular pujas to be done to the Lord.
In 1843 the temple gave up administrative authority of Venkateswara Temple
along with the temples in the village to the head of Hatthimji monastery in
Tirumala. Till 1933 the administration of the temple had been wielded by the
head of that monastery, Hathiram Mahantha.
In 1933 the Madras government appointed a Commission to Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanam through a special statutory authority to run the administration of
the temple. In 1951 another Hindu Religious and endowment Act was made which
felicitated the appointment of an executive officer and Board of trustees and
they run the administration. The executive officers of this institution in the
South have been maintaining administration.
Thus, the hoary antiquity, history and tradition combined with inspiring love
and devotion of millions of devotees make the sacred shrine of Lord Venkateswara,
the most refulgent arcavatara of Lord Sriman Narayana, stands out as the living
symbol of India's priceless spiritual heritage.
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