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37-575: Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati and Lord Oppiliappan near Kumbakonam , who married Markandeya Rishi's daughter Bhuvalli, are believed to be born in this Nakshatra in the Bhadrapada maasa. Onam , the biggest festival of Kerala , is celebrated on this Nakshathra in the Malayalam month of Chingam . Traditional Hindu given names are determined by which pada (quarter) of a nakshatra the Ascendant/ Lagna

74-467: A result, the Vakula Devi temple remained in dilapidated condition and in dire need of renovation. Activists and the local people of Tirupati reveal that it is politics, corruption, the careless attitude of those in power that has resulted in poor maintenance of the temple. The hillock on which the temple is situated known for best rock quality, being mined illegally to be used in construction industry. In

111-403: A son, as Srinivasa. Vakula Devi travelled from her hermitage to approach Akasha Raja with her proposal of marriage between Srinivasa and Padmavathi. In the meantime, the restless deity came to the city in the disguise of a fortune-teller. Princess Padmavathi also fell in love with Srinivasa and fell ill after returning to the palace. Unable to diagnose the cause of her sickness, the maids invited

148-432: A tamarind tree beside a pushkarini (lake), and started chanting the name of his wife, Mahalakshmi. He then reincarnated as Srinivasa (or presented himself after penance in the ant-hill) as the son of the elderly woman Vakula Devi , who was the rebirth of Yashoda the deity Krishna 's foster-mother. Unhappy that she had been unable to attend Krishna's wedding to Rukmini , the deity promised that he would be reborn to her as

185-518: Is Venkateswara Temple situated at Tirumala , a suburb of Tirupati . Venkateswara is also the primary deity at the following temples: Vakula Devi Vakula Devi ( Sanskrit : वकुलदेवी , romanized :  Vakuladevī ) is the foster-mother of the Hindu god Venkateshvara , a form of Vishnu . As per the legend of Tirumala , the legend of Vakula Devi dates back to the Dvapara Yuga . In

222-483: Is " Om Namo Venkateshaya " Every year, hundreds of thousands of devotees donate a large amount of wealth at the Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati , Andhra Pradesh . A legend provides the reason for the tradition of providing donations. Narada once observed a few rishis performing a holy yagna . Unable to decide who the yagna should benefit, he recruited sage Bhrigu to decide after he had met with each of

259-474: Is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu . He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple , Tirupati . His consorts, Padmavathi and Bhudevi , are avatars of the goddess Lakshmi , the consort of Vishnu. Venkateswara literally means "Lord of Venkata ". The word is a combination of the words Venkata (the name of a hill in Andhra Pradesh) and iśvara ("Lord"). According to

296-538: Is bothered to preserve this ancient heritage structure. We cannot allow the temple to fall in the hands of land sharks," an archaeologist associated with Tirumala temple affairs said. A number of organizations, Hindu religious heads and leaders of various political parties expressed anguish over the pathetic condition of the temple, and have approached TTD over the years to restore the Vakula Devi Temple. Many Hindu saints and seers have also made representations to

333-526: Is commonly called "Elumalayan", meaning Lord of Seven Hills. In Telugu, he is commonly known as "ఏడు కొండలవాడా,” (Ēḍu Koṇḍala Vāḍā), also meaning the Lord of the Seven Hills. In Tamil, the hill name was 'Venkatam, Vēṅkaṭam', which is another form of 'Vaikuntam', and it follows that Lord Venkateswara means Lord Vaikunteswara or God of Vaikunta. Vaikunta refers to the residence of Lord Vishnu. The Venkateswara mantra

370-579: Is the presiding deity of the Tirupati temple. It is believed that the deity is Swayambhu (self manifested). Ten Puranas state that Tirupati is a form of Lord Vishnu. Even deity appears similar to 108 Divya Desams - Vaishnava temple Vishnu deities. The deity is believed to be as old as the "Shila thoranam" in Tirumala. Tirumala has tremendous fame from the ancient period. The deity is referred to as 'Balaji' by North Indians. The scriptures state that Venkateshwara

407-569: Is the saviour of all suffering people in the Kali Yuga . In the 12th century, Ramanuja visited Tirupati to settle a dispute that had arisen between the Shaivites and Vaishnavites regarding the nature of the deity set up in the Tirumala temple. Until that, Deity was worshipped as Shiva for six months and Vishnu as another six months in a year. Ramanuja streamlined the rituals at Tirumala temple according to Vaikanasa Agama tradition, and introduced

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444-551: The Brahmanda and Bhavishyottara Puranas , the word "Venkata" means "destroyer of sins", deriving from the Sanskrit words vem (sins) and kata (power of immunity). Venkateswara is known by many names such as Srinivasa ( in whom Lakshmi dwells ), Narayana ( The Primordial One ), Perumal ( the great lord ), Malayappa ( the lord of the Hill ) and Govinda (Protector of Cows). In Tamil, he

481-617: The Bhagavad Gita . Lord Venkateswara is known to stand for goodness. His disc is believed to annihilate evil, while the conch is presumed to produce the cosmic sound that puts an end to the world's ignorance. Venkateswara is also known as Sat-Chit-Ananda . Venkateswara finds his mention in the Puranas , mainly in Padma Purana and Skanda Purana (as a form of Vishnu). Other Puranas also describe him as an avatar of Vishnu. Additionally,

518-665: The Moolavirat , which are together referred to as the Pancha beramulu in Telugu (pancha means five; beram means deity). The five deities are Dhruva Beram (Moolavar), Kautuka Beram, Snapana Beram, Utsava Beram, and Bali Beram. All the pancha berams are placed in the Garbha griha under Ananda Nilayam . In the Venkateswara Temple over 433 festivals are being observed in 365 days of a year suiting

555-590: The Trimurti in their abodes. Bhrigu visited Brahma in Brahmaloka and Shiva in Kailasha and went unnoticed by both of these deities. He finally reached Vaikuntha and met Vishnu , who was absorbed in meditation with his feet being attended to by his consort, the goddess Lakshmi . A furious Bhrigu kicked Vishnu's chest (the abode of Lakshmi) and angered Lakshmi. But a calm Vishnu asked for forgiveness of Bhrigu, and served

592-673: The 13th century, and consist of 70 slokas in four parts, including Suprabhatam (29), Stotram (11), Prapatti (14), and Mangalasasanam (16). The Dayashataka , a Sanskrit work containing ten decads, was composed by the philosopher Vedanta Desika in praise of the deity. Tallapaka Annamacharya (Annamayya), the poet saint of the 14th century, one of the greatest Telugu poets and a great devotee of Venkateswara, had sung 32,000 songs in praise of Venkateswara. All his songs, which are in Telugu and Sanskrit , are referred to as Sankirtanas and are classified as Sringara Sankirtanalu and Adhyatma Sankirtanalu. The most prominent shrine of Venkateswara

629-399: The celestial wedding, Brahma and Shiva explained to Lakshmi her consort Vishnu's desire to be on the seven hills for the emancipation of mankind from the perpetual troubles of Kali Yuga . Lakshmi as well as her form as Padmavathi also turn into stone idols as an expression of their wish to always be with their deity. Lakshmi stays with him on the left side of his chest while Padmavathi rests on

666-402: The day on which it is believed that Vaikunta Dwarams will be opened. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple will be flooded with devotees, to have a darshan of Venkateswara through special entrance which encircles inner sanctum called "Vaikunta Dwaram". Ratha Saptami , is another festival, celebrated during February, when Venkateswara's processional deity (Malayappa) is taken in a procession around

703-412: The fortune-teller into the palace to foretell the future of the princess. When the fortune-teller revealed that Padmavathi was born to marry Vishnu in his current avatar as Srinivasa, she recovered. As the king heard this news, Vakula announced herself to the king and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage to her son, Srinivasa. The overjoyed king agreed and his advisor Brihaspati wrote the invitation for

740-502: The foster-mother of Venkateshvara. As promised by the god, she arranged her foster-son's wedding with Padmavati , the foster-daughter of Akasha Raja and Dharani Rani, who was a form of Lakshmi. The Vakula Devi Temple is situated in Tirupati city, Andhra Pradesh . It was built 5000 years ago when Tirupati was founded in 3000 BCE and it was destroyed 300 years ago in the 17th century CE on Peruru Banda hillock, around Peruru in Tirupati and

777-568: The government regarding the need to renovate the temple and ban the illegal mining in the area. Svami Paripurnananda Sarasvati of Sripitam, as well as activists from the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation performed a Padayatra to Peruru Banda hillock and protested against the inaction of TTD and the government of the day. Svami Paripurnananda Sarasvati threatened to practice fasting at the site if TTD did not respond in time. The Bharatiya Janata Party has protested several times in

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814-516: The great Lord, on account of his association with other people, or out of curiosity, or due to covetousness or on account of fear, he shall not be miserable here or hereafter. One who glorifies and worships the Lord of Devas on Veṅkaṭācala shall certainly attain Sārūpya with Viṣṇu. There is no doubt about it. Just as a well-kindled fire reduces firewood to ash in a moment, so also a visit to Veṅkaṭeśa destroys all sins. Venkateshwara, an aspect of Vishnu,

851-470: The legend, Yashoda , the foster-mother of Krishna , an avatara of Vishnu, complained to him that she could not witness his wedding with Rukmini , an avatara of Lakshmi . To this, Krishna replied he would ensure that she would get such an opportunity to see his marriage to a form of Lakshmi in the Kali Yuga . In the Kali Yuga, Vishnu has taken the form of Venkateshvara, and Yashoda was reborn as Vakula Devi,

888-412: The meanwhile, illegal quarrying started slowly stripping away the hill from all sides. It is known that as much as 80 percent of the hill was flattened. It is known that the temple will collapse if the foundation becomes more weaker when more illegal mining happens. Members of the archaeology group too have expressed concern over this poor attitude towards preserving the centuries-old temple. "No official

925-506: The past and submitted a memorandum to TTD Chairman and the entire organization for the cause of renovation of the temple. The party even issued a legal notice requesting the Telangana High Court to intervene, and direct TTD for renovation of the temple. In response to the demands of various organizations, TTD responded with a plan to renovate Vakula Mata Temple with an outlay of Rs. 2 crore including Rs. 15 lakh to be spent on fencing

962-626: The premises on the hillock. However, local mining companies approached the Telangana High Court and got a stay order in 2010 preventing TTD from taking up renovation of the Temple. However, subsequently in the year 2012, the Telangana High Court vacated the stay and ordered the TTD to renovate and restore the temple. The TTD assured the Court it would comply with the order, but so far not a brick has been laid at

999-609: The recitation of the Naalayira Divya Prabandham . He also set up the Tirupati Jeeyar Matha in 1119 AD, in consultation with Tirumalai Ananthalwan to institutionalise service to the deity and supervise the temple rituals. The Jeeyars, to this day, ensures that the rituals ordained by Ramanuja are observed. According to the Vaikhanasa Agamas, Venkateswara is represented by five deities (berams) including

1036-586: The right side of his chest. The idol of Venkateswara has the attributes of both Vishnu and Shiva - the preserving and destroying aspects of the Hindu Trinity. The deity wears ornaments associated with Vishnu, but also ornaments such as the Naga, associated with Lord Shiva. As such, followers believe that Venkateswara represents the vishwarup, or universal form, encompassing all of God's forms as described in Chapter 11 of

1073-422: The sage by massaging his legs. During this act, he squashed the extra eye that was present on the sole of Bhrigu's foot, which destroyed the sage's egotism. Lakshmi then departed from Vaikuntha , arrived at the region of Varaha Kshetra and performed an intense penance for twelve years, after which she was born as Padmavathi to Akasha Raja. After Lakshmi left, Vishnu went to Venkata Hill, sat in an anthill under

1110-570: The temple has been the object of neglect by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), its lackadaisical attitude best reflected in its E.O.'s statement, "The basic reason for exclusion of the temple by TTD lies in G.O. (Government order) of 1987 CE which has not listed the Vakula Devi temple among those that TTD shall look after.". It is a subject of concern for many that TTD ignores the foster-mother of Venkateshvara while it spends millions over renovation of temples located elsewhere. As

1147-547: The temple on seven different vahanams starting from early morning to late night. The Venkateswara Suprabhatam is the first and pre-dawn prayer performed to Venkateswara at Sayana Mandapam, within the inner sanctum of the Tirumala Temple. 'Suprabhatam' is a Sanskrit term, which literally means 'morning salutations', and is meant to wake up the deity from his celestial sleep. The Venkateswara Suprabhatam hymns were composed by Prathivadhi Bhayankaram Annangaracharya during

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1184-409: The temple site, thereby allowing illegal mining to thrive. However, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) started its renovation process on the Vakula Devi Temple on 1 January 2011 CE and continued on it for 11 years, thus making the renovation of the temple a reality. People eagerly waited for 11 years to see the completion of the temple in the city of Tirupati. As a result, the Vakula Devi temple

1221-461: The text, Shri Venkatachala Mahatmyam glorifies the deity and has hymns related to his worship. Skanda Purana extols the significance of worshipping this deity: If people wish for perpetual happiness and kingdom in heaven, let them joyously bow down at least once to the Lord residing on Veṅkaṭādri. Whatever may be the sins committed in the course of crores of births, all of them perish by visiting Venkateswara. If anyone remembers Veṅkaṭeśa,

1258-440: The title "Nitya Kalyanam Paccha Toranam" where every day is a festival. Sri Venkateswara Brahmotsavams , a nine-day event, which is celebrated every year during month of October, is the major event of Venkateswara Temple. During brahmotsavams the processional deity Malayappa along with his consorts SriDevi and BhuDevi, is taken in a procession in four mada streets around the temple on different vahanams. Vaikuntha Ekadashi ,

1295-423: The wedding between the two deities. Srinivasa asked the gods for consent to his marriage with Padmavathi. The deity also obtained a large loan from Kubera , the god of wealth, towards the expenses for the wedding as well as provide proof of his wealth. According to legends, Venkateswara married Padmavathi at Kalyana Venkateswara Temple, Narayanavanam , after which they moved to Tirumala. About six months after

1332-421: Was in at the time of birth. In the case of Shravana Nakshatra, the given name would begin with the following syllables: This nakshatra -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Venkateswara Traditional Venkateswara ( Telugu : వేంకటేశ్వరుడు , Sanskrit : वेङ्कटेश्वरः , IAST : Venkaṭeśvara ), also known as Venkatachalapati , Balaji and Srinivasa ,

1369-447: Was renovated from 2011 CE to 2022 CE. 50 acres of land is devoted to the temple, and it is located 10 kilometres away from Tirumala and 5 kilometres from Tiruchanur . This temple was constructed in such a way that visage of Vakula Devi faces the seven hills, where her foster-son Venkateshvara is residing. The naivedyam (offering of consecrated food) is first offered to Vakula Devi before Venkateshvara at Tirumala. Post-independence,

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