Tirupati To Tirumala

Among the most important and ancient shrines of India the temple of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala occupies a unique place. The darshan of the Lord Venkateshwars is a real experience in itself. No doubt that the deity’s shining noble face with shades of grey and dark has an elusive and subtle element of great spirituality and this which makes this one of the most sacred god for Hindus. Millions of people visit Tirupati just to have glimpse at deity.

The Temple is situated in the Eastern Ghats and particularly in the group of seven hills popularly known as Saptagiri (Sapta: Seven, Giri: Hills). The group of hills lying in the shape of coil called the Tirumalai hills, near one of them is namely Seshachalam stands the Tirumala Temple. The hill on which the temple of Sri venkateshwara stands is popularly known as Venkatachala is little low and surrounded by many hills of higher altitude.

In ancient Tamil literature the sacred shrine of Tirumala is referred to by name Vengadam. After the decline of the Mauryan Empire, the territory as presently the chittor district came under the rule of Satvahnas whose rule lasted more than four centuries. A cursory Examination of the architecture of the temple suggest that except for some pieces here and there which are in the chola style and the rest are in vijaynagara style of architecture and many are in modern style. But it is impossible to determine exact date of the construction of the temple and at the moment the temple does not present much of ancient architectural features in the structure. Legends have it that the tirumala Temple was originally built by a king called Tondaman who was the younger brother of Akasa raja of the lunar race. It is the universal belief that Vengadam with the lord Venkatesha has existed from times immemorial and that the deity is a self created or a Swayambhu one. The earliest inscriptional evidence available to us about the temple which was found on the slab at Vahana Mandapa at tirumala but it is extremely doubtful whether the formed part of the architecture of the tirumala temple at the close of the 8^th century AD. (Ref: The Tirumala Temple by Dr. N. Ramesan, TTD, Tirupati)

Aerial view of the main Gopura and Vimana of the temple....

View of the saptagiri hills.....

No photography is allowed inside the temple and it is hard to find the original authentic image of the Lord. The one which you can see here is downloaded is probably old and the validity is questioned? While it is understood for safety reasons Cameras are not allowed in the premises but then Why TTD do not publish contemporary Images??

The Tirupati town is famously known as temple town and number of temples exists in the town. 

Among all the temples situated Sri Govindarajaswami temple is one of the most important temples in Tirupati. Rather it is said that the town came into existence with the foundation of the Govindrajswami Temple

This temple is located close to the railway station. The Deity Sri Govindaraja is in a reclining pose. Sri Govindaraja Swami is considered to be the elder brother of Lord Balaji and His temple is one among the most important temples in Tirupati.  The Lord is found with His consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama. The architecture of the temple is one of its kinds and is marvellously constructed. The temple has its top external (Gopurams), which is visible from quite a distance.  The entrance of the temple has a magnificent seven-storey Gopuram built in 1628 that can be seen even from a distance. Look at this spectacle.

And these well sculpted statues in the welcoming pose at entrance

One interesting fact about the temple is that the celestial bath (Abhishekam) is not conducted with the presiding deity, as the deity, in the lying position, is made of clay or a  clay layer was build over the little damaged stone idol, by keeping the stone idol as base ?? Readers may throw more light on these qusetionmarks?

According to the legends and it is mentioned in some books that Govindaraja swamy is the elder brother of Lord Srinivasa in Tirumala. After Srinivasa kalyam, Gonvindaraja swamy was tired of counting the money and took rest by keeping the dhanam moota as a pillow.  This temple was consecrated by the great Vaishnava Preceptor, Saint Ramanujacharya, in 1130 AD. It is said that the temple had Sri Parthasaarthi (Lord Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna) on the main altar but Sri Ramanujacharya added the deity of Sri Govindaraja Swami.

Apart Sri Govindaraj Swamy temple also houses shrines Andale Ammavaru, Sri Krishna Sri Ramanuja Thirumangai Alwar, Sri Vedanta Desika, Sri Lakshmi and Sri Maneval Mahamunlu. year.

Ardhapur.....

 

Journey has to be started from the birthplace and Ardhapur is my native place and home town. Ardhapur is a village in Nanded District in Maharashtra State in India. The once unknown place is now known for rich crop “Bananas”. Here I grown up as a shy kid in a joint family .At the moment as life passed nobody from my family stay in Ardhapur. Though I am not much fascinated by simple and little rusty looks of this village but do have pleasant nostalgic feelings. There is nothing great in this village except few simple noticeable ancient things such as Khaperkheda Shiva and Keshavraj Vishnu temple. The name Ardhapur probably originated from Sanskrit word Aradhyapur. There is one stone inscription at Ardhapur which is lying in a neglected state near Shiva temple states that some dynasty of the Rashtrakutas was also ruling over Degloor..?? The keshavraj temple popularly known as Keshavraj Math is a abode of one of another appearance of lord Vishnu. Ardhapur may not be right weekend tourist spot but a small town surrounded by optimum green banana fields. It’s at all times a nice drive from Nanded to Ardhapur. The road is quite wide and pleasantly surrounded by green fields. Such all lesser known trivial things on this planet has always drawn my irresistible attention and interest.  As these are probably inhabited by some great people but now known for nothing. Sometimes little known things may have hidden meaning and treasures. It’s an attempt to show the beauty in these ignored places with a hope to find its roots.

Let’s first see this inscription on the stone. Who wrote it? I heard these are Modi scripts? Can anybody focus and let me know the fact.

To focus.. let’s see this more closely. Any clues....??

Well this is lying abandoned near this ancient Hemadpanthi Shiva temple. This was a unique structure in its old time formed by hemadpanthi construction style which included the large stones and lime. Now you can imagine this just from inside. Lord Shiva must have watched all this happening haplessly....as nobody from archaeological department turned to this spot.

Now come to the most beautiful idol of lord Vishnu, popularly known as Lord Keshavraj here.

Look at the deity carefully...watch the style of fingers. This is amazing. The idol is made from the Pashan ...the black stone. Who made it? Those all anonymous the great sculpturers....the nameless creative people were not less than poet. Making idol of this quality is not less than writing a beautiful poem on stone. See the marvel.....

And these scattered remains outside the keshavraj temple.

 I feel there must be a connection between the stone inscriptions...Lord Keshavraj and these scattered remains. Was there something big ancient temple in Ardhapur which somehow just became extinct? But why and how......the mystery must be resolved. Our Archaeological department owes the responsibility not only to preserve these remains but also throw light on this.