Tirupati Balaji Temple

Tirupati Balaji Mandir

Tirupati balaji is dedicated to lord venkateshwara. Every Hindu must visit this temple. It is situated 10 km from the city centre of tirupati. It is the most visited pilgrimage destination in the entire world. Many pilgrims pay a visit to the temple every day. The average turnover of the temple easily crosses RS 5 billion mark every year.

History of tirupati temple

There is no document which says about the exact age of tirupati temple. One thing which we can say that it was built before 500 A.D as there references found in literature. It was there in 12^th century that the deity of the temple was found by great scholar Ramanujam. Many rulers of Andhra Pradesh donated huge amount of gold to the temple for making wealthy as it is today.

The temple architecture

The entire temple is constructed in Dravidian style. The enclosures which are called ‘prakarams ‘and a dome on the main shrine called as “Vimana”. There are statues of vijaynagar king krishnadevaraya and his spouse, which are very attracted. Lord Venkateswara or Venkataramana or Srinivasa or Balaji has the attributes of both Vishnu and Shiva.

The daily rituals

It is estimated that around 60000 pilgrims visit the temple everyday and on any special day. This easily touches to 200000 pilgrims. In balaji temple people usually wait in long queues to get a view of deity completely from tip to toe.

 Devotees must take a dip in the pushkarini tank situated there, which is considered sacred and highly praised in the puranas before entering the temple. In the temple the day starts with the suprabhata darshnam as early as 3 AM and ends with the ekant seva round around 1 AM when the lord is put to bed in a velvet mattress spread over a swing cot suspended by gold chains.

                      Events and festivals in tirupati

·       In February, the celebration of Rathasapthami is conducted. It is the most imposing and attractive festival celebrated with lord venkateswara idol all around the temple in decorated chariots.

· March offers the Vaishnava festival of Ram Navami and September offers the festival of janmashtami. These festivals are celebrated with many pomp and show.

·  In October, Rayalaseema food and dance festival is a culture attraction to the tourists.

·  In September, tirupati hosts the most spectular celebration the brahmotsavam.