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Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple
is a landmark vaishnavite temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala
at Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Temple is
dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, an incarnation of Vishnu, who is
believed to be appeared here to save mankind from trials and troubles of
Kali Yuga. Hence the place has also got the name Kaliyuga Vaikuntham and
Lord here is referred to as Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Daivam. The temple is
also known by other names like Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple,
Tirupati Balaji Temple. Venkateswara is known by many other names:
Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa.
The Tirumala Hills are part of Seshachalam Hills range. The hills are
853m above sea level. The Hills comprises seven peaks, representing the
seven heads of Adisesha.
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The seven peaks are called
Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabhadri, Narayanadri and
Venkatadri. The temple lies on the seventh peak -Venkatadri, on the
southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank. Hence the
temple is also referred to as "Temple of Seven Hills". Tirumala town
covers about 10.33 square miles (27 km2) in area.
The Temple is constructed in Dravidian architecture and is believed to
be constructed over a period of time starting from 300 AD. The
Garbagriha(Sanctum Sanctorum) is called AnandaNilayam. The preciding
deity, Venkateswara, is in standing posture and faces east in Garbha
griha.
The temple follows Vaikhanasa Agama tradition of worship. The
temple is one of the eight Vishnu Swayambhu Kshetras and is listed as
106th and the last earthly Divya Desam. The Temple premises had two
modern Queue complex buildings to organize the piligrim rush, Tarigonda
Venkamamba Annaprasadam complex for free meals to Pilgrims, hair tonsure
buildings and a number of pilgrim lodging sites.
It is the richest temple in the world in terms of donations received and
wealth, and the most-visited place of worship in the world. The temple
is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily (30 to 40 million
people annually on average), while on special occasions and festivals,
like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to
500,000, making it the most-visited holy place in the world.
It is around 435 km (270 mi) from Vijayawada, 571.9 km(355.3 mi) from
Hyderabad, 138 km (86 mi)[8] from Chennai , 291 km (181 mi) from
Bangalore and 781.2 km(485.4 mi) from Visakhapatnam
There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord
in Tirumala. According to one legend, the temple has a murti (deity) of
Lord Venkateswara, which it is believed shall remain here for the entire
duration of the present Kali Yuga.
Tirumala Sri Venkateswara
Temple is a paradise of Festivals where over 433 festivals are being
observed in 365 days of a year suiting 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 Sri Venkateswara Temple.
How to
reach
Tirupati Airport, (IATA:
TIR, ICAO: VOTP) also known as
Renigunta Airport, is
located at Renigunta in Chittoor district in the state of Andhra
Pradesh, India. The airport is 14 km from Tirupati city.
One can easily reach Sri Venkateswara Temple from the city by taking local Buses,
Rickshaws, Tongas and Taxis.
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