New Delhi: Tirumala Venkateswara Temple also known as Tirupati balaji is a famous Vedic temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The significance of the name of the temple is that Tiru means 'Holy' or 'Sacred' and mala means hills/ mountain in the Tamil language. In Sanskrit Venkateswara, Ven-kata-eswara means 'vem' = all the links with one's own sins, 'kata' = will be cut off in total to the one who surrenders to him, 'Eswara' = Supreme God.From Hyderabad it is around 600 km, 138 km from Chennai and 291 km from Bangalore.The Tirumala Hil is about 10.33 square miles (27 km2) in area and is 853m above sea level. Representing the seven heads of Adisesha,it comprises seven peaks, thus earning the name Seshachalam.The seven peaks are named as Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri.The temple is on the the seventh peak that is Venkatadri, which is also known as the "Temple of Seven Hills". The current deity of the temple is an incarnation of lord Vishnu and is known as Lord Venkateswara.Venkateswara is also given some other names such as Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa.The temple is located on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank. The names ascribed to the main deity are Balaji, Srinivasa, Venkateswara, Malayappa (Father of hill in Tamil), Elumalaiyaan(Lord of seven hills in Tamil), Edukondalavadu (Lord of seven hills in Telugu) and Venkatachalapathy' 'or Venkataramana. The goddess Sri or Lakshmi (Vishnu's consort) resides on the chest of Venkateswara; thus, he is also known by the epithet "Srinivasa" (the one in whom Sri resides). The goddesses Lakshmi and Padmavathi reside on either side of his chest. The deity is considered the Kali yuga varada, that is, 'the boon-granting Lord of Kali yuga'.With a number of modern queue and pilgrim lodging sites, the temple complex comprises a traditional temple building, After the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, the temple is the richest pilgrimage centre (at more than INR 500 billion).It is the the most-visited place of worship in the world and people of any faith across the world can visit.On the daily basis the temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims (30 to 40 million people annually on average).But 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.There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala. The has a murti (deity) of Lord Venkateswara, which it is believed shall remain here for the entire duration of the present Kali Yuga, according to one legend.On an average, the temple attracts 60,000 pilgrims approximately every day. By the annual budget of the temple its popularity can be judged.In 2008, the annual income is estimated at INR 10 billion. Most of its income is derived from the donations in SriVari Hundi.Devotees from all over the world donate to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) which runs into the millions of rupees.TTD is the organisation running the welfare of the temple, runs various charitable trusts, whose funds are derived from the budget, and donations from the devotees.As prasadam the world famous Tirupati Laddu is given at Tirumala Temple.Many other and different types of prasadams are also available that includes seera (kesari), daddojanam (curd rice), Appam, pulioharey (tamarind rice),Paayasam, vada and chakkera-pongali (sweet pongal), miryala-pongali, Jilebi, Muruku and Dosa.The Tirupavadai seva is conducted every thursday where food items are kept as naivedyam to Lord Srinivasa.On the daily basis free meals are given to the pilgrims. Including Vaikuntha Ekadasi, Rama Navami, and Janmashtami with great splendor, the town celebrates most Vaishnava festivals.The most important festival in Tirumala is the Brahmotsavam which is celebrated every year during SeptemberOver the short span of a week the temple receives millions of devotees over the short span of a week.Other major festivals include Vasanthotsavam (spring festival), conducted in March–April, and Rathasapthami (Magha Shuddha Saptami), celebrated in February, when Lord Venkateswara's deity is taken on procession around the temple chariots.
