| Venkateswara (వేంకటేశ్వర) | |
|---|---|
 Venkateswara at the ISKCON Bangalore | |
| Other names | Srivaru, Balaji, Srinivasa, Govinda, Venkata Ramana, Venkatesa, Venkatachalapati, Yedukondalavadu, Koneti Rayudu, Tirupati Timmappa, Perumal, Venkanna. |
| Devanagari | वेङ्कटेश्वरः |
| Affiliation | Sri Vaishnavism |
| Abode | |
| Mantra | Om Namo Narayanaya Om Namo Venkateshaya |
| Weapon | |
| Symbols | Sricharanam |
| Mount | Garuda |
| Texts |
|
| Genealogy | |
| Spouse | Padmavati (Sridevi),Bhudevi |
Venkateswara (Telugu:వేంకటేశ్వరుడు,Sanskrit:वेङ्कटेश्वरः,romanized: Venkaṭeśvara), also known asVenkatachalapati,Venkata,Balaji andSrinivasa,[2] is adeity, described as a form of the godVishnu. He is the presiding deity ofVenkateswara Temple,Tirupati. His consorts,Padmavati andBhudevi, are avatars of the goddessLakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.[3]
Venkateswara literally means "Lord of Venkata".[4][5] The word is a combination of the wordsVenkata (the name of a hill in Andhra Pradesh) andiśvara ("Lord").[6] TheVenkatam hill is mentioned inTamil Sangam literature dated to 300 BCE.[7][8] According to theBrahmanda andBhavishyottaraPuranas which are dated to 500 CE to 1000 CE, the word "Venkata" means "destroyer of sins", deriving from the Sanskrit wordsvem (sins) andkata (power of immunity).[9]
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).[10] In Tamil, he 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.[11] In Telugu, the hill name was 'Venkatam, Vēṅkaṭam', which is another form of 'Vaikuntam', and it follows that Lord Venkateswara means Lord Vaikunteswara or God of Vaikuntha.[12] Vaikuntha refers to the residence of Lord Vishnu.
The Venkateswara mantra is "Om Namo Venkateshaya".
Every year, hundreds of thousands of devotees donate substantial offerings to theVenkateswara Temple atTirupati,Andhra Pradesh.[13] A legend explains this tradition of providing donations.
According to the legend,Narada once observed a few rishis performing a holyyagna. Unable to decide who the yagna should benefit, he recruited sageBhrigu to decide by meeting with each of theTrimurti in their abodes. Bhrigu visitedBrahma inBrahmaloka andShiva inKailasha and went unnoticed by both of these deities. He finally reachedVaikuntha and metVishnu, who was absorbed in meditation, attended to by his consort, the goddessLakshmi. Angered by being disregarded a third time, a furious Bhrigu kicked Vishnu's chest (the abode of Lakshmi) and provoked the wrath of Lakshmi. But a calm Vishnu asked for forgiveness of Bhrigu, and served the sage by massaging his legs. During this act, he crushed the extra eye that was present on the sole of Bhrigu's foot, which destroyed the sage's egotism. Lakshmi then departed fromVaikuntha, and reachedKolhapur. Vishnu performed an intense penance for twelve years, after which she was born asPadmavathi to Akasha Raja.[14]
After Lakshmi left, Vishnu went to Venkata Hill, sat in an anthill under a tamarind tree beside a pushkarini (lake), and started chanting the name of his wife, Mahalakshmi.[15] He then reincarnated as Srinivasa (or presented himself after penance in the ant-hill) as the son of the elderly womanVakula Devi, who was the rebirth ofYashoda the deityKrishna's foster-mother. Unhappy that she had been unable to attend Krishna's wedding toRukmini, the deity promised that he would be reborn to her as a son, as Srinivasa.[16]
.jpg)
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 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 the wedding between the two deities.[17]
Srinivasa asked the gods for consent to his marriage with Padmavathi. The deity also obtained a large loan fromKubera, the god of wealth, towards the expenses for the wedding as well as provide proof of his wealth. According to legends, Venkateswara married Padmavathi atKalyana Venkateswara Temple, Narayanavanam, after which they moved to Tirumala.[18]
About six months after 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 ofKali 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 the right side of his chest.[19]
The idol of Venkateswara has the attributes of bothVishnu andShiva- the preserving and destroying aspects of the Hindu Trinity.[20] The deity wears ornaments associated with Vishnu, but also ornaments such as the Naga, associated with 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 theBhagavad Gita.[21]
Venkateswara is known to stand for goodness. Hisdisc is believed to annihilate evil, while theconch is presumed to produce the cosmic sound that puts an end to the world's ignorance.[22] Venkateswara is also known asSat-Chit-Ananda.[23]
Venkateswara finds his mention in thePuranas, mainly inPadma Purana andSkanda Purana (as a form of Vishnu). Other Puranas also mentioned him as an avatar of Vishnu.[24][25] Additionally,Sri Venkatachala Mahatmyam a text glorifies the deity and has hymns related to his worship.[26]
Skanda Purana extols the significance of worshipping this deity:[27]
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, 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.
— Skanda Purana, Chapter 18.[28]
Venkateshwara, an aspect of Vishnu, is the presiding deity of theTirupati temple. It is believed that the deity isSwayambhu (self manifested).[29] TenPuranas state that Tirupati is a form of Lord Vishnu. Even deity appears similar to 108Divya 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 is the saviour of all suffering people in theKali Yuga.[30]
In the 12th century,Ramanuja visited Tirupati to settle a dispute that had arisen between theShaivites andVaishnavites regarding the nature of the deity set up in the Tirumala temple.[31] Ramanuja streamlined the rituals at Tirumala temple according toVaikanasaAgama tradition, and introduced the recitation of theNaalayira Divya Prabandham. He also set up the Tirupati JeeyarMatha 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.[32][33][34]
According to the Vaikhanasa Agamas, Venkateswara is represented by fivedeities (berams) including theMoolavirat, which are together referred to as the Pancha beramulu inTelugu (pancha means five; beram means deity).[35] 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 underAnanda Nilayam.[35]
In the Venkateswara Temple 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.[39]
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 deityMalayappa along with his consorts SriDevi and BhuDevi, is taken in a procession in four mada streets around the temple on different vahanams.[40][41]
Vaikuntha Ekadashi, 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".[42][43]
Ratha Saptami, is another festival, celebrated during February, when Venkateswara's processional deity (Malayappa) is taken in a procession around the temple on seven differentvahanams starting from early morning to late night.[44][45]
TheVenkateswara 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.[46][47] The Venkateswara Suprabhatam hymns were composed byPrathivadhi Bhayankaram Annangaracharya during the 13th century, and consist of 70 slokas in four parts, including Suprabhatam (29), Stotram (11), Prapatti (14), and Mangalasasanam (16).[47][46]
TheDayashataka, a Sanskrit work containing ten decads, was composed by the philosopherVedanta Desika in praise of the deity.[48]
Tallapaka Annamacharya (Annamayya), the poet saint[49] 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.[50][49] All his songs, which are inTelugu andSanskrit, are referred to as Sankirtanas and are classified as Sringara Sankirtanalu and Adhyatma Sankirtanalu.[49]
The most prominent shrine of Venkateswara isVenkateswara Temple situated atTirumala, a suburb ofTirupati.[51]
Venkateswara is also the primary deity at the following temples:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| Dashavatara (for example)1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Other avatars | ||
1 The list of the "ten avatars" varies regionally. Two substitutions[clarification needed] involve Balarama, Krishna, and Buddha. Krishna is almost always included; in exceptions, he is considered the source of all avatars. | ||
| History |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Deities | ||
| Festivals | ||
| Geography and sites | ||
| Architecture | ||
| TTD | ||
| People related to the temple | ||
| See also | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
