Shree Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala

Introduction:

Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala (Tirupati) is one of the most famous temples in India. With more than three and half crores (3.5 crores) pilgrims visiting the temple every year, approximately 95,000 pilgrims every day, it is one of the most visited holy places and also one of the richest temples in the world.

Lord Venkateswara Temple Built is on the Venkatachalam which is a part of the famous Seshachalam (Cluster of 7 Hills representing representing the seven heads of Adisesha). Tirupati Temple is considered as one of the holiest shrines by the Hindus. According to a legend, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of Sri Venkateswara.



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.

Legend

A mythological story about Sri Maha Vishnu come to Earth incarnated as Venkateswara and appeared for the salvation and upliftment of humanity in this Kali Yuga age. 

 Once Saptha Maha Rishis headed by Kasyapa Maha Muni began to perform a Yaga on the banks of the Ganges. Sage Narada visited them and asked them why they were performing the Yaga and who would be pleased by it. Not being able to answer the question, the rishis approached Sage Bhrigu. To reach a solution after a direct check of reality.

(Maharishi Bhrigu –

·                     one among the Saptarshis,

·                     one of the many Prajapatis (the facilitators of Creation) created by Brahma

·                     Considered a Manasa Putra ("mind-born-son") of Brahma.

·                     Along with Manu, Bhrigu had made important contributions to Manusmriti.

·                     Two sons named Dhata and Vidhata.

·                     Daughter Lakshmi married Vishnu

·                     He had one more son – Shukra, learned sage and guru of the asuras

·                     One of his descendants was sage Jamadagni, father of Parashurama, an avatar of Vishnu)

Sage Bhrigu first went to Satyaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma. At Satyaloka, he found Lord Brahma, reciting the four Vedas in praise of Lord Narayana, with each of his four heads, and attended upon by Saraswati. Lord Brahma did not take notice of Bhrigu offering deferential respect. Concluding that Lord Brahma was unfit for worship, cursed Braham not to be worshiped in Bholoka, Bhrigu left Satyaloka for Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva. 

At Kailasa, Bhrigu found Lord Siva spending his time pleasantly with Parvati and not noticing his presence. Parvati drew the attention of Siva to the presence of the sage. Lord Siva was furious at Bhrigu's disturbance and tried to destroy him. The sage cursed Lord Siva  that shiva will be worshiped only in ‘Ling Roopa’ aand left for Vaikuntam. 

At Vaikuntam, Lord Vishnu was relaxed on Adisesha with Sri Mahalakshmi in service at His feet. Finding that Lord Vishnu also did not notice him, the sage was enraged and kicked the Lord on His chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides. At once, Lord Vishnu hurries to apologies to the angry sage and pressed his feet to allay the pain caused to Bhrigu's leg. In doing so the Lord removed the eye in the foot of the sage, stripping of his special powers. Thereupon, the sage concluded that Lord Vishnu was the most supreme of the trimurthis and told the rishis the same. 

Sri Mahalakshmi was angered by the action of her Lord in apologizing to Bhrigu who committed an offence. Out of anger and anguish she left Vaikuntha and resided in Karavirapur now known as Kolhapur. After the departure of Mahalakshmi, a desperate Lord Vishnu left Vaikuntam and took abode in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree, beside a pushkarini on the Venkatadhari, meditating for the return of Lakshmi, without food or sleep. 

This was the place where Lord took the form of Varaha to rescue Mother Earth form the deep ocean.

Taking pity on Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwara decided to assume the forms of a cow and its calf to serve Him. Surya, the Sun God informed Mahalakshmi of this and requested her to assume the form of a cowherdess and sell the cow and calf to the king of the Chola country. The king of the Chola country bought the cow and its calf and sent them to graze on the Venkatadri along with his herd of cattle. Discovering Lord Vishnu on the ant-hill, the cow provided its milk, and thus fed the Lord. Meanwhile, at the palace, the cow was not yielding any milk, for which the Chola Queen chastised the cowherd severely. To find out the cause of lack of milk, the cowherd followed the cow, hid himself behind a bush and discovered the cow emptying her udder over the ant-hill. Incensed over the conduct of the cow, the cowherd aimed a blow with his axe on the head of the cow. However, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to receive the blow and save the cow. When the cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe, he fell down and died of shock.

The cow returned, bellowing in fright and with blood stains all over her body, to the Chola King. To find out the cause of the cow's terror, the King followed her to the scene of the incident. The King found the cowherd lying dead on the ground near the ant-hill. While he stood wondering how it had happened, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill and cursed the King saying that he would become an Asura because of the fault of his servant. The King pleaded innocence, and the Lord blessed him by saying that he will be reborn as Akasa Raja and that the curse would end when the Lord will be adorned with a crown presented by Akasa Raja at the time of His marriage with Padmavati. With these words Lord turned into stone form. Thereafter, Lord Vishnu in the name of Srinivasa, decided to stay in Varaha Kshetra, and requested Sri Varahaswami to grant Him a site for His stay.



Yasoda Reborn : Yesoda brought up Sri Krishna, the son of Devaki, in his early years. However, Yasoda was not blessed to witness the marriage of Sri Krishna with Rukmini and she felt very sad. Sri Krishna promised to fulfil her desire in her next birth as Vakuladevi in his next incarnation as Srinivasa. In Rukmini's next birth as Vakuladevi, she was serving Lord Varahaswami when He sent her to serve Srinivasa.

Padmavathi: Sometime later, a King named Akasa Raja who belonged to the Chandra Vamsha was ruling over Thondamandalam. Akasa Raja had no heirs, and therefore, he wanted to perform a Yaga. As part of the yaga, he was ploughing the fields when his plough turned up a lotus in the ground. On examining the lotus, the King found a female child in it. The king was happy to find a child even before he performed a yaga and carried it to his place and gave it to his Queen to tend it. As she was found in a lotus, the king named her Padmavati. 

Padmavathi's origin : When Ravana was about to carry away Sita from Panchavati, in the absence of Rama and Lakshmana, Agni appeared and offered Vedavati to Ravana as the real Sita who was kept with him by Rama to evade Ravana. Ravana was tricked into thinking that Vedavati was the real Sita. Ravana took Vedavati to Lanka thinking she was the real Sita, while Agni took Sita to his house and asked his wife Swahadevi to look after her.

After the destruction of Ravana, Vedavati entered the fire when rejected by Rama. Then, Agni, offered the real Sita to Rama. Rama then questioned her as to who the other lady by her side was, Sita informed Rama that the lady was Vedavati who endured Ravana's torture for ten months in Lanka for her sake. Sita requested Rama to accept Vedavati also as his spouse. But Rama declined her request saying that he believed in having only one wife during his life time.

However, He promised to wed her in her next birth as Padmavati, born as the daughter of Akasa Raja, when Rama himself would take the form of Srinivasa.

In olden times, Lakshmi, in the form of Vedavati, was staying in an ashram in the forests. At that time, Ravana, the lord of Lanka tried to tempt her. In anger, Vedavati cursed him saying that she would bring about his death.

Thus Lord Venkateshwara is incarnation of Lord Vishnu to fulfill his promise made in previous last two avathara –

1. Promise made to Yoshada – allow her to perform his marriage(promise made by Shree Krishna)

2. Promise made to Sita – Marrying Vedavathi

Marriage of Venkateshwara & Padamavathi:

One day, Lord Srinivasa, who was hunting, chased a wild elephant in the forests surrounding the hills. In the elephant's chase, the Lord was led into a garden, where Princess Padmavati and her maids were picking flowers. The sight of the elephant frightened the Princess and her maids. But the elephant immediately turned around, saluted the Lord and disappeared into the forest. Lord Srinivasa, who was following on horseback, and saw the frightened maidens. However, He was repulsed with stones thrown at Him by the maids. He returned to the hills in haste, leaving His horse behind. 

Vakuladevi found him lying on his bed, not interested in anything. The Lord informed her that unless he married Princess Padmavati. The Lord then narrated the story of her (Padmavati’s) previous birth and his promise to wed her. After listening to Srinivasa's story of how he had promised to marry Vedavati in her next birth as Padmavati, Vakuladevi realised that Srinivasa would not be happy unless he married Padmavati. She offered to go to Akasa Raja and his Queen and arrange for the marriage. On the way she met the maid-servants of Padmavati returning from a Siva Temple. She learnt from them that Padmavati was also pining for Srinivasa. Vakuladevi went along with the maid servants to the Queen.

Meanwhile, Akasa Raja and his queen Dharanidevi were anxious about the health of their daughter, Padmavathi. They learnt about Padmavathi's love for Srinivasa. Akasa Raja consulted Brihaspati about the marriage and was informed that the marriage was in the best interest of both the parties.

Kubera lent money to Lord Srinivasa to meet the expenses of the marriage. Lord Srinivasa, along with his consorts and Lord Brahma and Lord Siva started the journey to the residence of Akasa Raja with his vehicle Garuda. At the palace entrance, Lord Srinivasa was received by Akasa Raja with full honours and taken in procession on a mounted elephant to the palace for the marriage. In the presence of all the Devas, Lord Srinivasa wed Princess Padmavati, thus blessing Akasa Raja.

LORD SRINIVASA TURNS TO LORD VENKATESWARA

In about six months after this celestial marriage, Goddess Maha Lakshmi who left the lord, in the past in a huff after sage Bhrigu kicked Lord Vishnu on his chest, her dwelling place, came to know that her husband married again and came to see him in disbelief.

It is said that the Lord turned himself into a granite statue right in front of his two spouses when they together encountered him over his remarriage. Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva then appear before the confused queens and explain the main purpose behind all this complex episode, the Lord's desire to be on the holy seven hills for the emancipation of the mankind from the perpetual trials and tribulations of Kali Yuga. Goddesses Lakshmi and Padmavathi also turn into stone idols expressing their wish to be with their Lord eternally. Goddess Lakshmi stayed with him on the left side of his chest while Goddess Padmavati rested on the right side of his chest.
The Story is best narrated in Kannada feature fill starred by RajKumar named "SRINIVASA KALYANA" Watch :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yFsbRdCh-s