The Hindu Business Line : The shrine of `Seven Hills': The abode of bliss

TIME seems to stand still in the holy shrine of the Lord Venkateswara. Mythology and legends blend to make current history. Pilgrims of today and time honoured traditions of the past appear to create the paradox of timelessness and living history.

The shrine of Sri Venkateswara is one of the foremost sacred Srivaishnava temples of South India, the other top three temples being Srirangam, Kancheepuram and Melkote in that order. The traditions converning the Tirumala temple are found in twelve puranas and upa puranas. The earliest mention of the temple was in Tolkappiam, a Tamil work of the 2nd century BC. Out of the 12 Alwars of Srivaishnava order, ten saints sang glorifying the Lord of the Seven Hills.

The temple is perhaps the oldest religious institution - for over 1300 years and on an average 50,000 to 60,000 pilgrims throng the shrine daily. Its annual income hovers around Rs.800 crs and bulk of the income is through the Tirumala temple hundi.

The hill range has seven principal peaks. On Seshachalam stands the temple and the whole range is often called after this principal hill. There are more than a thousand inscriptions on the walls dating from the 7th century. The temple received munificent donations and endowments from royal dynasties like the Vijayanagar empire. The actual date of the temple construction is not known as there is no evidence bearing on it. But the architectural development of the temple has been traced from the study of its various structures and inscriptions.

The image of the imposing main deity in the sanctum sanctorum is in the Sthanaka or standing posture. His eyes are in `sama drishti' - showing divine grace on the devotees. The two upper arms hold the Sanku and Chakra. The lower right hand is in the Varada hasta posture while the left is in the `katyavalambita' pose. Goddess Lakshmi is seated on His right chest.

Dawn to Dusk rituals: The day in the temple commences with the famous `Suprabhatham' - a pre-dawn seva meant to awaken the Lord from his `yoga nidra'. The priest led by a torch-bearer enter the sanctum and the golden doors are closed behind them. The Bhoga Srinivasamurthy is then moved from his bed-chamber to the sanctum and Harathi, milk and butter are offered. The pandits recite the Suprabhatha verses composed (barring the opening verse which is from Valmiki's Srimad Ramayana) by a 15th century composer, Prathivadi Bhayankaram Annan. On the completition of the recitation, the golden doors are thrown open signalling the beginning of the day's itenarary of the Lord of the Lords.

Thomala Seva: After the ceremonial and sanctified cleaning of the sanctum, thomala seva, the morning worship begins. Abhishekam is performed to the Bhoga Srinivasamurthi with the sacred water specially brought from the `Akasa Ganga' situted about 5 km north of the temple by the disciples of Tirumala Nambi-- the maternal uncle of Bhagavad Ramanuja, the founder of Srivaishnava school. Using the holy water, a Padabhishekam is performed daily to the main deity while a fullfledged celestial bath is given only on Fridays. He is then decorated with flowers of different hues.

Koluvu: Immediately after Thomala seva, Koluvu or durbar of the Lord takes place. The Koluvu Srinivasamurthy is brought to the mandapam opposite the sanctum in a silver chair with a silver umbrella over His head. The thithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana of the day are read out from the panchangam and the accounts of the previous day's collection in the hundi - cash, gold, jewellery break-up is symbolically presented to the Lord - the master of the massive temple.

Sahasranamarchana: As part of the routine pooja, this is performed for the material and spiritual welfare of the world. After the `Satrumurai' the temple jeeyar and Srivaishnavas recite portions of Divya Prabhandam and this brings to an end the early morning rituals signalling the start of the `dharma darshan'. After a brief afternoon pooja, the free darshan resumes and goes on till midnight until `Ekantha Seva', the last ritual of the day performed normally after zero hours on lean days and at 2.30 AM on peak days when the rush would be so heavy as to keep the temple open so long.

The Bhoga Srinivasamurthi is then put to bed on a velvet mattress spread over a swing cot in the Sayana Manda. The gold cups presented by the two queens of Sri Krishnadevaraya for offering milk to the deity during the seva are being used even today.

Diamond Kireetam: The most exquisite and precious among the riches of the Lord of the Seven Hills is His `Vajra Kireetham' - diamond crown got chisseled in mid-eighties by the TTD at a cost of Rs.5.73 crs. The intricately carved dazzling kireetam, is the third addition to the Lord's stock of crowns. The first crown was a mere gold one which according to Venkatachala Mahatmayam was presented to the Lord by the Akasa Raja when he gave his daughter, Goddess Padmavathi - in marriage to Lord Venkateswara. The second one was a diamond crown prepared in 1945 by the Board of Endowments. The latest and the third crown has nearly 28,369 diamonds studded on the 67.5 cm high tiara made from 26 kgs of 24-carat `aparanji' gold.

The Abode of bliss: `Ananda Nilayam' is the name given to the vimanam or the sacred tower above the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Srinivasa of the Seven Hills. The names given to vimanas vary from temple to temple. The famous shrine at Srirangam has the `Pranavakara Vimanam' because it is shaped like the sacred pranava (Om). The one at Sri Devarajaswami temple at Kancheepuram is known as the `Punyakoti Vimanam'.At Tirumala the vimanam, a three-storeyed canopy is called Ananda Nilaya Vimanam and the name indicates that it is the abode of eternal bliss. It ghas a square base of 8.22 m and a height of 11.37 mincluding the kalasa. It is in tthree talas (tiers) - the first, second and the third measuring 3m, 3.7m and 4.89m.

The first two tiers are rectangular and the third is circular in plan. In the first tier there are no images etched but in the second there are about 40 figures and in the third 20 with the Mahapadmam on it. After the last renovation more than 700 years ago, it was in 1952 that the leaky vimanam was repaired and its worn-out and damaged gold-plated coverings replaced. The latest renovation was done less than a year ago by the present Board of Trustees, headed by B. Karunakara Reddy.

A senior IAS officer, K.V. Ramanachary is the Member-Secretary of the high profile policy making body of the TTD - the trust board constituted by the state government. Tradition claims that Sri Vyasathirtha, the great Dvaitha saint, worshipped the image - Vimana Venkateswara - engraved on the northern side of the vimanam and attained `moksha'. Even to this day, one can see devotees standing on a specially erected podium and paying obeissance to the `Vimana Venkateswara'.

Besides the diamond head-gear worth about Rs.6 crs even in mid-80s, among the array of precious and antiquated ornaments of the Lord Srinivasa are Karna Patram, sankhu, chakram, Khati hastham and Vaikunta hastham, Nagabharanalu - all diamond-studded ones.

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