Bhagwan Venkateswara

01Why Vishnu came to the hill

The temple’s sthala purana, gathered in the Venkatachala Mahatmya, tells that the rishi Bhrigu, testing the Trimurti, kicked Vishnu on the chest where Lakshmi lives. Vishnu only pressed the rishi’s foot, but Lakshmi left Vaikuntha in hurt. Vishnu followed her to earth and lived in an anthill on the Venkata hill as Srinivasa. There he met and married Padmavati, daughter of Akasha Raja, borrowing the wedding’s cost from Kubera; devotees say their offerings help him repay it until the end of Kali Yuga.

02Alvars, Annamacharya and the kings

The Alvars sang of Tiruvenkatam as one of the Divya Desams, the daily worship follows the Vaikhanasa Agama, and Ramanuja is remembered for setting the temple’s order of service. Annamacharya, born at Tallapaka in the fifteenth century, is said to have composed thirty-two thousand songs to him, of which some thirteen thousand survive on copper plates. Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara came many times, and copper statues of the king and his queens stand in the temple. The Suprabhatam that wakes him every dawn was composed by Prativadi Bhayankara Annan.

03Tirumala today

Pilgrims climb the stone steps from Alipiri, offer their hair at the kalyana katta, and wait hours for a few seconds before him. The laddu prasadam is famous across India. The Brahmotsavam in Ashvin, with the Garuda Seva on its fifth night, and Vaikuntha Ekadashi, when the inner northern gate opens, draw the largest crowds. Below the hills, Padmavati has her own temple at Tiruchanur, and devotees try to visit her too. Temples to him now stand from Hyderabad’s Chilkur and Birla Mandir to Pittsburgh and Birmingham.

In the texts

• Venkatachala Mahatmya (from the Skanda, Varaha and Bhavishyottara Puranas)
• Nalayira Divya Prabandham (Tiruvenkatam hymns)
• Sankirtanas of Annamacharya
• Venkatesha Suprabhatam

Utsav: festivals