01Ramanuja’s town
Tradition tells that the murti of Govindaraja was brought from Chidambaram, where it had been removed from the Nataraja temple, and that Ramanujacharya installed it at the foot of the Tirumala hills in 1130 and settled the priests and servants of Tirumala around it. The village of Govindarajapattanam grew round the temple and became the town of Tirupati. Govindaraja is held to be the elder brother of Venkateswara, keeper of the wealth borrowed from Kubera. The temple also holds a shrine of Parthasarathy, which some accounts make the older deity here.
02The great east gopuram
The east gopuram, seven tiers high, was raised in the Vijayanagara period and is the landmark of the town. Inside, the temple has shrines of Andal, the Alvars and Ramanuja, and a museum of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. Saluva and Tuluva kings of Vijayanagara endowed it richly, and their gifts are recorded in the copper-plate and stone inscriptions published by the Devasthanams.
The life of this place
- 1130 CE (tradition)Ramanujacharya consecrates Govindaraja at the foot of the hills.
- 15th–16th centuryVijayanagara kings endow the temple and raise the gopuram.
Close to Tirupati railway station, in the old town. Most pilgrims visit before or after going up to Tirumala.
