India is known as the ‘Land of splendid temples’. Due to their cultural significance and glorious heritage, tourists of varied beliefs visit the temple and pay respect to their gods. Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple is known to fulfil all the wishes of the devotees, who pray to the Lord with an explicit faith. It is popularly known as Tirupati Temple and is located in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. There are plenty of hotels in Tirupati to accommodate the pilgrims. It is the most famous temple in India with a never-decreasing number of daily visitors and steep annual donations. The per day visitor count at this temple is about 60,000 to 70,000, and sometimes even lakhs.
It is around 435 km from Vijayawada, 138 km from Chennai, and 291 km from Bangalore. There are several legends about the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala. According to one legend, the temple has a deity of Lord Venkateswara, which shall remain here for the entire duration of the Kali Yuga.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Sri Venkateswara—an incarnation of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared at Tirupati to save humanity from Kali Yuga. Hence the name Kaliyuga Vaikuntam and the deity here is referred to as Kaliyuga Pratyaksha Daivam. The temple has other names like Tirumala, Tirupati, and Tirupati Balaji Temple. Even Lord Venkateswara is known by many different names like Srinivasa, Balaji, and Govinda.
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The Temple is constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture and is believed to be built over a period starting from 300 AD. The Garbhagriha of the temple is called Ananda Nilayam. Lord Venkateswara is in standing posture and faces east in Garbhagriha. The temple follows Vaikhanasa Agama tradition of worship. The temple is one of the eight Vishnu Swayambhu Kshetras. The Temple premises had two modern queue complex buildings to organise the pilgrim rush. The temple also has Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam complex for free meals to pilgrims. There are also hair tonsure buildings and many pilgrim lodging sites.
Tirumala Hills is a part of Seshachalam Hills Range. The hills are at the height of 853 metres above sea level. The hill range consists of seven summits that represent the seven heads of Adisesha. The Venkateswara Temple lies on the seventh peak—Venkatadri. It is because of this reason that the temple is even referred to as the “Temple of Seven Hills“. Tirumala town covers about 26.75 square km.
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It is the richest temple in the world concerning the donations received and total wealth. The temple is visited by an average of about 3 to 4 crore people annually. On special festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 5,00,000, making it the most-visited holy place in the world. In 2016, it was reported that 2.73 crore pilgrims visited the temple.
Visit this religious place to bring inner peace and calm. The hotels in Tirupati and pilgrim lodging sites are equipped to accommodate the pilgrims.
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