It is by the Lord’s presidency over Venkatachala, that He has received the appellation, Venkateswara (Lord of the Venkata Hill). He is also called the Lord of the Seven Hills.
The temple of Sri Venkateswara has acquired unique sanctity in Indian religious lore. The Sastras, Puranas, Sthala Mahatyams and Alwar hymns unequivocally declare that, in the Kali Yuga, one can attain mukti, only by worshipping Venkata Nayaka or Sri Venkateswara.
The benefits acquired by a piligrimage to Venkatachala are mentioned in the Rig Veda and Asthadasa Puranas. In these epics, Sri Venkateswara is described as the great bestower of boons. There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord at Tirumala.
The temple has its origins in Vaishnavism, an ancient sect which advocates the principles of equality and love, and prohibits animal sacrifice.
The sanctum sanctorum which houses the awe-inspiring idol of the Lord of the Seven Hills is situated in the main temple complex of Tirumala.
Darshan at Sri Venkateswara Temple
The entrance for darshan is through the Vaikuntam Queue Complex. The complex is a series of inter-connected halls that leads to the main temple. An efficient queue system ensures that pilgrims move in an orderly fashion through the Queue Complex, towards the main temple.
The halls in the Queue Complex are clean, spacious and airy.TTD provides a wide range of facilities in the Queue Complex:
Food is provided for the waiting pilgrims free of cost.
Milk, Coffe & Tea provided for waiting pilgrims free of cost.
Medical aid
Sale of photographs, calendars and other TTD publications
Toilets
Closed Circuit Television, through which devotional programmes and music are relayed
Cloak rooms near the Vaikuntam Queue Complex entrance
Places where footwear can be deposited, free of cost (at the entrance)
There are officers to look after the facilities in the Vaikuntam Queue Complex, regulate the queues and attend to complaints.
Sarvadarsanam
Sarvadarsanam means 'darshan for all'. The timings for Sarvadarsanam are different on different days of the week. Please refer the weekly temple programme for the timings.
On normal days, about 18 hours are allotted for Sarvadarsanam and on peak days, it is open for 20 hours.
Around 50,000 pilgrims visit the main temple every day.
Special Entry Darshan (Seeghra Darshan)
The Seeghra Darshanm facility is introduced 0n 21-09-2009 to provide quick Darshan for the Pilgrims. The cost of the Ticket is Rs.300/- per pilgrim. The tickets will be issued at VQC-I in a separate queue line with 4 counters, after taking the tickets, the pilgrims are directly allowed for Darshan. Seeghra Darshan tickets will be issued on all the Sarva Darshan timings.
The darshan timings are the same as that for Sarvadarsanam.
Special Entry Darshan Timings
Saturday,Sunday, Monday 4.00am to 5.00am , 7.00am to 6.00pm and 9.00pm to upto Ekantha seva.
Tuesday, Wednesday 08.30am to 01.00pm ,
Thursday 09.00am to 6.00 pm and 9.00pm to upto Ekanthaseva.
Friday 10.00am to 6.00pm and 9.00pm to upto Ekanthaseva.
Divya Darshan
1. Divya Darshan facility is provided for pedestrian who come on foot to Tirumala through Gali Gopuram or Srivari Mettu.
2. Bio-metric counters are established on these foot paths, to facilitate free darshan, free accommodation (P.A.C) and free food facilities at Tirumala.
Sudarshan token System
The Sudarsanam token system was introduced to minimise the waiting time for Sarvadarsanam, Special Darshan and other paid darshan/sevas. Some of its features: The tokens are available Rs.50/- token at the
1.Second Choultry (behind the Railway Station),
2.Bhudevi Complex,
3. Alipiri Tollgate,
4.Sreenivasam in Tirupati,
5.Srivari Sannidhi, Tirupati,
6. RTC Bus stand in Tirupati,
7.TTD Information centre ,Renigunta (opposite to the Renigunta Railway Station).
The time of darshan is indicated on the tokens.Pilgrims can enter the Vaikuntam Queue Complex at Tirumala at the time indicated on the tokens. . As this system saves on waiting time, it provides pilgrims with enough time to visit temples in the vicinity like Sri Govindarajaswami Temple and Kapila Teertham at Tirupati, Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple at Tiruchanur and Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swami Temple at Srinivasa Mangapuram.To help TTD keep a track of the number of pilgrims and ensure their smooth flow, one token is issued per head. Collective tokens for groups are not issued.Sudarshan tokens to a tune of 5000 perday, Tuesday and Wednesday 2000 perday will be issued from 05:00am
Some precautions for you to take:
Collect your Sudarsanam token only from TTD-run counters. Tokens issued by others are not valid.Do not exchange tokens.Do not trust touts.
Special Darshan for Physically disabled and Aged
This special darshan is arranged for the physically disabled and the aged, the infants along with parents through a separate gate at the Maha Dwaram,the main temple entrance. If necessary, such pilgrims can be accompanied by an attendant.
Other attractions in Tirupatit:
Silathoranam
SilathoranamSilathoranam is a natural rock formation in the form of an arch, near the Chakra Tirtham. Geologists have identified the rocks on the hill as pre-Cambrian, and this arch formation suggests an antiquity of several million years to the Tirumala hill.
It is said that there are only two other natural rock arches of such great antiquity in the world.
TTD Gardens
The TTD Gardens - ornamental, landscape and flower gardens - occupy an area of 460 acres in Tirupati and Tirumala.There are four nurseries at Tirumala with mist chambers - in the Travellers Bungalow area, Gogarbham Dam area, Sri Padmavathi Guest House area and Divyaramam area wherein ten lakh plants are propagated annually. Hybrid varieties of crotons, hibiscus,bougainvilleas have been released through hybridisation and mutation and named after great personalities - Croton Ramanuja, Tirumalanambi, Neelam, Dr.N.T.Rama Rao and bougainvillea varieties like Sharada Mukherjee and Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma. There are about 200 varieties of plants in the gardens.The Department of Gardens has released a number of books and publications like Plant Wealth of Tirumala, Angiospermic Wealth of Tirumala,The Ornamental Designs, Inti Thotalu, Thota Panulu. The Garden Department has a large germplasm collection of various ornamental varieties collected from various places in India and abroad.
The great Vaishnava acharya Sri Ramanuja and his disciple, Sri Anandalwar are believed to have been responsible for starting these gardens in the fourteenth century. Legend has it that the Tirumala flower gardens were cultivated by Sattada Sri Vaishnavas under the name of Dasa Nambis who made flower garlands for use in temples in Tirumala-Tirupati. Inscriptions in the temple refer to numerous flower gardens during the latter period of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In Tirumala many places are named after Nandanavanams - Andalwar Garden, Tharigonda Venkamamba Garden, Hathiramjee Garden and Tallapaka Garden.
To add to the glory of the gardens, there are many tanks and ponds such as Alwar Tank Mangalabhavi and Ananthapalligunta which are useful not only as perennial water sources for the temple gardens but also for growing red lotus flowers and supplying fresh water to the pilgrims and natives.
The main flowers used for Srivari Kainkaryam (puja) are the scented ones like roses, lotuses, chrysanthemums, davana, tulasi, Nerium, Tabornamontana, Kanakambaram (Tagetes) and Exora.
The Gardens Department of TTD meets the demand for flowers of all the temples in Tirumala.The Department supplies nearly 500 kg of flowers every day to all temples in Tirumala and Tiripati. It supplies garlands for adorning the deities and for decorating the mandapam, pandals and vahanas on festive occasions.The Department also accepts flowers in the form of donations from the devotees wherein flowers can be supplied under the name 'Sri Vari Pushpa Kainkaryam'. The APSTC-run buses provide for free transport of flowers in Tirumala.
The Department organises Pushpa Yagam and horticultural flower shows every year during Brahmotsavam.
Asthana Mandapam
Asthana MandapamThe Asthana Mandapam or Sadas Hall is an auditorium near the main temple complex, where cultural events are held.
Sri Venkateswara Dhyana Vignan Mandiram
Sri Venkateswara Dhyana Vignan MandiramThe Sri Venkateswara Museum was established in 1980. Stone and wooden carvings, articles used for puja, and traditional art and architecture are displayed here.
Now, a new building, called the Sri Venkateswara Dhyana Vignana Mandiram has been constructed for the purpose. The building also has meditation halls for pilgrims.
Govindarajaswamy Temple
This temple is located at the base of the Sapthagiri hills. Lord Vishnu, in his Ananthasayanam Posture, is enshrined here.Tiruchanur (Alamelu Mangapuram)
This temple is dedicated to Devi Padmavathi in all her bridal glory. Worshiping the Goddess here after visiting the shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala is customary. The deities of Lord Krishna and Venkatachalapati can also be found here.Srinivasa Mangapuram
Srinivasa Mangapuram, is close to Tirupathi. Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple is located in this place. According to mythology, Lord Venkateswara after his marriage with Padmavathi Devi stayed here for sometime before his onward journey to Tirumala.
Sri Kalahasti
This ancient pilgrim centre, is dedicated to Vayu (Wind God). Sri Kalahasti is also considered a Navagraha Sthalam dedicated to Rahu and Kethu.
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