Tirupati Balaji Darshan

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple

Proper name:	Sri Venkateswara Swamy vaari temple
Country:	India
State:	Andhra Pradesh
District:	Chittoor
Locale:	Tirupati
Elevation:	853 m

About Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple:-

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple is a famous Vedic temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh

The Tirumala Hill is 853m above sea level and is about 10.33 square miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven heads of Adisesha, thus earning the name Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. The temple is on Venkatadri (also known as Venkatachala or Venkata Hill), the seventh peak, and is also known as the "Temple of Seven Hills". The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Venkateswara, an incarnation of lord Vishnu. Venkateswara is known by other names: Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa. The temple lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank. The temple complex comprises a traditional temple building, with a number of modern queue and pilgrim lodging sites.

As more than fifty thousand pilgrims visit the Sri Venkateswara Temple every day, TTD has organised efficient systems to ensure the smooth movement of pilgrims. 

Vaikuntam Queue Complex :- 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
  

Sarvadarsanam:-

Sarvadarsanam means 'darshan for all'. The timings for Sarvadarsanam are different on different days of the week

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.

MONDAY	7:00 AM TO 5:00 PM
TUESDAY	8:00  AM TO 2:00 PM
WEDNESDAY	9:00 AM TO 2:00 PM
THURSDAY	9:00 AM TO 5:00 PM
FRIDAY	9:30 AM TO 9:00 PM
SATURDAY	7:00 AM TO 9:00 PM
SUNDAY	7:00 AM TO 9:00 PM

Sudarsanam Token System :-

Special Darshan:-

for the Physically Disabled and the 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.

Divya Darshan :-

* Divya Darshan facility is provided for pedestrian who come on foot to Tirumala through Gali Gopuram or Srivari Mettu.

* Bio-metric counters are established on these foot paths, to facilitate free darshan, free accommodation (P.A.C) and free food facilities at Tirumala.

Activities :-

Prasadam :- The world famous Tirupati Laddu is given at Tirumala Temple as prasadam. Recently, the Trust has taken Geographical Indication of Laddu prasadam, hence, no one can prepare the same Laddu. 

Hair tonsuring :- Many devotees have their head tonsured as "Mokku", an offering to God. The daily amount of hair collected is over a ton. The hair thus gathered is sold by the temple organization a few times a year by public auction to international buyers for use as hair extensions and in cosmetics, bringing over $5 million to the temple's treasury. This is the second highest income generating activity in the temple next to the Hundi Collection. 

Hundi :- It is believed that Srinivasa had to make arrangements for his wedding. Lord Kubera credited money to the god Venkateswara (a form of the god Vishnu) for his marriage with Padmavati. Srinivasa sought a loan of one crore and 1.4 million (11,400,000) coins of gold from Kubera and had Viswakarma, the divine architect, create heavenly surroundings in the Seshadri hills. Together, Srinivasa and Padmavathy lived for all eternity while Goddess Lakshmi, understanding the commitments of Lord Vishnu, chose to live in his heart forever.  In remembrance of this, devotees go to Tirupati to donate money in Venkateswara's hundi (donation pot) so that he can pay it back to Kubera. The hundi collections go as high as 21 million INR a day. Devotees offer gold as a token of their love for God. The annual gold offering goes as high as 3000 kg.

Thulabharam:- One of the most important offering in this temple, is the 'thulabharam.' In the Thulabaram ritual, a devotee sits on a pan of a weighing balance and the other pan is filled with materials greater than the weight of the devotee. Devotees usually offer sugar, jaggery, tulsi leaves, banana, gold, coins. This is mostly performed with newborn babies or children.

Arjitha seva (paid services):- Pilgrims can view and participate (in a limited fashion) in the various sevas performed to Dhruva bera (main idol), Bhoga Srinivasa, Sri Malayappa swami and other idols in the temple.

When pilgrims purchase arjitha seva tickets, they get the opportunity to see a seva performed to the Lord, obtain prasadam in the form of vastram (clothes), akshantalu (sacred and blessed rice) and food articles (laddus, vadas, dosas, pongal, rice items) and a darshan of the utsava murti.

The Seven Hills :- The seven hills, also called Saptagiri , represent the Saptarishi (seven sages). They sometimes called the Sapathagiri. Hence the Lord is named Saptagirinivasa. The following are the seven hills:

• Vrushabhadri – Hill of Nandi, the vahana of Lord Shiva
• Anjanadri — Hill of Lord Hanuman
• Neeladri – Hill of Neela Devi – It is believed that hair offered by the devotees is accepted by Neela Devi. It is because of boon granted by Lord Venkateswara to Neela Devi.
• Garudadri or Garudachalam – Hill of Garuda, the vahana of Lord Vishnu
• Seshadri or Seshachalam – Hill of Sesha, the dasa of Lord Vishnu
• Naraynadri – Hill of Narayana. Srivari Padalu are located here
• Venkatadri – Hill of Lord Venkateswara 

Important Festivals:-

     Brahmotsavam, Vaikunta Ekadasi,Ratha Saptami
     The town celebrates most Vaishnava festivals, including Vaikuntha Ekadasi, Rama Navami, and Janmashtami with great splendor, while the Brahmotsavam celebrated every year during September is the most important festival in Tirumala. The temple receives millions of devotees over the short span of a week. Other major festivals include Vasanthotsavam, conducted in March–April, and Rathasapthami (Magha Shuddha Saptami), celebrated in February, when Lord Venkateswara's deity is taken on procession around the temple chariots.

For more information for Tirumala Venkateswara Temple :-

Please visit Online services portal

Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams Online Seva Portal. TTD is Happy to Provide Better Service to the Devotees with this Web Based Interface.

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