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Sloka's of the Day. |
"uthishtothishta! govinda! uthishta garudadhvaja! uthishta kamalakantha! thrilokyam mangalam kuru" |
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The
Tirumala Hill is 3200 ft above sea level,
and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It
comprises seven peaks, representing the
seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning
the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks
are called Seshadri, Five persons are
allowed for Shrivari Darshan. Laddus will
be given after darshan. Laddu Padi tickets
are sold at Vijaya Bank. Neeladri, Garudadri,
Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and
Venkatadri. The sacred temple of Sri Venkateshwara
is located on the seventh peak,
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Venkatadri (Venkata Hill), and lies on
the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini.
There are several legends associated with
the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala.
The name Tirupati, meaning the 'the Lord
of Lakshmi should have been appropriately
applied to the village on the Venkata
Hill, the abode of the Lord. However,
it has been popularly assigned to the
Municipal town at the foot of the Hill,
while the village around the Hill near
His temple is called Tirumala (the Sacred
Hill).
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Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala is regarded
as the world's richest temple with an
estimated annual income of over 300 crores.
The hill temple, which received a stream
of royal benefactions, has a fabulous
collection of very rare and precious ornaments
whose antique value is beyond anybody's
guess. It also has crores of rupees worth
assets in the form of land and buildings
spread across the country. The main source
of income is derived from the "hundi"
which netted an all time record of Rs.116
crores in the year 1997-98 by way of cash
offerings. During the period the hundi
also received 450 Kg of gold, 3,200 Kg
of silver articles, diamonds weighing
2.430 Kg besides more than 2 Kg of pearls,
loose stones, corals and other precious
offerings. There is no dearth of funds
for the sacred temple as philanthropists
from all over the country and abroad queue
up to make fabulous donations in fulfillment
of their vows. Lord Venkateshwara who
according to the mythologies is "self-manifested"
(svayambhu) is regarded
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as the most revered Hindu God today. On
any given day the main deity is adorned
with not less than a hundred Kg of gold,
diamond and pearl ornaments. Of all the
ornaments, which adorn the deity, "Makara
Kanti", "Lakshmi haram", "Shaligrama haram",
"Suryakatari" (golden sword believed to
have been presented to the Lord by the
Sun God) are of immense antique value
their history being rooted in legends.
Aside the recently made diamond crown
whose present value is put around Rs.30
Crores the other ornaments such as "Nagabharanams",
"Sankhu-Chakram", "Kati Hastham" and "Abhaya
Hastham" are also made of gold and diamonds.
The "Golden Dhoti" (peethambaram) made
of pure gold laces is the heaviest of
all his "costumes", weighing about 40
Kg. This particular vasthram adorns the
main deity during Brahmothsavam and on
other main festive occasions.
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It is mind boggling to learn that more
than 150 Kg of pure gold is used to provide
a gold metal cover to the exquisite "ANANDA
NILAYA VIMANAM", the granite canopy over
the sanctum sanctorum. In addition to
this the temple management is contemplating
to provide gold-coated copper sheets to
all the pillars and doors including the
outer prakaram of the sanctum sanctorum
to add to the aesthetic beauty of the
shrine and thus transform it into a "golden
temple" complex. According to rough estimates,
nearly 100 Kg of gold is required for
the work and the TTD is already in the
process of procuring the same. An interesting
feature of the temple is inspiring its
rich collection of ornaments; donations
are still pouring inn from devotees in
the form of fabulous offerings. For instance,
during 1998 year a devotee from Sri Lanka
who wished to remain anonymous for obvious
reasons had donated three diamond-studded
golden crowns for the processional deities
- the Lord and his
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two consorts. Another devotee a business
tycoon from Pune offered a diamond parrot,
a pair of Nagabharanams besides other
princely offerings to the temple. Apart
from these another devotee has come forward
to donate a "Vajra Kireetam" to the goddess
Padmavati of Tiruchanoor whose estimated
cost is around Rs. one crore. To add further
to the grandeur of the temple, the management
has already initiated the task of remaking
various "vahanams" used for the procession
of the Lord. Beside the "surya prabha"
vahanam remade last year, the TTD has
recently refabricated the gold-coated
"sarvabhoopala" vahanam at a cost of Rs.23
lakhs using four Kg of gold. The temple
annual income which was Rs. 37 lakhs in
1945-46 rose to 9 crore in 1970-71 to
Rs. 23 crore by 80-81 and then toRs. 108
cr. (90-91) and touched all time high
of Rs. 300 crore during 1997-98 By the
end of the millennium TTD is expecting
its income to touch the Rs.350 crore mark.
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Wednesday, February 25 2004 |
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