Venkateshwara
वेंकटेश्वर
Kuldevta, family god
Worshipped as a form of Vishnu on the Venkata hill
At a glance
- Main shrine
- Sri Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh
- Worshipped in
- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra
- Kept by
- Telugu families, Marathi families
About
Venkateshwara is the god of the Tirumala hill at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, worshipped as a form of Vishnu and known across India as Balaji, Srinivasa and Govinda. Pilgrims of every community come to Tirumala, and many offer their hair there to fulfil a vow. Some Telugu and Marathi families are listed as keeping him as their kuladevata, but no source seen ties him to a named lineage.
Legend and Origin
In the Tirumala legend as the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) tell it, Vishnu left Vaikuntha in search of Lakshmi at the start of the Kali Yuga and settled on Venkatadri as an anthill under a tamarind tree. As Srinivasa, son of the sage Vakula Devi, he met the princess Padmavati while hunting, and the king Akasa Raja agreed to the match. The Lord took a large loan from Kubera for the wedding. Brahma and Shiva explained that he wished to stay on the seven hills to free people from the troubles of the Kali Yuga; Lakshmi and Padmavati became stone images on his chest. For the shrine's history the accounts differ. TTD's history page records a silver Bhoga Srinivasa image given by the Pallava queen Saama Vaayi (Perundevi) in 614 CE; the Wikipedia history article gives 966 CE for the first recorded endowment by the queen Samavai, citing Sharma and Young (1999), and does not reconcile the dates. TTD records later patrons, among them Mallanna in 1461 and the emperor Krishnadevaraya, who set up copper statues of himself and his consorts on 2 January 1517; TTD dates Ramanuja's three visits within his years of 1017 to 1137 CE.
How the Deity Is Shown
The main image has four arms, two holding a conch (shankha) and a discus (chakra), and wears the Vaishnava nama on the forehead. In the TTD legend Lakshmi is on the left of his chest and Padmavati on the right. Some devotees read the image as carrying marks of both Vishnu and Shiva, among them a serpent ornament.
How Families Keep the Worship
The word kuladaivam (Telugu and Malayalam) or kuladeivam (Tamil) means the deity of one's own kula, line or family; it is separate from the ishta-devata a person chooses for personal devotion. Venkateshwara is listed as a kuladevata for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and 'Venkateswara of Tirupati' for Maharashtra, in a Wikipedia list that names no community and cites no source. At Tirumala the best-known vow is the offering of hair at the Kalyanakattas, which TTD describes as the place where pilgrims are tonsured to fulfil their vows; tonsure there is free. Popular accounts give two meanings, that it repays Srinivasa's loan from Kubera and that it stands for surrender; neither is in TTD's own pages. The vow is made by pilgrims of any family and is not the same as the rites of a family's own kuladevata, which differ by branch and village and are not described here.
Shrines
Sri Venkateswara Temple
Tirumala, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh
The main shrine, on Venkatadri in the Seshachalam hills. The inner sanctum, Ananda Nilayam, faces east. The hill shrine of Varaha stands beside the temple tank, Swami Pushkarini.
Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple
Tiruchanoor, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh
The temple of Padmavati (Alamelumanga), about 5 km from Tirupati. The Devasthanams advise pilgrims to visit her before going up to Tirumala.
Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Temple
Narayanavanam, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh
In the legend, the place where Srinivasa and Padmavati were married before going to Tirumala.
Festivals
Srivari Brahmotsavam
Ashvina (September to October), nine days
TTD's account: the flag is hoisted on the first day, the Garuda vahanam on the fifth is the most important day, the chariot procession is on the eighth, and the Chakrasnanam in Swami Pushkarini on the ninth.
Vaikuntha Ekadashi
Shukla ekadashi in Dhanurmasa (December to January)
Listed among the temple's major festivals; devotees believe the Vaikuntha Dvaram, the passage round the sanctum, is open on this day.
Padmavathi Brahmotsavam (Tiruchanoor)
Karthika month
A separate festival of the Tiruchanoor temple. TTD says Padmavati emerged from the lotus on Karthika Panchami.
Stories and Legends
The wedding loan
In the Tirumala legend Srinivasa, led by an elephant while hunting, sees the princess Padmavati in a garden and wishes to marry her. His mother Vakula Devi proposes the match to the king Akasa Raja. To pay for a wedding fit for the Lord, Srinivasa borrows a great sum from Kubera. Devotees tell the story when they explain why offerings are made at Tirumala.
Padmavati and the lotus
TTD gives two accounts of the goddess of Tiruchanoor. In one, Akasa Raja finds a baby girl in a lotus and adopts her as Padmavati. In the other, she leaves Vaikuntha after Bhrigu strikes Vishnu's chest, does penance for twelve years beside a pond on the Swarnamukhi river, and rises from a golden lotus in the thirteenth year.