Tirumala means the place of many hills.
In ancient days Tirumala was called as " Tiru vEnkatAdri ".
Sri Venkateswara (Lord Balaji) is the world famous Hindu God.
Venkatadri is the residence of him.
" VEm" is the symbol of all sins."Kata" means, burn them. Venkatadri means the place which burns all sins of people.
" Tolkapsiyam " is the first Tamil Literature. In this book, Writer called swamy's land as Vengadam.
Poet " Mamulanar" also said the same. So at that time, TIrumala's name was VEngaDam.
People called Swamy as " Sri Venkatachalapati ", after only 935 A.D. .
There are so many stories about the god of Seven Hills. Most of them have no historical evidence.
According to some historic evidence, experts are telling like this...
Time: 100 B.C. - 100 A.D.
That was the deepest jungle. Some villagers came to that place in the search of their Cows.
They found Swamy Statue There in an Anthill. They surprised a lot .
Who makes that statue? From when it is there! What God is he! .. nobody knows until now.
They told about this to their king , Tondaman.
He is the son of Nagarani and Karikalachola, the first Emperor of Chola dynasty , who ruled tanjavUr.
He builds Tonda manDal , so .. He was called as Tondaman king.
He went with very much of interest and saw the great Statue of Swamy. Statue is very big and tremendous. He admired a lot. After some days, he builds the first temple for Swamy. It was a temporary temple. It might be a rock construction with a small compound wall and without top or a partial top. We can imagine like this way .. Because Shilappadikaram of 760 A.D., said that swamy's statue is always contacting with the rays of sun and moon. We can imagine in another way also. Tondaman King constructed a small temple with a top, but it was destroyed, so sun and moon could see the god directly.
Finally, we can say that our grand fathers saw the Balaji, first time at the time of Karikala chola (100B.C. -100 A.D. )
Sri Venkateswara Swamy is " Swayambhuvu". It means he has born himself in Tirumala. Swamy is on the hill top. In the ancient Tamil literature " ShilappadikAra" (756 A.D.) , Swamy was described as the god, who residing on the hill top of Venkatachala hill. So Swamy was called as " ucciyil NinRAn", means God on the hilltop. After some time, people recognized that Swamy's temple is in a lower height than the premises. So people started to call swamy as " Malai kuniya ninRAn".
Narayanadri's height is 3,620 feet. This is the tallest Hill in Seven Hills .
" Pancharatra" and " Vaikhanasa" are the two Agamas which tell the Temple procedures. Tirumala temple follows the Vaikhanasa Agama.
Now ," TiruchanUr" or "AlimElu MangApuram" is a famous town near Tirupati. That is in a distance of ten miles to Tirumala. That is very ancient and has a great history. Its old name is "TirushukhanUr". Before the establishment of Tirupati, TirushukanUr is the key place to Tirumala .
"Tiruvilan koil" was constructed in tirusukhanur in 826 A.D. It was also a Venkateswara Temple.
Many people visited the tirusukhanUr and saw the god in Tiruvilan koil and returned to their villages. Because reaching Tirumala is a big risky journey in those days. There were no clear routes , no facilities and no safety. Due to this reason, Tiruvilan koil was closed at 960 A.D..
From the times of " pallava' and "chola", there was a village committee in tirushukanUr. That committee had maintained all the things of Tirumala temple. After the establishment of Tirupati, people who were working in Tirumala, shifted to Tirupati from tirusukhanUr. After that Tirupati developed gradually, TirushukanUr lost all.
Before 1200 A.D. , there was a small Village under the Seven Hills. That was called as ' KottUru ' . Ramanujacharya built a new town in the place of Village. Now we are calling that town as " Tirupati" . There was a Temple of " ParthasAradhi swamy". That was small and ancient. At that time, the emperor of Chola dynasty was an opponent of " Vaishnava". He ordered about Govindaraja swamy of chidambaram," Mahavishnu's residence is Sea. So throw him into the Sea ". Followers of ramanujacharya saved that Statue and brought to Tirupati. Ramanujacarya consecrated that Govindaraja Swamy in the Parthasaradhi Swamy Temple. Now we are calling that temple as " Govindaraja Swamy Temple".
Now Tirumala god is the No .1 earning God in the world. Hindus are describing him as " The God of Kaliyuga".
India is a nation where every the religion of all times have their honorable presence. This had brought in India a big playground for raising vast monuments by the people following all the religions on globe.
The Hindu faith & Hindu philology expand from around a hundred B.C. to A.D. 1800. This marks commencement of the advanced time period. As faith can't be meaningfully carved up from the civilisation of humans following it, the synagogues are illustrations of divergent civilisations persisting in different periods of time. So the spiritual places, the temples & monasteries, state the journey of Indian civilisation.
If we consider the listing of the spiritual places in Republic of India, we could ensure how harmoniously the humans of India live. Followings are a few of the synagogues interpreting the colorful spiritual embellishment of India.
Akshardham, New Delhi
In the concern of measure of persons visiting, the Taj Mahal would take 1st place. Every individual, coming to India first, like to see this mughal memorial located in the urban center of Agra. If there has a place in India that could contend with Taj Mahal in the weigh of visitors approaching to it, it's Akshardham synagogue of New Delhi. Just about 70 percentage of overall visitors arriving to India don't drop visiting these holy place.
Golden synagogue, Amritsar
If any individual comes up to visit India, & he or she lose seeing the gold Temple located in Amritsar,she or he would lose several things. This is synagogue of the peak arrange for the followers of Sikh faith.
Badrinath synagogue
Placed on among the high mounds of Himalayan chain of mountains, it's a temple of Divine Vishnu. At once we could reach at the synagogue by motorway but in past times it was among the hardest pilgrim's journey. It's among the 4 divinest synagogues of Hindu faith.
Kedarnath Temple
Located at the peak of 3581 meters, this synagogue of Lord Siva is among the most visited places in to the north India. It's 250 kilometer from Haridwar & 450 kilometer from Delhi. One could go along motorway, ahead to the base of the mound on which the synagogue of Kedarnath is placed. Thereafter we have to walk for fourteen kilometer.
Bahai Temple or Lotus synagogue
Situated in in the southern part of New Delhi, the Lotus synagogue is the divine place for the followers of Bahai religion in Republic of India. Like the preceding synagogues, every individual, disregarding of his or her faith, is admitted to visit these synagogue.
Swami Viveananda made his famous speech at the international Congress of World Religions at Chicago after a deep study of the Quran, Bible and scriptures of all other religions. He affirmed that Hindus accept all religions for these are so many attempts to grasp and realize the Infinite. Each attempt marks a stage of progress. Vedanta is the mother of all religions. He propagated universal Brother Hood.
Mahatma Gandhi:
Mahatma Gandhi stated that all religions are true but some of the faulty interpretations have brought in some errors. This created the need for refinement of reasoning for mutual respect and learning.
Mahatma Gandhi pleaded that we must rise above all these religions. At the individual level, he advised gathering the truths of many religions and practicing them in life.
At Noakhali, when he met the Hindus and Muslims, who were killing each other, at the time of the partition of India, he declared that he was a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian and asked them to realize that his listeners were all of these. He went beyond toleration to participation. His prayer meetings were always begun with “Sarva Dharma Prarthana” that is verses from the Geeta, Quran, Bible and other religions were recited.
Both Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi believed that true religion is service to humanity.
All the religions preach love, compassion, sacrifice and acts of kindness. Shri Nagaraj Rao, an educationist, former Principal, J.K. Singhania School and author of the book, Asian Lights, brings out the characteristic features of various religions in the following manner:
Zoroastrianism: Hukhta, Humata and Huvarsha are good words, good deeds and good thoughts. Islam preaches human brotherhood, when it states that those high in status should be the first to greet the less privileged with the words “US Salam Alekum”.
- Jainism emphasizes deep reverence for life in all its forms.
- Buddhism prescribes a model Code of Conduct including right speech and right action and rising above desires to overcome life’s miseries.
- Judaism or Jewish religion preaches high respect for women as is indicated by the husband singing a song in praise of his wife at prayers before meals.
- Bhagabvadgeeta preaches devotion to duty without desiring the fruits. Bhagavadgeeta defines yoga as excellence in action.
- Christiannity preaches selfless love.
Sikhism preaches truthful living.Guru Singh stated “Service to Humanity is to God.”
Expressing his own views, Shri Nagaraja Rao states: “My subject is man, not God and my focus is on earth, not heaven.”
So religion in whichever form it may be is a matter of faith and gives direction to life. The real religion is love for animals, people and Nature. Religious tolerance means respects for all religions, finding out the common aspects of the teachings of all religions and using them as guiding principles of our lives. Leo Tolstoy, whose writings inspired Mahatma Gandhi states: “The Kingdom of God that is within us can be discovered through selfless service.”
The true home of God is not a grand architectural edifice, but the heart of man.
With the increasing rate of inflation it may be very hard for any one to do expenses on travelling.But a trip is properly planned and the expenses are properly estimated then one can easily go to a trip that will suit one's budget and will also not harm his financial position. For knowing the total expenses that will be done on a trip one needs to add up all the different expenses and calculate the total expenses that will be required to be done. One can lower down the total expenses to be done on a trip if all the different kinds of expenses to be done on a trip are lower down.Let us have a look at some of the ways by which a trip can be done at very low expenses.
1.Plan properly- If the trip is planned properly then the trip will be within your budget. If it is not planned properly then you will do expenses more and out of your budget.you need to plan all things from travelling to the place and travelling back from that place and also the hotel and food expenses. If any one thing is not properly planned than the expenses will be done will be more than the estimated budget.
2. Know about the different hotels available in the place you are travelling - One can easily know about the different hotels where he may live so that he can plan in advance about the cost of living will be in the hotel according to the number of days. One may get information about the hotels easily by searching online, asking some friends and by some other easy ways.
3. Save money on travelling tickets by searching agencies offering low cost tickets- There are various companies and agencies that offer tickets at low cost and also offer discount during festive seasons. The main cost of going to any trip is travelling cost if travelling cost is lower down then the total cost done on the trip will be lesser down to a good extent.
4. Carry less clothes so that you carry less luggage - If you will carry less luggage then some of the expense will be lower down.If you carry heavy luggage then you may have to spend additional charges for carrying additional luggage.
This are some of the ways by which you may lesser down your expenses for a trip.
Devotees used to put mala for Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimalai on the first day of the tamil month of Karthigai. They have to wear Thulsi mala or Rudraksha malai. They can either wear this with the help of the priest in a temple or any person who has gone to sabarimalai many times. If anybody has gone to sabarimala atleast 18 times, they are called 'Guruswamy'. They can put malai to any ayyappa devotee. If it is not possible to get neither a priest nor guruswamy, they can keep this malai infront of the picture or idol of Lord Ayyappa , pray to him and put the mala on their own.
Vratham
Devotees should have to follow strict rules for 48 days after wearing this malai and till they start for sabarimalai.48 days is called 'Mandalam' in Tamil. Let us see below what are the do's and dont's for the 48 days
1. They should observe 'Bramacharya vratham' during these 48 days. That means they should not have contact with wife or any other women.
2. They should took bath twice daily in morning and evening and pray lord ayyappa. After that only they should eat food.
3. They should not eat meat or any non vegetarian food.
4. They should not drink anything mixed with alcohol.
5. They should not smoke cigarettes.
6. They should wear dhoties of the following colours green,blue,saffron. If a person is going to sabarimalai for the first time, he should wear black dhoti. For persons working, it will not be possible to wear dhoties full day. So they wear dhoties at the time of the prayer in morning and evening.
7. They should never remove the malai . It should be there even while taking bath.
8. During this period, if the death of any close relatives occur, they should remove the malai and attend the rituals of the demised person. If the person is very close, they can avoid going to sabarimalai that year.
9. They should not attend the function of a new born baby or the age attending function of a girl
10. They can eat the food prepared by women only after 7 days from the starting date of her menstrual cycle.
11. They can avoid eating food in hotels or other person's home. They can eat food in another devotee's residence.
12. They should not wear chappels or slippers. For working people, it may not be always possible.
13. Usually devotees will only eat two twice in a day and avoid eating rice for dinner.
If any women aged less than 60 reside in the devotee's place, they should avoid seeing the devotee in morning and evening after they take bath and till they complete the prayers and eat food.
Women in the age between 10 to 60 or till their menstrual cycle is finished, they are not allowed to enter sabarimalai by following this vratham as they will get their menstrual cycle in this period of 48 days
Irumudi
Now after 48 days, the devotees will start their yatra for sabarimalai. Usually devotees will start in groups under the guidance of their guruswamy. Before they start, they will do poojas either at temple or a marriage hall or at a house and take the 'Irumudi' ( in Tamil ). Irumudi is nothing, but a two compartment cloth bag . Front part ( Munmudi in Tamil ) is reserved for keeping the following pooja items and the back part ( Pinmudi in Tamil ) is used for keeping the personal things of the devotee. Those devotees who observe the 48 day vratham are only allowed to take irumudi and only those having irumudis are allowed to enter the 18 holy steps in sabarimalai.
1. Turmeric powder ( atleast 100g )
2. Sandol powder
3. Kumkum powder
4. Cocunut filled with ghee
5. Ghee
6. Coconuts - 5 to 6
7. Rose water - 1 bottle
8. Camphor - 1 packet
9. Raw rice - 1 kg
Lord Ayyappa Pooja
On the day of pooja, all devotees assemble in the place along with their friends and relatives. Guruswamy starts packing the things for irumudi for each devotee one by one.The devotee sits near the guruswamy and he will put ghee in the cocunut by putting a hole in it. Usually the friends and relatives are allowed to put ghee and rice into the irumudi. Some people will put money to the irumudi bag as they cannot visit the place. Guruswamy ties the bag with a rope after all the items in it and puts a flower mala for the bag. Once the irumudi bag is packed, the devotee keeps the bag in his head and starts for the yatra reciting slokas of Lord Ayyappa. If they are not starting immediately they will keep all irumudis in one place. While this pooja goes for every devotee, other devotees will sing songs and tell slokas of Lord Ayyappa.
Padi Pooja
After the irumudi pooja is over they will do 'Padi pooja'. This pooja is performed for the holy 18 steps present in sabarimalai.They will light diyas on 18 steps and recite slokas. It is believed that each step indicates a deity as per the below list. Steps 10 to 18 indicates the nine planets.
1. Lord Ganesha
2. Lord Shiva
3. Goddess Parvati
4. Lord Muruga
5. Lord Brahma
6. Lord Vishnu
7. Lord Ranganatha
8. Goddess Kali
9. Lord Yama
10. Sun
11. Moon
12. Mars
13.Mercury
14.Jupiter
15.Venus
16. Saturn
17.North lunar node
18.South lunar node
Some devotees will cook for themselves in this journey. So they will take the minimum items that are needed for cooking.There are many routes from different places to sabarimalai. Some devotees travel in 7 miles ( 11 kms approx ) route while others prefer 48 miles ( 77 kms ) route. After coming in bus, train , van etc they will walk in any of the above routes to reach sabarimalai. From the time they started their journey to till the time they reach sabarimalai, they will recite ayyappa slokas. On the way they will come across jungles. So if they recite slokas, the animals will recognize the human presence and will not come out of the jungle.
This is how the devotees of Lord Ayyappa observe vratham and visit sabarimalai.
Let Lord Ayyappa bless all the devotees with good health and happiness. Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa !!!
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