Tirupati Balaji - Srinivasa

Here is the story of the great lord , Govinda , Srinivas or Balaji , the temple ( Tirupati ) of whose calls billions of devotees to his adobe each year , thus being one of the most visited holy places on Earth.

I'd present the divine story through supplementary pictures which I found in a book I bought in Tirupati.

Hope it helps . Enjoy the great mythology !

Sacrifice for World Peace

• Once all the saints assembled to conduct a sacred sacrifice for the well-being of the world.
• There came saint Narada. He raised the question as to whom among the three God's - Lord Brahma , Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva should the result of sacrifice go?
• Then started the argument on who was the greatest of the Trimurti ?
• At last saint Bhrugu was directed to find out who was the greatest God.
• Saint Bhrugu who knew about the past , present and future acquired a third eye in his inner foot through his powerful penance.

Curse on Lord Brahma

• Saint Brugu first went to lord Brahma. Brahma was chit - chatting with his wife Goddess Sraswati. He did not pay attention to Bhrughu.
• The angry Bhrugu said that though Brahma had four faces and eight eyes he could not receive his guest well. So he did not deserve the sacraficial result.
• Further , Bhrugu curses him that he would never receive prayers in a temple. Hence , Brahma has no temple.

Curse on Lord Shiva

• Brughu set off to Kailasa , the adobe of lord Shiva.
• There Bhrugu saw Lord Shiva and his wife Goddess Parvati engaged in Tandav ( Happy Dance ) .
• Nandi and other disciples were absorbed in this great dance . No one received Bhrugu.
• Pestered Brughu cursed Shiva that he will never get an idol worship in temples . Thus came into existence the custom of worshiping lords Shiva's Phallus ( Linga or Lingam ).

Witty Lord Vishnu

• Bhrugu reached Vaikunta , the home of Lord Mahavishnu.
• Vishnu was lying upon the snake Ananda which is his bed. Narayana ( Vishnu ) pretended not seeing Brughu and continued talking to his wife.
• Enraged Brughu put his foot on the chest of Narayana.
• Narayana got up calmly and fell on the feet of Brughu. While doing so he destroyed the third eye in the foot of Brughu .
• On loosing the eye brughu lost all his arrogance. He understood his guilt and praised Vishnu. He returned to the saints and declared that Mahavishnu is the one to whome the sacrificial results be given.

End of the Third Eye

• Lakshmi Devi's adobe is in Vishnu's chest. When Brughu put his foot on it , lord Vishnu did not get angry , instead fell at Brughu's feet .
• This act irked Goddess Lakshmi.

Lakshmi Devi leaves

• Mahavishnu tries to convince Lakshmi Devi, but invain.
• She leaves Vaikunta.

Anger of Lakshmi Devi

• The trios ( trimurthy) and saints tried to convince the truth to Lakshmi Devi.
• But she did not care and set off to Kollapuram and began penance.

Lord's stay on Earth

• Mahavishnu came to Earth and meets Varaha Murthy . He stays at his place.
• As he did not have money to pay to Varaha Moorty , he granted him a boon that disciples may first visit Varaha before reaching to Vishnu's temple.
• Hence the ritual of visiting the Varaha Moorty temple before going to the tirupati temple.

The Cow and the Calf

• Mahavishnu starts penance sitting in a termitary.
• During his penance Lord Vishnu was tormented by lack of sleep and food.This was told to Parvaty Devi by Narada muni .
• On her request Lord Shiva and lord Brahma turned into cow and calf. Parvati Devi disguised as a cow heardess and sold the cow and calf to the king of Chola.

The Termitary

• Varaha mountain was a part of the kingdom of Chola.
• The cows to king Chola used to gaze in the forest. Lord brahma and Vishnu disguised as cow and calf also gased along with other herds. They would ooze milk every day on the termitary.
• One day the grazier saw this and reported to the king.

Curse on King Chola

• The next day king Chola hid near the termitary.
• The cow oozed milk. When the cattle sheperd strike the coz with an axe , Vishnu was trying to come out . He was hurt on the face.
• The shepherd fell unconcious . The king ran to Narayana and begged for mercy.
• Vishnu cursed him to become a devil. He said that in the next life he would be the God of sky. He would get salvation when Vishnu gets married to his daughter.
• Since the shepherd was the first man to see lord Vishnu on earth , his race would get the privilege to see him first in Vishnu's temple.

Vakula Malika treats Sri Hari

• Narayana got injured. He was searching for some medicine to cure the wounds. He heard a woman chanting the name of Sri Krishna from a nearby cloister. He met a woman named Vakula Malika in the cloister. She applied some medicine on the wound and comforted Narayana.
• During the incarnation of Narayana as Lord Krishna , Yeshoda could not see the marriage of Krishna. Knowing the sarrow of Yashoda , Krishna blessed her to fulfill her desire.
• Yashoda took rebirth as Vakula Malika and conducted the marriage of Srinivasa and Padmavati. Thus she attains salvation.

The field ploughed for Padmavati's arrival

• The king of sky had no children. So he made a sacrifice as directed by saint Suka.
• When he ploughed the field used for sacrifice, he got a box. In the chest , lied a girl child draped in a lotus having thousand petals.
• Since the child was found in a padmam ( lotus ) , she was named Padmavati.
• The king brought her up with care and love . She grew up to be a charming lady.

Srinivasa saves Padmavati

• Srinivasa went for hunting.
• He sees an elephant chading a young woman. At once he sent an arrow arrow at the elephant and killed it.
• Thus he rescued Padmavati from danger.

Love strikes

• Padmavati did not know who the captive man was and instantly fell in love with him .
• So did Srinivasa.
• They did not reveal this fact to each other and left the place calmly.

Srinivasa the Kurathy

• Srinivisa disguised as a Kurathy ( fortune teller ) and went to the kingdom of Chola. There he foretold people's future .
• In this course he realized that Padmavati was the daughter of the King of Sky.
• He made his way to the palace and took a fortune telling session for Padmavati. He told that the reason for Padmavati's sarrow is young man she had seen in the forest.
• He revealed that the man was Mahavishnu and directed the king to fix marriage between Srinivasa and Padmavati.

The Marriage Proposal

• Srinivasa gets the marriage invitation form the God of Sky.
• He became happy and shows the proposal to Vakula Malika whome he respected as his mother.
• She asks Srinivas how he could meet expenses of the marriage.
• He tells her that he was going to borrow money from Kubera - the richest God.

Srinivasa Borrows from Kubera

• Srinivas meets Kubera. Kubera lends him gold coins.
• Srinivasa promises to pay back the debt at the end of kaliyuga ( the present ).
• Brahma and Shiva stood as witnesses in the form of two pipal trees along the shore of the Pushkarani pond.
• We can see these trees to date near the pond in Thirumala.

All set off to the marriage

• Srinivasa starts off to the venue of his marriage on his vehicle - Garuda ( eagle ) .
• All Gods , saints and ascetics arrive to the marriage of Srinivasa.

The heavenly marriage

• God consecrated flowers and saints blessed and subjects happily celebrated the marriage.
• Thus the marriage was conducted in splendour.

Reason behind the whole Story

• Saint Narada informs Lakshmi Devi about the marriage.
• She stopps penance and reaches the cloister of Aghastya , where Srinivasa and Padmavati stayed.
• Goddess Lakshmi asked Srinivasa for justice.
• In the Ramayan , Maya Sita went to agni , lord of fire , instead of Sita. Maya Sita was Padmavati.
• Vishnu was Rama and Sita was Lakshmi Devi.
• Sita asked Rama to marry Maya Sita for the sacrifice she had done. But Rama refused ad the wanted to be monogamous.
• Rama said in the next birth he would be born as Srinivasa and marry her as Padmavati.
• Having recollected the past , Lakshmi Devi calmed down.

Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam, the paradise on earth...

This is always been an enchanting experience to visit Tirupati Tirumala Devesthanam and as like always this time too my visit was an amazing experience. After I moved to Chennai I have made it into a regular practice to visit Lord Venkateshwara whom we call, fondly as Mr.Venky. But more I visit Tirupati, more I vow to admire the lord , the place, the management and so on. Unlike other pilgrimage TTD has never been into limelight for reasons other than its wealth and let me tell you that Tirupati Tirumala DEvasthanam is the richest in the world and Lord Venkateswara is the Richest God in the World. And while telling this or while hearing this my chest just widens full 2 inches in pride.

And not only me but everyone who visits the hill shrine just gets lost on the hospitality provided by the TTD and the management there. I don't have the official number but the number may be many thousand devotees visit the lord everyday and the management there handles the crowd so well. Not only the Darshan but also other facilities for the devotees are so well managed that one will be surprised to see the process flow there. The ample wealth the devotees offer to the Lord is well managed there unlike other shrines across the country. From Darshan tickets to the accommodation and from the Laddu Prasadam to the tonsuring everything is well managed and well in the budget of the devotees. In the place of the Lord who manages the universe there is no scarcity and the way the devotees avail the facilities is just amazing.

No need to tell that the TTD uses the advanced technology to cater to such a huge crowd across the world but the huge number on devotees ask for more advancement and more feasibility to see the Lord. Where for Sudarshan, one need to book it 3 months prior to the actual darshan day, the immediate devotee too gets a chance to get a glimpse of the beloved lord Venkateswara for few seconds standing in queues for few hours. But the well managed queue system and the refreshment amnesties makes every devotee a regular visitor to the lord for his lifetime. This is the only place wherein thousands of the devotees are well managed to see the lord and i have not found anyone complaining about anything.

I have been to many of the holy shrines like Puri jaganath Temple, Rakeswaram, Mata Vaishov devi, Shirdi Sai darbaar, but the way this place is managing the devotees is just amazing.All Credit goes to the TTD. The hill shrine maintains the entire area and the way its done is a milestone.

I may go on admiring the place on and on but you keep going.

Srinivasa....Venkateswara......Govinda.............Govinda.

My visit to Kanyakmari...

It was with ample interest and enthusiasm I booked tickets to visit Kanyakumar. From my childhood days visiting kanyakumari , the end point of mainland India was like a dream and its one of the places i wanted to see. To add spice to my anxiety my friend from Kerala added instances of the sunrise and the places around. 

Coming to the travel bookings travel by train is the better option then any other mode as it takes close to 10-11 hours to reach kanyakumari from Chennai. Nearest airport in Trivendrum from where a 90 minutes drive will take you to reach Kanyakumari. Buses too are available. but train journey is the best & economic. I would suggest to book an ac coach as the hot & humid climate is tough to adjust. I would suggest to book tickets in the kanyakumari Express which leaves Chennai in the evening & will reach kanyakumari early morning around 6.30 am.

This time it was  Hotel Tamilnadu which hosted my stay there and the Indian railways catered to my travel needs. It was my friend who said it was a bad choice to choose hotel Tamilnadu to stay and referred hotel seaview. But it was the other way around when i reached there and checked both the hotels. Location and the view from Hotel Tamilnadu was better in all aspects. I would suggest you all to go for Hotel tamilNadu and you can book hotels online at www.ttdconline.com/hotel.

Best time to travel to this end of the country is between December & January as rest of the months the climate would be relatively humid & hotter.

Place like Kanyakumari does not have much places to visit but in and around kanyakumari you will take a day or two to visit completely. hence plan it for two days for a comfortable stay. 

Sunrise

The first thing you should not miss is the sunrise behind the meeting point of the 3 seas. It would be an amazing view to witness the sun rising from the water and the big Thiruvallur statue. Early morning 5 am at least 1000+ headcount were there at the beach road to witness the sun rising.By the time the sun was in full swing we returned back to hotel & finished refreshing.

Suchindra temple

Next it was the local travel guide who rang the hotel bell and offered full day cab services to visit places around Kanyakumari. First it was the Suchindra temple in kanyakumari wherein the unique combination of the 3 deities ( Lord Brahma, Vishnu & Maheswar) worshiped together. The age old temple with the Pallavan temple architecture clad with huge stone structures and the very own rituals just made the day.

Wooden Palace

Next, it was the remains of the king of Travencore, the Wooden palace, which we went to see. Nothing much but the huge pot which were used to store pickles was just astonishing. We dint waste much of our time & headed to have lunch in a kerala resturant. The typical south Indian cuisines rich in spice and with a rice bowl was ample to address the mid day hunger.

Kerala Backwaters

Up next it was the beautiful back waters of kerala which was en-thrilling and amazing. it was awesome to sail in the motorboats in the narrow lanes on water. With the unique scenic experience covered with tall coconut trees, mangroves and the houseboats on water was of its own kind. we too witnessed the river loosing its existence into the sea and the narrow beach between the sweet & salty water, was memorable. I would have spent some more time there but time was up for us to return. 

Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivendrum.

If you have come to Trivendrum then make a point to visit the mighty Padmanabhaswamy temple where you will witness the resting lord Vishnu on the consort of Seshanag. The black stone resting lord will heal your soul and the ambiance is just heavenly. The huge temple with 4 gates on each directions stands tall on every devotees belief and devotion of each devotee and offers peace to the visiting souls. This is the same temple wherein the the king of Travencore chose to hide his wealth and we witnessed the wealth few months back when with court orders few of the closed chambers were opened. But I would request to pay a visit to the lord not because of the wealth but because of the heavenly belief you have for the lord himself. With loads of love & blessings from the lord we returned to the hotel. 

Kumari Amman temple, Kanyakumari

Next morning we paid a visit to the Kumari amman temple at the seashore and paid our prayers to the unmarried goddess to complete the visit. epic story describes the goddess, the one who waited and did "Tapasya" here before she got married to Lord Shiva. from then till today the goddess has been offered a boon by lord Shiva to be preset there and heal the needy people.

Coming out of the temple I could see a kilometer long queue of people to get on to the boat to reach the Vivekanand rock. As the queue was so long I dint find time and patience in me to wait for a hour or two to visit the Vivekananda rock. Hence we made our mind to return to our hotel to check out.

During the visit I would suggest people to carry water cans as even the packaged water is not sweet and to arrange alternate ways to get lunch in the train as the trains don't have a pantry cars. 

Eye of the tiger...

After a long time I am feeling little low as I am just finding a way to react to this lost emotion. Days were there wherein I could just leave for a quiet place away from all noise and sit in a corner and think of all the good things in life and so on. But days are like years today and I am not getting a better smile from people around me too. When you are at a low you feel everybody to be at your service and to console you. Don't know why these emotions are made like this and why the human psychology is so.

Can't blame anyone for the things I have done and for the condition, hence need to introspect and come out. May be there is a bad day for everyone wherein strong people keep quiet and pull up the inner strength to fight back and come clean. My mind always been a lone soul and has managed to get itself settled down with less damage. 

Its time to remember the eye of the tiger and the good old days. 

Mahakumbh...

The whole day yesterday the news channels read a news and it was about the crowd gathering at the Sangam in Allahbad for a holy dip. I was just wondering how in this IT yuga people in such huge numbers have faith and do such dip to get Moksh. It is according to the Hindu calender that the Mahakumbh comes once in every 12 years and during this time lakhs of devotees plunge into the sangam to take bath and to get rid of all Sins & get moksh. Its is said that a dip into the sangam will make you free of all sins and confirm moksh for you. And on this belief not only the saits of different akhadas but also the common man leave all worries aside and take a dip. It was really amazing to see the akhadas coming in processions in different attires with horses, Raths, with display of arm and ammunition and finally taking a dip at the sangam. The Nagas, nirmohi and juna akhadas are few to name the popular attractions.Its reported that on the first day of the 10 day long Mahakumbh approximately 82 lakhs of devotes have taken dip in the Mahakumbh. Many has named this as the world's biggest festival and religious occasion. With huge arrangements for security and media persons the local govt is wishing all devotes a happy Makar sankranti. 

Now when the scientists have ruled out that the water is dangerous for even mouth-washing people expect it to make them free of all sins. It may be looking funny to many but its the age-old belief that is still bringing cores of people for this Kumbh dip. My question would be how to maintain our river banks and the water appropriate for all these holy baths and out of pollution. The water in the Ganga in rishikesh is not usable for drinking and the jamuna in Delhi too is not usable and then how we can use it in Allahbad. There is a committee for the up-liftment of the Ganges and so as for other important rivers too , but where is the action on this. Its time too late for us to take any action on maintaining the purity of the rivers. May we not take care of the concerns now time may come that on a kumbh of such occasion we may not have water but instead it will be garbage to dip in. 

May Mahakaal give strength to the belief of taking dip in to sangams and to maintain the purity of the holy rivers too. 

गणतांत्रिक संबिधान के बिकल्प

पिछले महीने दिल देहला देने वाले एक किस्से ने मुझे क्या सार देश को हिल के रख दिया। जी हाँ मैं बात कर रहा हूँ राजधानी दिल्ली में हुए सामूहिक बलात्कार के बारे मैं। इस पूरे घटना मैं आम आदमी से लेके सांसद और मंत्री तक सबने आपत्ति जाहिर किया और प्रमुख सेहेरों मैं तो इसके खिलाफ प्रदर्शन और नारेबाजी भी हुई और अब भी हो रहा है। इसी बीच पीड़ित महिला ने दम तोड़ दिया और पूरे ब्यबस्था और हमारे सामाजिक चाल चलन पर एक बड़ा सवालिया निशाँ छोड़ गयी।  वो भी देश की राजधानी मैं जहां सारा न्यायतंत्र को चलाने वाले बैठे रहते है। 

दुख इस बात का है की जब सारे लोग भिन्न भिन्न तरीके से अपना विरोध व्यक्त करते है तभी कुछ ऐसे भी बेबकूफ लोग भी है जो की बिना सोचे समझे कुछ भी बोल देते है और बाद मैं माफ़ीनाम भी पढ़ लेते है। ऐसे बोले वाले और कोई नहीं कुछ सिरफिरे मंत्री और बिधायक ही है। सत्ता का बल कहें या फिर उनका गरूर कहें इस प्रजाति के प्राणी जाने कब ऐसी घटनाओं को समझेंगे। यूँ तो हम अपने आप को 21बी सदी के  आईटी युग के modern  लोग कहते है और काम करते हैं आदि मानव की तराह।

इसके प्रतिकार क्या है इस सवाल के मुझे बहत सारे जवाब मिले ; जैसे की अपराधी को फंसी दे दो या फिर जिंदगी भर के लिए नपॊन्शक बना देना वगेरा वगेरा। पर क्या सभ्य समाज मैं ये संभव है और है भी तो क्या हम एक सामजिक तरीके इसका सही उपयोग कर पाएंगे। 

अब समय आ गया है के हमें कुछ शक्त कानून बनाएं और ऐसी सामाजिक समस्याओं को शक्ति से निपटे। आंबेडकर की लिखी हुई कानून बाबा आदम की जमाने की थी जीपे चलके हमारे न्यायलय मैं आज 20लाख केस फाइलों मैं दबी है और इनकी तादात दिन बा दिन बढ़ ही रही है। अभी हमें कुछ अलग सा करना होगा और जाने कई सालों से फाइलो मैं बंद पड़ी केस को खोल के सुनवाई भी हो।

और एक बात कहना चाहूँगा के आज कल जब हम अपने आपको इन्टरनेट और तकनिकी ज्ञान का भडार मानते है बलात्कार जैसे घिनोने अपराध क्यूँ बढ़ रहे है। इसके सन्दर्भ मैं बहत लोग है जो की देह ब्यापार को कानूनी जमा पहनाने की वकालत करते है और कुछ तो इसके लिए फांसी जैसी सजा का भी पक्ष  मैं है। मेरे ख़याल मैं अब समय आ गया है की हमें सेक्स के बारे  मैं चर्चा करना चाहिए और सारी  जानकारियाँ उपलध कराना चाहिए। वैसे भी यह सब उपलब्ध है पर हमें सेक्स एजुकेशन को नियमित रूप से स्कूल और कॉलेज मैं लागू करना होगा।

यह तो थे कुछ प्रिवेंटिव एक्शन पर अगर ऐसा कुछ होता है जो की दिल्ली में हुआ या फिर और किसी सेहर में होता है तो सबसे ज्यादा जो उटपटांग होता है वो है इसके ऊपर बयानबाज़ी। चाहे वो मंत्री हो या वो जो अपने आप को धर्मप्रचारक कहता है वो भी बाज़ नहीं आते। बिषय की गंभीरता से परे मूह खोल देते है और कुछ ऐसा बोल जाते है की बाद मैं माफीनामा भी पढने को हिचकिचाते नहीं। ऐसे मूर्ख इंसानों की तादात आजकल कुछ ज्यादा है। और  IT  के इस जमाने मैं जहां Information  चुटकी मैं हजार मील की दुरी तय कर लेता है इस सब मूर्ख लोगों की बात आम आदमी तक पहंच जाती है। हम एक गणतांत्रिक देश है जहां अपने विचार व्यक्त करने का अधिकार सबको है पर ऐसी घटना के ऊपर अपनी गन्दी सोच और जवान का उपयोग करके शीर्षक बनना एक कुत्सित अभिलाषा से ज्यादा और कुछ नहीं। मेरे हिसाब से हो जाये कुछ बलात्कार ऐसी नेताओं के परिजनों के साथ तो फिर शायद इन्हें इसकी गहराई की समझ आये।

मैं किसी पक्ष के साथ नहीं हूँ और ना ही किसी से डरता हूँ मगर मैं इस बर्बरता के खिलाफ हूँ और इसकी निंदा करता हूँ और चाहता हूँ की हमारी गणतंत्र मैं ऐसी घटनाओं से निपटने हेतु शक्त से शक्त प्राबधान हो और नारी और पुरुष सभी सुरक्षित और खुशहाल हो।

जय हिन्द ...

New Watch...

Kisine kaha ke -

"if you feel you need some good time , you need to buy a new watch".

So hence here it is...