August 22nd....
It all started with a personal invite from Amma that she wanted to spend some time with her devotees in a more concentrated and care free manner after the rigors of a 4 month world wide tour. I moved around my schedule for going to India by a month and made sure I arrived at the beautiful Penusila ashram by August 22nd. I took a taxi from the Tirupati airport to Penusila.
After coming to the ashram, I checked into my room and rested for a while before going out to visit the Narasimha Temple in Penusila.
Penusila is a beautiful village, nestled at the foothills of Seshachala mountains. The same mountain range which holds the beautiful lord in its folds undulates at the other end in Penusila. Penusila is famous for the Penchalkona Narasimha Temple. This temple is one of the nava Narasimha kshetras or the 9 holy places for the worship of Narasimha ("the man lion form of Vishnu"). Its the only place where you find Narasimha in the peaceful form. The image is very powerful and alive.. It has an adjoining temple dedicated to Hanuman - in the form of slaying Akshaya Kumar and another temple dedicated to Mother Lakshmi. The area even 10 -15 years ago would only be accessible on Saturdays alone and there is constant fear about tigers/mountain lions etc. The ashram is just a stone throws away from the Penchalkona Narasimha Temple. For people familiar with the narasimha avatar..after Narasimha kills hiranyakashyapa.. he goes into the forests and meditates for a long time and drops his lion form at which point, Lakshmi (who is born as Chenchu Lakshmi to the tribals) sees him and convinces him to marry her. Amma showed us the tribe to which Amma Chenchu Lakshmi belonged.. Truly, everything is true.. Do see the Telugu movie. Chenchu Lakshmi to get an idea on what happened after the slaying of Hiranyakshyapa.
After coming back from the temple, I visited the Lalitambika temple which Amma has constructed. The temple atmosphere is solemn, deep and intense. The main shrine is dedicated to Raja Rajeshwari. There are temples adjoining for Sarasvati and Lakshmi and also for Ganesh and Subramanya. The priests are very orthodox and do the aarati in very traditional manner (using 1,2,3,5,7,9,11 holed aarati plates) along with the unique brahmanda aarati (which is given to Lord Venkateshwara).
After visiting the temple, Amma called the US devotees to come to her house and we eagerly made our way to her house. She was love itself when she glanced at us and told us how the trip would proceed.
The main theme was that the Rishis were the progenitors of the human race and outlined the ethical, spiritual and physical training required for the human race to come out from our lower nature. The veda-aranya or the forest around tirumala hills was the place of the rishis. All the Saptarishis viz. Kashyapa, Vashishta, Bharadwaja, Jamadagni, Aitreyi, Bhrigu, Yajnavalkya all had their residence in the veda aranya. The places we would cover would include temples or holy places but Amma asked us to focus on the fact that it was actually a rishi's place before the temple and it was the rishi's power which brought about the transformation in the spiritual energies of the place. She asked us to be grateful to these rishi's who have worked tirelessly and are working tirelessly to bring spiritual upliftment for humanity. She emphasized repeatedly that if we cultivate the right receptor and pray to these rishi's, they are willing to guide us even now. She indicated her experience of receiving Agastya rishi's vision and his continuing grace on all mankind. Finally, she did emphasize that the site of the ashram is where Kanva rishi had his hermitage and his veda patashala.
August 23rd...
All our luggage got loaded up as we boarded up to start our 5 day trip. First destination was the ranga nayaka temple in nellore. But before we go there..we need to go to the very source of our culture and civilization. The Hindu religious texts say that Kashyapa was the first great rishi who emerged from Brahma - the creator himself. He was first among men , first among myths and cultivator of high spiritual virtues which paved the descent of divinity among men.
To help manifest divinity in a very concrete form for the benefit of all humanity, Kashyapa did 3 homas (fire ceremonies) over countless years. From the first homa pit , the all encompassing and beautiful form of ranganayaka emerged. This idol is a delight and blessing to behold. The moment I took a look at it, I fell in love..Just as you fall in love with the Lord Venkateshwara when you set your eyes on him. Most of the ranga nayaka idols (vishnu in the lying form) are man made and are filled with salagrama's.. However, this is a fully manifest idol of vishnu in the lying form..which tells you that a little bit on how Vishnu manifests himself. I felt blessed looking at the idol and bathed myself in the "heart coolness" which accompanies all great Vaishnava shrines. The idol is west facing and faces the pinakini river . This temple site is also the site where tikkana kavi wrote the telugu mahabharata.
The 3 homa pits are arranged in a triangle formation (of 12-16 kms apart) and are separated by the pinakini river. Think of a straight triangle.. the left most vertex is ranganayaka, rightmost Mallikarjuna and the topmost Vedagiri.
The second temple at Ratnagiri or Jonnavada is the Mallikarjuna Swamy Kamakshi Tai temple. This temple is a revelation.. First, the idol of Siva is manifest from the second Homa pit which Rishi as a fireball to Kashyapa in a vision. Its said that the linga goes down to the ocean. attempts made at moving the linga by going to the source have proved fruitless with attempts to go down to even 400 feet not yielding the end of the siva linga. Amma has said that most powerful siva lingas serve to prevent calamitous conditions from happening. By doing abhishekhas to these lingas natural disasters are averted. The shrine is all powerful and is the only shrine other than kanchi to have the golden lizard (bangaru Balli) etched on the temple walls. Touching this sculpture removes all doshas. This shrine has the most powerful Sri Yantra installed by the Great Sankaracharya and its hidden behind the Ganesha idol. Amma said that the ganesh here is all powerful because of the powerful sri Yantra.
There are temples for Subramanya and Sankaracharya here and the other powerful temple is the Temple of Kamakshi Tai..The goddess who fulfills desires by just the twinkle of her eyes. Its said that the fishermen around the area found this idol and were worshipping it when sankaracharya stumbled upon their worship and insitituted the Amma in a more formal manner in this temple by infusing the energies of Lalilta, Saraswati and Lakshmi in to the idol as Kamakshi Tai. She grants all desires which you crave from the heart. There are many miracles here from people getting cured from child issues to sight getting restored. This temple specializes in performing the nava-avarana puja and kala sarpa dosha removal. There is a special addala mandapa (mirror hall) where high quality mirrors are arranged in a extremely precise manner to give the devotees darshan of the lord from all possible angles.
After this temple, we proceeded to the Vedagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple. This temple is situated on a mountain and overlooks the Nellore town. As we went up the mountain, we stopped at a place for having lunch. There were 7 huge enclosures which looked like water reservoirs.. But, that was deceiving..Amma said that these 7 enclosures were part of the 7 Homa Kundas which the rishis performed. This site is very well referenced in our sacred texts. This site was where the Sapta Rishis and all other Rishis did Homa for the descent of Lord Vishnu as Vamana Avatara. To give a liitle perspective, The Vamana avatara came about because Indra prayed to Mother Aditi to help him regain his kingdown. The sages were instructed to prepare for descent of divinity by undergoing austerities and doing homa. An august assembly of sages like Atri, Astvakara, Bhrigu, Kanva, Aswayaga, gargi, Gautama, Jamadagni all assembled and did Homa. Aditi underwent a severe penance called payo paksha vrata to get Vamana as her Son. It was here that Vamana was born and was initiated with upanayana and the askhara mala by none other than Brahma and Sarasvati.
Many American devotees come up with Amma and do their morning meditation in these homa pits which are huge (1/2 an acre by 1/2 an acre). and they have said amazing things about their experience (like Conrad said that it was the most powerful meditation ever).
After this we went up to the Vedagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Vedavalli Temple . The Temple is approximately divided into 3 levels. The top most level is the Lakshmi Temple installed by Sage Kashyapa. She is vedavalli..the mother of vedas. Most beautiful form of Mother. We sat down and listened to Amma Karunamayi as she told us how ancient Hindu Temples were constructed to a set geometry, harnessing energy patterns and awaken spiritual energies latent in men and women.
We then went down to the cave temple of Narasimha where Vishnu manifested as light to Kashyapa. The rajas about 600-800 years ago got the wodden idol of Narasimha installed. Its very imposing , narasimhas eyes are very expressive and there was a powerful vibration in the temple.
We then started our 2 hour drive to Kalahasti...
Kalahasti.. The name itself sends a shiver down my spine. Why you may ask ? Well , you see the lord Siva breathing in this temple. Literally..yes. When you have the darshan of the Siva Linga. All lamps are absolutely still and there is one lamp which continually flickers..Thats the breath of Siva. He had observed the 3 animals..spider, snake and elephant as elemental vayu while they were devoting their energies to the Lords worship. The emblems of spider, snake and elephant are etched into the linga and no-one is allowed to touch the linga. Amma told us of a priest who touched the linga accidentaly lost complete sensation of his finger. Its that powerful. Its a moksha Kshetram and called Dakshina Kailasam. Its also the shrine where Bhakta Kannapa (an incarnation of Arjuna) worshipped Lord Siva and attained Salvation. The story of Bhakta Kannapa is very moving. Kannapa was a hunter gatherer and he attained to the status of a saint by his strong love for Lord Siva.
At Sri Kalahasti, Lord Shiva tested the unshakable devotion of Thinna (Later became Bhaktha Kannappa) before the sages gathered at SriKalahasti. With his divine power, Lord Shiva created a tremor and the roof tops of the temple began to fall. All the sages ran away from the scene except Kannappa who covered the linga with his body to prevent it from any damage.
In another incident, Kannappa plucked out one of his eyes and placed in the eye of Linga which was oozing with blood and tears. When the tears and the blood were still trickling from another eye, Kannappa decided to remove his second eye and placed one of his feet on the spot of the right eye of the Shiva Linga. Before he could pull out his second eye with the arrow, Lord Shiva appeared and restored his eye while granting him a boon to occupy a place close to him.
The Temple complex is huge and also has many other unique idols like
1.) Abhaya Balaji - You never see Lord Venkateshwara with the Abhaya Hasta. Here you see him giving fearlessness to his devotees.
2.) 108 Subramanya
3.) 108 Ganeshas
4.) Saneshwara
5.) Lingas established and worshipped by Lord Yama, Chitragupta, Indra, Markandeya etc.
6.) Its the site of Kena Up.
The other main temple is that of Jnana Prasunambika Devi. The Godesss who is the emodiment of Wisdom. The temple is maintained by the direct descendants of Sage Bharadwaja. There is a statutue dedicated to him nearby and this was the site of his ashrama. Coming back to the image of the blissful mother, its most beautiful and a unique power is manifest here. This is one of the shakti peethams and also the site of Kena Upanishad where Indra understood what Brahman really is. She instructs Indra by showing what Brahman is not and thus leads him to an understanding of the non-dual reality pervading this universe. Hair raising !! Site of so many legends..
FInally, we bowed down to the beautiful image of Lord DakshinaMurthy, The first Guru..Amma was received by the Temple Executive officer and we left for our hotel in Tirupati.. What a day !!
August 24th..
Next day we were up and going to a town which borders AP and Tamilnadu. It was a town called Suratapalli and the Temple was the Pallikondeshwara Swamy temple. This temple is not very big but extremely rich in the variety of different idols it holds and also because of its sanctity.
The main temple houses many dieties but the main sanctity of the temple is that this is the site where Lord Siva fell down after consuming the dreadful hala hala poison which came from churning the ocean. This is the only place in the world where Lord siva is worshipped in the personal form. The sanctum is a beauty..with Lord siva lying down on Parvati and all the celestials waiting on him.
Before I give a link to a more detailed description, let me detail the unique dieties.
1.) Siva linga worshipped by Sage Valmiki
2. ) Rama Prathistha Linga after which he got final release from his brahma hatya patukam.
3.) One of a kind Dakshineshwara sameta Parvati image.
4.) Bhairava Vishnu
5.) Thri Murthi
6.) Ayyapa swamis previous incarnation
7.) Jnana Sarasvati
8.) Vishnu Durga
9.) Varahi
10.) Adhikara Nandi - As Siva fell down after drinking hala hala, he appointed Nandi as the lord of the universe for 2 and half days. After recovering Siva gave Nandi the boon that the puja of Nandi would be done before his worship.
Here is more information on the temple
Location:
Suruttapalli, a small village famous for the temple located in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. The temple was built during the Vijayanagaran Era by Emperor Vidhyaranyar. The uniqueness of the temple is that Lord Shiva is in human form (unlike his usual Linga form) and is in reclining position. His consort, Goddess Parvati is in the sitting position with the Lord’s head on her lap and with Kamadhenu (the celestial cow) and Karpaha Viruksham (Holy tree known for granting boons to devotees) on either sides.
Uniqueness of the temple
The Pallikondeswara temple in Surutapalli, is unique because it is only at this place that hosts “Sayana Sivan” or Lord Siva resting on the lap of Goddess Parvati. Normally Lord Shiva is not seen in any temples dedicated to Him in India in reclined posture – whereas Lord Vishnu can be seen in Sri Rangam, Sri Rangapatnam and Trivandrum. Hence this temple is one of its kinds where the Lord is resting on the lap of Goddess Parvati.
About the Temple
As you enter the temple through the entrance, you’ll find the temple of Valmikeshwara (Sage Valmiki) and Goddess Marahathambihai (Goddess Parvati), on the left side and the main temple on the right side of the entrance. It is said that one has to visit these two temples first before visiting the main temple.
The temple of Goddess Marahathambigai has to be visited first, even before the shrine of Valmikeshwara or the main temple. The garbha griha is guarded by Lord Kubera (God of wealth) with his consort Sanganidhi on left side and with his another consort Padumanidhi on the right side. The goddess inside is sitting with Kamadhenu on one side and Karapaha Viruksham on the other. There are some other images of Gods like Varasidhi Vinayaka (Lord Ganesha), Sri Venugopala Swami (Lord Krishna), Kasi Vishwanathan with Visalakshi and others present in the inner praharam (inner wall of the temple).
It is said that sage Valmiki performed penance before he started writing Ramayana. The Lingam is in triangular shape and there is a large Nandi outside the temple. Next to this temple is a stone with many footprints on it. It is said that, in 1976, Kanchi Mahaperiyavar (a sage), camped here for 40 days and asked some people to dig a particular place. On digging, they found a stone with innumerable footprints on it. Mahaperiyavar disclosed that the footprints belongs to Lava and Khusha – the twin sons of Lord Rama. There is another idol of Lord Dakshinamoorthy (Lord Shiva) who is Dampathi (Gowri) sametha Dakshinamurthy (Picture) along with his consort, in the outer walls of Valmikeshwara shrine. The lord is in a sitting posture with left leg slightly lifted and His left hand on His left knees in a stylish way. It is said that one who worships him on Thursday, are immensely blessed and will have a peaceful life
About the presiding deity
The presiding deity is Palli Kondeshwara (Lord Shiva) with His consort and many other Gods. The Lord is in reclining position (about 6 feet long) with his head on the lap of Goddess Parvathi who resides as Sarva Mangalaambihai. The uniqueness of the temple lies in Lord Shiva seen in the human form unlike His usual Linga form. Surya and Chandra are present on the either side of Goddess Parvati. Many others including Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Goddess Laxmi, Sage Maarkandeyar, Sage Agasthair, Valmiki, Indran, Sage Naradhar, Lord Subramaniya with His consort and Lord Ganapati are also present in the temple. It appears as if the whole Kailasham (Lord Shiva’s aboard) assembled here to know the well-being of Lord Shiva after He consumed poison to save the universe.
Stala Purana
According to Sthalapurana (history of the place), it is said that during the Ksheera Sagara Manthana Poison Halahala was the first to come, the Gods and demons then approached Lord Shiva to save them from the harm of poison. Lord Shiva transformed himself into Vishabhakarana Moorthy and consumed poison. The situation was such that if Lord Shiva did swallow the poison, the living creatures on the earth will die and if he does not, the Gods and Demons will be killed. Hence Goddess Parvati held her hand against his neck and stopped the poison from going any further and the poison remained in His throat without affecting His body. Hence Lord Shiva got the name as ‘Neelakantha’ (‘Neela’- blue with poison and ‘Kantha’- throat) because of the accumulation of the poison in his throat and Goddess Parvati was called as ‘Amudhambigai’.
On their way to Kailasa, Lord Shiva due to the severity of the poison started feeling little giddy and rested on the lap of His wife for a while in the place where the village stands today. Hence the village got its name as Suruttapalli, Surutta meaning ‘Little dizzy’ and Palli meaning ‘Resting’
Worship Benefits:
Pradosha Pooja is said to have originated from this temple. Legends has it that, the Devas and Asuras resumed their effort to get the nectar from the ocean on Lord Shiva’s orders, and got it on Dhwadashi (12th moon day). In that happiness, they forgot to thank Lord Siva who consumed the poison for everyone’s well being. Realising their mistake, they started praying Him on Trayodasi (13th moon day) for which the Lord forgave them and in a happy mood, began His celestial dance (Shiva Tandavam) between the horns of Nandi (the mount of Lord Shiva) where all the Gods, Goddess and sages joined Him. This moment is celebrated as Pradosham every fortnight. It is believed that during Pradosha Punya Kalam, anyone who offers prayers will attain shanti (peace), sakala sowbhagyam, and will be not have any obstacles of life. Even Lava and Kusha, who unknowingly fought with their father Lord Rama, over Aswamedhayana horse, came to this temple along with Sage Valmiki, to worship Lord Siva and to get rid off their sin.
After visiting this temple, we went to another ancient temple ..The valleswara swamy temple. The legend around this place is that Kala Bhairava was meditating here when he saw Lord Hanuman get Siva Linga from Kasi so that Lord Rama can install the linga at the appropriate place and get peace of mind. Kalabhairava created a beautiful oasis with his powers and asked Hanuman to consider this place..Hanuman alighted and set the siva linga down. However as he set the linga down, the linga took firm root and couldnt be lodged out. So Hanuman put his tail and tried to uproot the linga but to no avail. The linga is a sight..The linga is severely scarred with tail marks and bears testimony of ample force applied to the linga to dislodge it. The complex is 9th century and looks like it could use some official funds.. There is another shrine dedicated to Kalabhairava..the overseer of time along with his mascot the dog. After visiting the shrine we sat and listened to Amma's discourse in the newly constructed mandapa hall.
After resting a while we went to Agastyagiri to the Kailasa Kona Natha Temple. This temple is situated in a very beautiful setting in the forest and located near a big waterfall. This is the site where Agastya meditated and the water is supposed to have many medicinal properties. Agastya as most of you know was the first settler in the South and brought Shaivism to the South on the instruction of Lord Shiva. However, as he missed the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati, The divine couple married again in this site. This is the site where Lord Venkateshwara and Padmavathi got engaged. The whole area was enchanting..
We then had our lunch in a very nice mango grove. The lunch was heavenly and we got to take individual photographs with Amma. The devotees sang beautiful songs after the lunch and all of us felt that we were on a picnic with our beloved Amma..
We then proceeded to the temple of
Sri Avanakshi Ammavari Temple. This temple is situated in the same place as Akasaraja's palace. Akasaraja was the father of Padmavathi Devi, wife of Sri Venkateshwara. The main idol is very imposing and is in a fierce pose slaying somakasura. There is another idol about 2-3 ft tall beside the main idol. This small idol is self manifest and appeared to Akasaraja in his puja mandiram. Akasaraja was very confused on the nature of manifestation and the diety which was manifest. Seeking the advice of Agastya, who named the Divine Mother, Avanakshi Devi..The whole royal household conducted daily worship to the Mother. The Mothers name literally means the granter of clear knowledge and revealor of vedas. How does she do this , by making sure the deluding thought principles dont cloud our intellect. This is represented in the form of somakasura, the demon who deludes us. My personal experience in this temple was very intense. I felt the diety to be very living and emanating a very powerful presence. I am going to come back here..Mother Willing. Jai Ma Avanakshi ki Jai..
We then proceeded to the Temple of Markatambika sametha Agastya Temple. Its a Siva temple with Mother Parvati and Agastya also present. The Siva linga is a sight to behold..Extremely beautiful and well adorned. The Temple is where its believed Siva, paravathi and Agastya talk on various topics as friends.. Touching. God is waiting for us to converse with him as he does with Agastya.
This wonderful day power packed with Temples was still not over and we stopped at Narayanavanam at the
Sri Padmavathi Sametha Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple. This is the site of Lord Venkateshwara's marriage with Mother Padmavathi. Lord Venkateshwara is decked up in royal finery at this place. He has a sword and the dashavatara waist bracelet. The sword is symbolic of the hunting trip where he meets Padmavathi. Mother Padmavathi's temple is a sight to behold. She gets decorated with beautiful garlans, the likes of which I have never seen daily and the Lord with his consort gets married daily. There is a huge grinding stone, which is massive and apparently it was used during the marriage of Lord Venkateshwara for grinding turmeric, sandal etc. Its pretty much impossible for even 2 people to move the stone even an inch.. Tells you a lil bit of our physical capacities. There is a parijata vriksham and its rumored to be coming down from Krishna's time. As most of you know, The main event around Lord Venkateshwara's descent was the marriage to Padmavathi..and was attended in a never before seem array of devas and devis. Thus its most important to come where the action took place. Finally, this is also the site of Rishi Parasara (Father of Veda Vyasa) ashram.
After the visit we went back to the Mango grove and ate our dinner. It was just very relaxing in Amma's company and I just looked at the devotees faces as they enjoyed their blissful moments with Amma. We then drove back to Tirupati..Exhausted but very happy.
August 25th...
We got up in the morning..Donned our traditional pancha garb and went to the most famous Temple in Tirupati. The Alvelu Mangapuram. The abode of Mother Padmavathi, full of compassion and love. Its a huge temple complex and very crowded. The legend is that Lord Venkateshwara after he came down from Vaikuntha started looking for Mother Lakshmi and couldnt locate her. In order to placate her, he worshipped Lord Suryanarayana with Lotus Flowers for 12 years.. Legend says that Vayu himself would place these flowers in the pushkarini. On the 13 year, Mother manifested from a lotus and relieved the Lord from his predicament and curse. This is the site of the Great Suka Maharishi (author of Bhagavata Puran, son of Veda Vyasa, etc) Ashram and he was instrumental in installing the Padmavathi deity in this temple. Apart from the main temple, there are 3 other temples in this complex. One of the temples is where Lord Krishna and Balaram are wearing wooden sandals and meditating.. This was an interesting temple as Lord krishna is never found in the meditative pose. Amma told the reason for this. There is a serpent shaped formation near this temple and Amma said its the kundalini shakti itself manifest in a visible form. She asked us to touch it and said that it would help us in awakening our latent spiritual tendencies. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, without the awakening of the Kundalini nothing in Spiritual life is achieved. There is also the temple to Suryanarayana, The Sun God. Its most beautiful and powerful.
After worshipping here, we immediately drove 2 hours and left for Nagalapuram to visit the only Matsya Avatara temple in the world. The Temple name is Vedavalli Sametha Vedanarayanaswamy Temple. The legend is all familiar to all people in all religions.. The story of dissolution, the story of Noah, Story of Manu and Matsya Avatara are all common bearings of our religious heritage. Its said that Humans had become extremely adharmic and the world had to be destroyed.. God gave guidance to Manu to collect specimens of all animals and herbs and asked him to build a ship. After that he appeared to Manu as a small fish and asked for his refuge. Once Manu put this fish in a bowl, he grew rapidly and needed another place. Like this, this fish grew and grew to mythic proportions. When the world started submerging under heavy rains, he asked Manu to tie the Ship to the Fish's horns and be led to safety. While the world was being submerged, Manu forgot to collect the vedas which were promptly taken by somakasura to the bottom of the ocean. Matsya Avatara descended down and brough the vedas.. Thus Vishnu became the protector of Vedas and preserved the whole seed for manifesting in the next age.
The Temple is an architectural wonder and is a magnificient reminder of the glory of the Vijaynagar Empire.
The Temple has an astonishing feature, when the mena rashi enters the Sun on March 25th. The Sun rays bathe the feet of the Matsya avatar.. On 26th the nabhi portion and on the 27th the head. Keep in mind the sanctum sanctorum is deep inside and no enclosures or holes are provided. The Sun Rays directly travel to the main diety. The Diety of the Lord Vishnu in Matsya Avatar form is very graceful and extremely powerful. Its said that its effects are similar to the benefits of appeasing Sarasvati Devi.. Good Memory, intelligence, clear judgement. Amma has said that this is the largest self manifest Salagrama in the world.
There are a number of extremely beautiful dieties in this complex. Let me give you a list
1.) Veena Dakshinamoorthi
2.) Vishnu Durga
3.) Veda Valli Maha Lakshmi Thayar - Mother Lakshmi came and waited for the Lords manifestation. She knew that Vishnu would manifest but didnt know the form.
4.) Kodananda Rama Temple.. Extremely beautiful temple with rama in the kodanda rupa. The hanuman temple is about 1000 feet away from the temple and is directly facing Rama. Both these temples are very intense and Hanumanji's eyes very alive..All of us felt a special attraction for this temple.
5.) Lakshmi Narasimha Temple
6.) Hayagriva avatar of Vishnu
7.) Bhu varahaswamy
8.) Lakshmi Varahaswamy
After visiting this wonderful place, we sat down with the Mother and the Temple officials and enjoyed the spiritual atmosphere of the place After eating lunch, we then proceeded to the Prasanna Venkateshwara Temple.
The temple is located in a remote area and the drive was extremely scenic with the mountains and the dark clouds over us. Amma said that earlier this temple was pretty inaccessible and was infested with poisonous snakes. TTD has taken over this site and the speciality of this temple is that the Lord is in the abhaya pose. Legend behind this is that Siddheswara Muni was undergoing severe penance for the vision of the Lord and was visited by the Lord Venkateshwara in this pose. The idol is extremely tall and beautiful and we hoped and prayed that the Lords benevolent hand is always protecting us. There is also a beautiful Padmavathi and Andal Temple and we all prayed there and may I say got fleeced :)
We then visited The site of Rishi Agastya's ashram.. The Venkatachala Mahatmyam and Padma Puranam say that the Lord Venkateshwara and Padmavathi spent 6 months around the Agastya ashram after their wedding and this was the site of their stay. The idol is extremely beautiful and stands 8ft tall. There is beautiful alankarana and we felt blessed by visiting this temple.
We then went to the Agasteeshwara Swamy Temple. This Temple is an ancient temple and marks the hermitage of Sage Agastya and Lopamudra. This is Sage agastyas place and theoretically speaking, the seat of shaivism and linga worship. Its also the site where the Swarnamukhi river, renowned in our puranas starts. Its also said that Padmavathi came to this place for 120 days to get rid of doshas.The highlight of this temple was the priest, he is a scholar pundit and extremely humble. Amma said to us repeatedly, that this person really represents "Incredible India" and is the essence of vedic culture, humility, high learning, non-covetousness.. Amma's devotee have joined together to construct the dhwaja sthambha and one of the devotees wanted to get the idol of Agastya installed. Very powerful temple with ancient roots.
After visiting this temple, we took our dinner and drove back to our hotel.
August 27th
Thursday morning..We had to get up and go up the Tirupati Hill for our biometric scans. It was a fun trip with our group..Suresh, Tilak, Sumanth, Anoop etc. We took lots of photos and challenged each other to find motifs in the rocks. The most striking and unmistakable was the garudachala mountain. The presence of a garuda bird holding the mountain as if it were..is unmistakable.
We then went to the Parasurameshwara swamy temple. Now, this temple is the site of the oldest extant siva linga in the world (scientifically) and my experience and other people's experience was out of the world. This is an extremely powerful temple consecrated by the 5th avatar of Vishnu, Parasurama to atone for his sins for killing his Mother. The linga is made of the nava pashana ..a mixture of 9 metals. The science of which is lost today. The Temple sanctum sanctorum has the special characteristic that it gets flooded by water every 64 years.. The legend was that Ganga herself comes through some channel and worships this linga. To assess this a team of scientists took measurements of the different elements when the water flooded in this temple last time (2008) and compared it with the discharge in Haridwar. They found the same trace particles.. This is a simply amazing phenomenon. Here is a more detailed architectural description
The floor of the sanctum is below the floor level of the Antarala and Mukhamantapa. The figure of Siva carved on the linga resembles a vigorous hunter. These two names however are not mentioned in the inscriptions. The village is referred as Viprapita (Brahmana Agrahara).
The Linga is carved out of a hard dark brown indigenous stone. It is about 5 ft in height and one foot in thickness. The nut of the linga is clearly differentiated from the shaft by a deep slanting groove cut near the Linga. A beautiful two handed image of Shiva in sthanaka posture is carved in high relief. On the front portion of the Linga the God is standing on the shoulders of the apasmarapurusha. The Deity holds a ram in his right hand and a small vessel in his left hand. There is a battle axe (Parasu) resting on his left shoulder. His head is adorned with Jatas arranged in the Jatabhara fashion. He wears a number of rings in his ears and a unique girdle with a dangling central portion. The God wears a dhoti fastened at his waist with a beautiful vastra-mekhala but the membram-virile lying down wards is clearly visible. He has no Yagnopavita.
Some of the Copper coins obtained at Ujjain and belonging to the 3rd century of BC. contain figures which resemble the Linga of Gudimallam. A 1st century sculpture in the Mathura Museum also contains a figure resembling the Gudimallam Shiva Linga.
After this we broke for lunch and then went to Kapila Thirtha. The Holy Temple of Kapila Theertham (Springs) is the only temple dedicated to Lord Siva in over a 50 mile radius of the holy temple cities of Tirupati and Tirumala that abound with temples of the Vaishnava Deity Vishnu. This temple is located one and half miles fromTirupati, Chittoor Dist. In famous Kapila Theertham Temple Presiding Deity is Lord Siva. Here Lord Siva is called as Kapileswara. It is one of the famous 108 Sacred Theerthas on Tirumala Hills.
This huge temple stands at the entrance to a mountain cave in one of the steep and vertical faces at the foot of the amazing hills of Tirumala, where the waters of the mountain streamPaapa Vinasanam fall as a huge waterfall. One and half miles from Tirupati at the mountain foot of Sheshadri hill there is a temple where Kapileswara abides in the form of Linga(Phallus) called Kapila Teertham. The Sivalingam is made of brass in one of the shrines atKapila Teertham. A huge stone statue of a seated bull Nandhi, Lord's Siva's steed, greets devotees and passersby at the entrance to the temple.
According to the tnscriptions, as per Puranas one of the holiest of Hindu saints, Saint Kapila Maharshi, was said to have lived here, worshipped, and meditated in this very cave before the idol of Lord Siva and hence the name Kapila theertham, the word theertham meaning a holy lake or holy pond that formed due to the waterfalls. Lord Siva is said to have blessed Sage Kapila with a vision of himself and his consort etc. But for some cause the Kapila Lingam pierced up through the earth to its surface, Suras (Devatas) started worshipping it. Even before the Linga forced itself up, the Kamadhenu (celestial cow) made her way through a hole to the earth and took form here.
In front of Kapila Lingam lies a very sacred Sarovara (lake), which is the Bilam (cavity) through which Kapila Maharshi came to earth. A spring falls on the temple. Both the temple and the waterfall are considered to be highly pious.
All of us meditated outside near the cave where Sage Kapila meditated and we felt uplifted. Tremendously charged place..
Then we rushed to the Govindaraja Swamy Temple. This is a remarkably large temple and is dedicated to Lord Govindaraja, brother of Lord Venkateshwara. The idol is the reclining form of Vishnu and is said to have been excavated from the ocean after the fundamentalist chola raja sacked the temple. Ramanuja , who was persecuted by the Cholas instructed this idol to be brought and installed here. Its beauty itself..We also saw the salagrama stones which Ramanuja worshipped and also had darshan of Mother Lakshmi. I felt very purified in Mother Lakshmi's presence especially as Amma sat down and chanted couplets from the Lakshmi Ashtottara. After that as we went out, Amma Karunamayi got mobbed as people wanted to see and touch her. Here is a more detailed description of Lord Govindaraja swamy temple
This temple is dedicated to Sri Govindaraja Swamy. brother of Lord Venkateswara. Govindaraja Swami Temple in Tirupati is about 1 km from Tirupati Railway Station and 2 km from Tirupati Bus Station. Govindaraja Swami Temple has two main shrines dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna.
The shrine to the north is Sri Govindaraja, who is Lord Vishnu, lying on Ananta. The shrine to the south is Sri Parthasarathi (Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna). The idols of Rukmini and Satyabhama (Krishna's wives) are also found here. Govindaraja Swami Temple has a remarkable outer gopura and an inner gopura. The inner gopuram is the earliest one, dating between the 14th and 15th centuries and has carvings that depict scenes from Ramayana and Lord Krishna's life. One of the very important temples in Tirupati , Sri Govindarajaswami Temple was consecrated by Saint Ramanujacharya in 1130 AD. It is located in the heart of the Tirupati.
The Main Shrines :Govindaraja Swamy Temple, Andhra PradeshIn this temple there are two main shrines. In the northern shrine is 'Sri Govindaraja', who is Lord Vishnu lying on 'Ananta'. He is considered to be Lord Venkateswara's brother. The other main shrine has Deities of 'Sri Parthasarathi' (Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna), 'Rukmini' and 'Satyabhama' (Krishna's wives). Few parts of the inner shrine date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. The original temple had Sri Parthasarathi on the main altar. 'Sri Ramanuja' added the Sri Govindaraja deity around 1130.
The Entrance :It has an imposing seven-storey 'Gopuram' built in 1628, which can be seen from a distance. To the left side of the entrance first Gopuram (gate) of the temple dedicated to Lakshmi is found. She is seated on a lotus in her four-armed form, holding a lotus in each of her upper hands, while her other two hands are in poses of 'Abhaya', fearlessness, and 'Varada', benediction.
Another nearby shrine is dedicated to Sri Ramanuja and on the left of the second entrance is a 'Kurma' Deity, Lord Vishnu as a tortoise. There are carvings depicting the pastimes of the Ramayana and Lord Krishna's pastimes on the second gopuram.The annual float festival is also celebrated every year. The festivals and functions are similar to those conducted in the Sri Venkateswara temple.
August 28th..
Finally, we culminated our trip with a visit to The Lord of the Seven Hills. All of Amma's devotees were able to get the Kalyana Tickets and we witnessed the Marriage of Lord Venkateshwara and Padmavathi along with the homa ceremony. After this we went inside and sought the blessings of the Lord..Lord Venkateshwara, is the diety for the Kaliyuga and the compassionate, wish fulfilling kalpataru. Millions of devotees attest to this divine grace. The Lord is also very cosmopolitan, there are many muslim, christian devotees who pray to him. The 108 golden lotus puja is done with the donation of a muslim gentelman. The British collector of chittor used to pray to Lord Venkateshwara frequently and was famously cured of his stomach ailments. One of the controversies around the Venkateshwara idol has been the debate around whether its a vishnu, siva or devi idol. Ramanuja settled this issue deterministically in the 10th-11th century AD but from a spiritual perspective, the question still remains as some saints have had visions of the Divine Mother - Tripura sundari here. Amma has said Lord Venkateshwara is sarva deva devi swaroopa and is a very high manifestation of divinity. I too feel the same ..that the Lord has sported in human form but really is the gateway to the fount of bliss and ananda.
To talk about Tirupati would be extraneous, but I would like to conclude this blog with the episode of Hathiram baba..If you want a good link to tirupati travel. I found this blog interesting http://anushankarn.blogspot.com/2010/11/tirupati-part-1-climbing-seven-hills.html.
s the story goes, a long, long time ago, a holy man from Nagaur in Rajasthan came to Tirupati. One sight of the Lord was enough to make him an ardent devotee of the Lord and he decided to stay on, setting up an ashram right outside the temple. Well, his devotion to the Lord was so complete, and so real, that the Lord himself came to play dice with him every night! One night, the game continued longer than usual, and the Lord suddenly realized that the temple would open soon, and he hurried away, leaving behind one of his necklaces in a hurry. As soon as the doors of the temple opened, the priests noticed the missing necklace, and instituted a search. Meanwhile, the sage too realized that the Lord had left his ornament behind, and he rushed to the temple to return it. He was caught at the door with the necklace in his hands, and was immediately condemned as a criminal. He was confined to house arrest while the matter was taken to the king. Some accounts refer to the king as Krishnadevaraya, while others refer to a Nawab, so there is no confirmation. Anyway, the king must have had his doubts, for he ordered that the sage’s room be filled with sugarcane, and deemed that the sage eat every bit of it before morning if he wanted the king to believe his story! The mound of sugarcane was too huge for him to even contemplate eating, and he instead prayed to the Lord for deliverance. In the darkness of the night, there suddenly appeared in the room, a huge white elephant, with sandal marks on his forehead, who chomped on the sugarcane, finished it in a matter of moments, and then bellowed and charged his way of the house, startling everyone around! No one could imagine how an elephant could enter the house, let alone get inside the room without any of the guards being alerted, and the king was forced to concede that the Lord had indeed appeared himself, to vouch for his devotee. Thus was the sage vindicated, and henceforth, he was called ‘Hathiram Baba’ – Hathi for elephant, and Ram for the name of Rama which he uttered at all times! It is said that the temple accounts were turned over to him, and it is he who is responsible for the financial system followed for a long time at the temple. . However, it is a fact that the mahants belonging to the Hathiram Baba Math were responsible for the management of the temple from 1843 to 1933, when the TTD was formed and the administration handed over.
Thanks for your interest and love. May the Lord bless you all with peace, love and joy.
Jai Ma
Vinay
