Among the greatest almighty mentioned in Hindu Scriptures, Lord Venkateshwara is believed to be one of the sacred avatars of Lord Vishnu. Venkateswara is said to be a human avatar of Lord Vishnu which he took while in search of Goddess Laxmi as per Varaha Purana and Bhavishya Purana.
Venkateswara means the lord of “Venkata”, meaning the destroyer of sins. It is the combination of words Venkata (the name of a hill in Andhra Pradesh) and Isvara (Lord). It is derived from two Sanskrit words: “vem” meaning sins and xa nih“kata” meaning power of imunity.
Also known as Govinda and Balaji, he is regarded as “Kaliyuga Varada/Daivam”, one who always protects his devotee and blesses them with wealth and success. Represented by five deities (Berams) namely Dhruva (Moolavar), Kautuka, Snapan, Utsava, and Bali Beram, the mantra used for Lord Venkateswara is “Om Namo Venkatesaya, Om Namo Narayana” and “Sri Venkateshwara Supravatam”. Since the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Venkata is regarded as the supreme form in this age, Lord Venkateshwara’s temple is considered to be the Kaliyuga’s Vaikuntha. And the supreme temple of Lord Venkateshwara is “Tirumala Venkateswara Temple” located in Tirupati, Andra Pradesh, India. And the interesting fact is; This temple is regarded to be the richest temple receiving over 23 million amount of donations per day.
Legend of Lord Venkateswara
Puranas which mentioned Lord Venkateswara and Tirumala are Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Garuda Purana, Brahmanda Purana the Brahmottara Purana, Markandeya Purana, Harivamsa, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana, Aditya Purana, Skanda Purana, and Bhavishyottara Purana. The incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Venkateswara was carried out following a great incident and some are explained below.
Once there was a ritual/sacrifice to be performed on the banks of the Gangas. But the problem was, sages didn’t know for which god the rituals were to be performed. On questioning by Sage Narada, other Rishis approached sage Bhrigu (one of the Saptarishis) and asked him to find the solution to their dilemma. They requested sage Bhrigu to find the ideal god (primary benefactor of their yajna) who is capable to take the offering and who would be pleased by those rituals.
Rishi Bhrigu first went to Lord Indra, the King of Gods but returned empty-handed, then he went to Lord Brahma, and then to Lord Shiva, but was not satisfied with their deed. None of them recognized his presence for which he cursed them.
With no other options left, he last went to Lord Vishnu. Vishnu was sleeping on the bed of serpents at the time and when Bhrigu arrived, he just saw Vishnu’s feet and felt humiliated. He thus kicked Vishnu on his chest, where goddess Laxmi resided. Vishnu didn’t react to the action instead apologized to Sage by messaging his feet. This action of Lord Vishnu made Bhrigu realize that Lord Vishnu was the one whom the offerings were to be performed.
However, for kicking Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi felt insulted and had a rage with Lord Vishnu and left Vaikuntha and came to live down on earth to Kolhapur.
Lord Vishnu then went to earth in search of goddess Laxmi, in the human form of Srinivasa (Venkateshwara), but couldn’t find her. He instead settled on Seshachalam hills inside an anthill. When Goddess Laxmi came to know about the condition, she prayed to Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma. To help Lord Vishnu find his consort, Shiva and Brahma incarnated themselves as a cow and a calf respectively in the Chola kingdom. The cow and calf, every day used to provide their milk in the anthill to lessen the thirst of Vishnu. One day cowherd caught the act thus he tried to beat the cow. For his unknown mistake, Venkateshwara cursed the Chola king to become a Demon as per dharma. The king begged for mercy for which Srinivasa told him that in his second birth as Akasa Raja, Lord will marry his daughter, Padmavati.
As the years passed by and in their second birth, Padmavati and Srinivasa finally met and got married. For marriage, Srinivasa took a huge amount of loan from Lord Kuber and promised to repay the loan before the end of Kaliyuga. This is the reason why the lord is still repaying the loan taken from Kubera and will still pay till the end of kali yuga.
Thus, it is also believed that Lord Vishnu has manifested himself in the temple of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple during this Kali age to guide and direct his devotees towards salvation.
According to some scriptures, Srinivasa actually turned himself into a stone form after Laxmi found out that he got married to another woman named Padmavathi (Alamelu Manga). After Srinivasa manifested into a stone statue, Padmavati and Lakshmi also turned themselves on either side. Goddess Lakshmi with him on his left side of the chest while Padmavathi rests on his Chest’s right side. Also, Vakula Devi (mother of Srinivasa of that time) in form of a garland.
The Richest Temple
Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple ( Tirupati Balaji Mandir) is considered one of the richest temples on the earth having overwhelming contributions and donations from the public. This Venkateswara Temple is the most celebrated pilgrim destination visited by a huge number of people. With regards to Puranas as mentioned above, Lord Balaji or Venkateswara took a huge loan from Lord Kubera for his marriage with Devi Padmavati. So as to clear the debt, devotees from all over the world visit the shrine and donate money. This is the reason why Srinivasa is still repaying the loan taken from Kubera and will still pay till the end of kali yuga.
The temple almost receives $23 million of donations per day. There is another ritual of donating hair which is used in cosmetics and extension which add another $6 million to the treasure of the temple.