Have you ever visited a place for the first time and felt that this is where you needed to be your whole life? The feeling of regret that why had you not visited this place earlier? I felt the same when I visited the holy Srivari Temple located in the divine city of Tirumala for the first time. The city is bustling with devotees where you can hear the chants of “Lord Venkateswara” echoing all around.
I know you must be dying to know all about it. Do not worry because I am here to tell you everything starting from the temple’s rich history to when is the best time to visit in this article. So keep on reading!
Srivari Temple: History and Myths
Like all the other temples of India, South Indian temples particularly hold a lot of historical value. According to the locals, the divine deity Lord Vishnu was crossing through Trimula to meet his beloved wife “Parvati”. On his way to her, due to the scorching heat of the sun, Lord Vishnu got extremely parched and rested on a rock nearby. Wanting to quench his thirst, he looked for water and requested a sage for some water.
Many years later, the ground where lord Vishnu laid his feet while resting was constructed into a magnificent temple. That is known as the holy Srivari Temple today. You must be wondering how the temple got its name, so speaking from a literary perspective, the word “Srivaru” refers to the God of the seven hills also known as Lord Venkateswara.
The word “Sri” means Goddess Lakshmi and “Varu” refers to her “Consort”, which is her husband. Lord Venkateswara is said to be the incarnation of Maha Vishnu, the consort of Goddess Lakshmi. Listening to these tales, one gets transported to that religious land once again.
Architecture
Lord Venkateswara, also known as Srinivasa made the city of Trimula his home thousands of years ago. Before him, it was Lord Varahaswami who was residing in this place. According to a legend, it is said that Lord Srinivasa wanted a piece of land as a gift from Sri Varahaswami for his devotion.
Respecting his wishes, lord Srinivasa was granted this land with the condition that the first darshan, worship, and offerings by all the devotees visiting the temple would be made to Lord Varahaswami. Therefore even today, all the offerings are first made to Lord Varahaswami and then to Lord Venkateswara.
According to a local guide, the temple’s grand main entrance has been increased on a regular basis since the 13th century. Today this door stands at the height of 50 feet. The temple complex is spread over approximately 20 acres of land.
There are 2 statues named “Sankanidhi” and “Padmanidhi” placed on either side of this door. It is said these statues are the guardians of the treasure of the Srivari temple. The temple is not just limited to holy idols. A beautiful statue of then-king “Venkatapatirayalu” which is gold in color is placed just at the entrance. The statue stands with folded hands to welcome all the devotees.
Spiritual Significance
During my visit, I saw newborn parents who had brought their children into the temple to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara. There is this ritual where the parents donated money in the form of silver and gold coins which is equal to the weight of their newborn. To disclose my personal reason for visiting the temple, it was to express our gratuity because my grandmother had recently recovered from her prolonged illness.
There is a Lizard sculpture located on the roof of the temple, the belief is that whoever touches this Kasi Balli (Lizard) will get rid of their bad fortune (Dosham). It is a belief, that if the lizard falls on a human body, then it is considered a fortune, and all the misdeeds should be pardoned.
This Hindu temple offers food two times a day to the devotees. Everyday kilos and kilos of food is cooked and distributed among the people, some of you may also know this as “Langar” or “Bhandara”. In our religion, we believe in “Atithi Devo Bhava” which literally translates to “Guest Is God”. Following the same, nobody goes hungry from the place of God as there is tons of food for everyone.
Pilgrimage
The most astonishing part of my journey to this temple was the pilgrimage to reach the actual idol of God. The path is full of pebbles and thorns with 456 stairs leading to the top. Yes! I counted them all.
On my way I saw many devotees, crawling on their hands in the heavy rain because they wanted God to grant their “Mannat”. In Hindu scriptures, it is said that the more difficult the path and journey, the more fruitful is the reward. Speaking about Srivari Temple, you must read about Vrindavan, the place which harbours 5500 temples.
How to reach Srivari Temple?
Talking about pilgrimage, let me tell you about the ways of how you can reach the temple:
By Air- The nearest airport is located in Tirupati which is approximately 15 kilometers away from the city. You can easily get a cab or taxi to reach the temple. Also for a fun fact, you will be surprised to know that airplanes are prohibited from flying over the Srivari Temple. The reason is to maintain the peace and quiet of the city.
By Train- You can reach the temple easily by boarding a train to the Tirupati Main Railway Station. This is how I traveled there from Chandigarh and it turned out to be quite affordable as well. From the railway station, you can get a cab or an auto-rickshaw to reach your destination. Be aware of the scammers though!
By Road- If you are someone who is planning this journey from a nearby state or city, you can opt for buses and cab services. The buses leave for Tirumala after every 15-minute interval costing the minimum fare of 30 rupees. For cab services, there is the option of jeeps which can board 10 passengers at a time. The fare costs around 50 rupees per person.
Wrapping up
Srivari temple is such a place that everyone must visit once in their lifetime. It has been 3 months since my visit and the experience is ingrained in my memories for a lifetime. If you are a north Indian like me who is visiting this temple for the first time. You should know that you only get 40-50 seconds to see the holy idol of Lord Venkateswara.
So plan your wishes accordingly, because I did not and then regretted it the entire day. All in all, you will feel the change in your aura after doing “darshan” at the temple. You must visit this place once in your lifetime with your family.
