The preserver god of the Trinity has four hands. The first holds a conch shell (sankha) indicating spread of the divine sound "Om"; one holds a discus (chakra), a reminder of the wheel of time, and to lead a good life; one holds a lotus (Padma) which is an example of glorious existence and the fourth hands holds a mace (gada) indicating the power and the punishing capacity of the Lord if discipline in life is ignored.

His vehicle is the swift-flying bird Garuda which can spread the Vedic knowledge with great courage. The dark color of the Lord represents the passive and formless ether, a great quality for a pervading god. He rests on the bed of the powerful, coiled serpent, Seshanag who represents the sleeping universe. Lord Vishnu is also known as Hari, the remover.

Lord Vishnu's consort is Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth .

Lord Vishnu's preserving, protecting powers have been manifested to the world in a variety of forms, called Avatars, in which one or more of his divine attributes were embodied in the shape of a human being or an animal or a human-animal combined form, possessing great and sometimes supernatural powers. All these Avatars of Vishnu appeared in the world either to correct some great evil or to effect some great good on earth. These avatars are ten in number, however, the Bhag wad Purana increases them to twenty two and adds further that are innumerable.

Of the ten universally recognized avatars, nine have already manifested whereas the tenth is yet to appear.

It is important to note that the all the Avatars are earthly form of Lord Vishnu , who himself is eternal, unchangeable and immutable.

Parashurama shows the man of power, Rama the Divine warrior and protector, Krishna the Divine lover, Buddha the Divine sage, and Kalki the completer and saviour . In this scheme we see the idea of the evolution of the soul from the animal re alms to perfect spiritual knowledge.

The unique idol of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala, the most popular and bounteous pilgrimage center in the country, is believed to be the first image of any god or goddess that manifested spontaneously and is the source of Archa or idol worship so common in India today

The rich imagination of Brahmanical literature describes him as the Lord of numerous universes: the root of the phenomena of Creation, Life, Living, Events, Change et al as the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity. Sri Venkateswara Swami, or Tirupati Balaji, is the presiding deity of the famous and bounteous Tirumala temple.

Over the millennia, the Tirumala temple, near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, has continued to draw countless devotees who contribute billions of rupees to its kitty. Its mind boggling reserves of pure gold, if unloaded, can crush the world bullion market. Even the Vatican and Mecca cannot match the temple's popularity nor can the new pilgrimage destinations of India, such as Sabarimalai, Vaishno Devi and Shirdi.

Pilgrims come for fleeting glimpses of the fascinating life-size idol of Balaji, after inching in long queues for hours and days. Many undertake the pilgrimage asking for favors to mark various transitions in life or simply to offer their hair, tiny silver or gold bits or images of the deity. The shrine is an integral part of life and culture especially in the three southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

UNUSUAL ICON

Venkateswara is not a name but a title. Vem-kata means one who cuts or washes away one's sins.

The unique idol in Tirumala is a riddle to unravel. Everything begins and ends or is reduced to sunyam (nothingness) before him, while the infinite world pens to the sincere seeker with an infinitesimal offering. This is because spiritual wealth through devotion is the basis of life and action in theism.

There are millions of gods in Hinduism but there is ultimately only one God. All God's attributes are to be found in Vishnu, in yoganidra (yogic sleep) or Sri Ranganathaswami (Lord of the creation) who chose to descend on the earth as Yoga Murti (idol), Balaji. Thus, Balaji is not an avatar of Vishnu but Vishnu himself.

The deity also represents the God of Justice. He is blindfolded by the Namam or forehead mark; the scales of justice are his two wives on either side of his chest with the sword of justice hanging in between. With his slim and black figure, the deity is said to represent Shani (Saturn). He subjects one to the trying period of Shanidasa and metes out the package of rewards and punishments in the material and spiritual spheres.

Interestingly, the image in the temple is most unlike the portrait in the ubiquitous pictures, admits M. Srinivasa Bhattacharyulu, an adviser to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the temple. In the portraits, the deity's chubbiness, facial appearance and sword visibly dangling below his chest are all misleading. The Dhruva Beram (the standing idol of the deity) has a Srivatsa mark in the middle of the chest instead of the left breast which encloses a half-inch Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth and divine consort of Lord Vishnu) sculpture.

When installed and consecrated in a temple, any form of Vishnu is said to create peace, nourishment and happiness for devotees. Balaji is one of the eight Swayam Vyakta Sthalas (spontaneous image locations) in India and Nepal, Bhattacharyulu elaborates.

You don't need to go to Tirumala to fathom the Lord's mystique or greatness. Mere listening to the wondrous compositions of his noblest and humblest devotees, like Annamacharya or Tyagaraja, Alvars Pasurama and Purandara Dasa, suffices. They combine the quintessence of the Vedas and the Upanishads.

There is a controversy about the deity representing Shakti ( divine consort of Lord Shiva as well as Goddess representing female power) and Shiva as some rituals and traditions signify. The first three Alvars describe him as a combination of Vishnu and Shiva. Dr Medasani Mohan, director, Bhagavatha Project, TTD, attests to the idol having jatas (locks of hair) of Shiva and chiselled out bosom of Shakti when observed from close quarters during the prolonged Abhishekam Seva (holy bath) when the idol is undressed.

A DAY IN THE DEITY'S LIFE

His day begins with the Melu Kolupu Paata (awakening song) sung by the descendants of Annamacharya, followed by Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam.

A traditional cowherd or Yadava is given the first darsan or holy sight of the idol, of the day. The recitation of the deity's 1,008 names is begun in the name of Hathiram Bavaji, a 15th century seeker from North India. The Muthyala (pearls) Harathi at night and Pavalimpu Seva (putting the deity to sleep) is done in the name of Tarikonda Venku Mamba, a rebel, writer and staunch woman devotee.

The Lord is said to go down the hills to neighbouring Tiruchanur to see his consort, Sri Padmavathy, by using the large shoes made as an offering by a Madiga "untouchable" and returns early for the morning sevas or services.

Sri Ramanujacharya, the 12th century reformer and Vaisnavite saint, laid down a comprehensive system of organization, management and worship, which survives to this day in Tirumala. The daily worship was institutionalized by 1200 AD. It represents a notable exception to the casteist and dominant Brahmanism even in the early part of the millennium, mainly due to Ramanuja's towering stature.

AN ENDURING PHENOMENON

The geography of the central hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats of India, is compared by the puranas or ancient texts, to a huge recumbent cobra or Adisesha. The Jyotirlinga of Sri Mallikarjuna Swami in Srisailam temple is located on its tail, Sri Narasimha Swami Temple in Ahobilam on its back, Sri Venkateswara temple atop its hood like the dancing Krishna (though the temple is noted for its location in the low of the last hill rather than the peak) and Sri Kalahasti temple of Shiva at the opening of its mouth.

Surprisingly, despite the hill's topography suiting military operations, which were frequent in the region, the Balaji temple remained miraculously untouched, even by the infamous iconoclast Aurangzeb's (the last of the Great Mughal Emperors) plundering and pillaging army.

Ancient references to the deity and the purifying hill even before the advent of the deity are many. They go back to the Rig-Veda. Some described only the purifying hill, others mentioned the Lord who absolves sins and presides over the hill, but not any temple. The puranas refer to the Tirumala hill as Venkatadri or Venkatachala.

According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, Lord Rama, one of Lord Vishnu's incarnations, and his Vanara (monkeys) army marching to Lanka for war with Ravana halted here on the request of Anjana Devi, the mother of Hanuman. The Mahabharata, the longest epic in the world, describes the transformation of the departed spirit of Sri Krishna, after it entered the solar disc, into a lifeless four-armed image, which was to descend to Earth. An ethereal voice told the assembled devas or gods that it was to be worshipped in Kaliyuga, the present era of darkness and ignorance, as an easy means for seeking personal salvation. This is believed to be the Tirupati deity. The eighth century Tamil classic Silappadikaram quotes a pilgrim's description of the deity.

WHY IDOL WORSHIP

Idol worship is not animism practised by the so-called primitive peoples and cultures, as colonialist anthropology would have us believe. Faith in it opens up many gates of spirituality. A recent book on the first encounter of medieval Arabian Muslims with idol worship in India reveals their curiosity and respect for this path to God-realization instead of intolerant iconoclasm they became infamous for.

Esoteric Brahmanism which evolved a complex system of Archa or image worship is rooted in Balaji's idol. The deity is the first image of any god or goddess that manifested spontaneously.

Bhakti (devotion) path has nothing to do with sandhya, vandana, japa and other rituals, which are all means of worship and are all right, but worship of divine images is accorded primacy in bhakti or devotion. Attachment to the deity's image detaches the devotee from samsara, this world, and enables him to realize the supreme being as Narayana.

It is worth noting that Balaji's right hand is pointing downward towards his feet just above the knee, indicating that worshipping him will liberate one from kneedeep illusions of worldly existence.

Thus, not only is the main idol in Tirumala believed to be of divine origin, it is also connected with divine sanction for Archa worship. The earlier yugas or eras, offered a tough yogic path of penance, mental concentration and meditation. Archa is to enable all in Kaliyuga, the present era of darkness, to achieve God realization through less tedious means of intense love and devotion.

Lord Venkateswara is also known as Pratyaksha Daivam (manifest divinity) who helps his devotees in distress even if they do not or cannot help themselves, thus contradicting a simplistic adage. This is, of course, linked to one's yogam or spiritual entitlement.

Temple History

There is ample literary and epigraphic testimony to the antiquity of the temple of Lord Sri Venkateswara. All the great dynasties of rulers of the southern peninsula have paid homage to Lord Sri Venkateswara in this ancient shrine. The Pallavas of Kancheepuram (9th century AD), the Cholas of Thanjavur (a century later), the Pandyas of Madurai, and the kings and chieftains of Vijayanagar (14th - 15th century AD) were devotees of the Lord and they competed with one another in endowing the temple with rich offerings and contributions.

It was during the rule of the Vijayanagar dynasty that the contributions to the temple increased. Sri Krishnadevaraya had statues of himself and his consorts installed at the portals of the temple, and these statues can be seen to this day. There is also a statue of Venkatapati Raya in the main temple.

After the decline of the Vijayanagar dynasty, nobles and chieftains from all parts of the country continued to pay their homage and offer gifts to the temple. The Maratha general, Raghoji Bhonsle, visited the temple and set up a permanent endowment for the conduct of worship in the temple. He also presented valuable jewels to the Lord, including a large emerald which is still preserved in a box named after the General. Among the later rulers who have endowed large amounts are the rulers of Mysore and Gadwal.

After the fall of the Hindu kingdoms, the Muslim rulers of Karnataka and then the Britishers took over, and many of the temples came under their supervisory and protective control.

In 1843 AD, the East India Company divested itself of the direct management of non-Christian places of worship and native religious institutions. The administration of the shrine of Sri Venkateswara and a number of estates were then entrusted to Sri Seva Dossji of the Hatiramji Mutt at Tirumala, and the temple remained under the administration of the Mahants for nearly a century, till 1933 AD.

In 1933, the Madras Legislature passed a special act, which empowered the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) Committee to control and administer a fixed group of temples in the Tirumala-Tirupati area, through a Commissioner appointed by the Government of Madras.

In 1951, the Act of 1933 was replaced by an enactment whereby the administration of TTD was entrusted to a Board of Trustees, and an Executive Officer was appointed by the Government .

The provisions of the Act of 1951 were retained by Charitable and Religious Endowments Act, 1966.