A new home for Lord Venkateswara coming up in Auckland

With the bounty of elevated Nature, the Abode would inspire piety

About 25 years ago, a new migrant couple considered construction of a Temple for Lord Venkateswara; a Temple that would be a tribute to the Lord of the Seven Hills in the original setting of Tirupati-Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.

That desire remained a dream, for as devotees understand, the Lord must ordain and provide the Divine Direction. Efforts however continued, albeit sporadically, until two weeks ago when the desired settings appeared to evolve themselves.

The Lord’s Trust

The formation of an entity Sri Venkateswara Devasthanam (SVD) was the first step in the ambitious journey to build a new home for the Lord in Auckland.

A large stretch of land, appropriate for the elevated Lord of the Seven Hills has been acquired and initial tasks for complying with official regulations have commenced. The promoters hope to place the Project for public view and support in due course.

Indian Newslink is assisting the promoters of the Lord Venkateswara Devasthanam New Zealand Project in Auckland and will continuously provide information relating to its progress and general information about the Tirumala and other places of Vishnu Worship in its ensuing editions. Readers can seek further information by email to venkat@indiannewslink.co.nz

About the Temple in Auckland

All along the way, the Prayer is that the dream of almost three decades should become a reality; for Sri Venkateswara Devasthanam in Auckland will not just be a place of Worship. The Temple Complex will comprise a host of facilities and services that will benefit the growing community and its multifarious needs. Central to this substantial investment-oriented Project would be service to humans and other kinds, ranging from Satsang, Special Prayers, Celebration of Hindu Festivals, a Centre for Meditation, Accommodation, Dining and Catering, a Community Centre for Weddings and other social gatherings and much more.

As the saying goes, just like success, the extent of SVD is limited only by this Reporter’s imagination and no act of kindness, however small, will ever be wasted.

About Tirupati Tirumala Temple

The original Lord Venkateswara Temple is situated in the hill town of Tirumala in Tirupati, Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh in India.

Devotees believe that Lord Venkateswara, the Presiding Deity, is Swayambhu (Self-Manifested), having risen more than 5000 years ago, although the Temple has undergone several stages of construction and improvements over the past several hundred years.

Tirumala Hills are part of the Seshachalam Hills range. The Hills are 853 metres (2799 ft) above sea level. They comprise seven peaks, representing the seven Heads of Adisesha.

The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri.

The Venkateswara Temple is located on the seventh peak of Venkatadri, on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank.

Hence the Temple is also called, ‘Temple of Seven Hills.’

The Temple follows Vaikhanasa Agama tradition of worship. It is one of the eight Vishnu Swayambhu Kshetras and is listed as 106th and the last earthly Divya Desam.

The premises comprises two modern queue complex buildings to organise the pilgrim rush, Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam complex for free meals to Pilgrims, hair tonsure buildings and a number of pilgrim lodging sites.

The Temple is run by the body Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) under the direct control of the Andhra Pradesh government.

About Lord Venkateswara

Lord Venkateswara is believed to have appeared in Tirumala to save humankind from trials and troubles of Kali Yuga. Hence the place is also known as ‘Kaliyuga Vaikuntha’ and the Lord is worshipped as ‘Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Deivam.’

This place of worship is also known as Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple and Tirupati Balaji Temple, to name a few, while Lord Venkateswara is also revered as Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa.

While the actual date of appearance of the Lord is unknown, according to Indian history, later construction, conforming to Dravidian Architecture belonged to 300 AD.

The Garbagruha (Sanctum Sanctorum) is called Ananda Nilayam. The Presiding Deity (Lord Venkateswara) is in standing posture and faces east in Garbagruha.

The Temple was constructed in 300 AD conforming to the Dravidian Architecture.

Record visitors

More than 400 million devotees visit the Temple every year (or about 100,000 visitors every day of the year), while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims could rise to 500,000 a day.

The Lord of the Seven Hills stands closest to Chennai, the Capital of Tamil Nadu (138 kms) and Bangalore, the Capital of Karnataka (291 kms) and is farther from major cities of Andhra Pradesh, namely Hyderabad (572 kms) and Vijayawada (435 kms).

There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala. According to one legend, the Temple has a Murthi (Deity) of Lord Venkateswara, which is expected to remain until the end of the Kali Yuga.

Additional Notes: Lord Venkateswara is the world’s ‘richest God’ with an estimated annual income of more than $US 400 million. The Temple has more than 2000 kgs of gold and more than $US 500 million worth of other forms of jewels and jewellery. According to a legend, Lord Vishnu in this Avatar owes money to Kubera in connection with His marriage to ‘Alarmel Manga,’ ‘Alamelu Manga’ or ‘Padmavathi’ and hence is seeking ‘donations’ from his devotees.

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