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The Tirumala Hill is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles
in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of
Adisesha, thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called
Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and
Venkatadri. The sacred temple of
Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatadri (Venkata
Hill), and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini.
The
Venkatam hill is said to be the sporting hill of Vishnu, brought to earth
from Vaikuntam by Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, according to the Puranas.
The Varaha
Purana mentions that Vishnu in the boar form and in the form of Srinivasa
manifested himself on the banks of the holy Pushkarini in Tirumalai. It is
believed that the celestial entities such as Bhramma and others worship
Venkatachalapati and to facilitate their worship, all articles of worship
are left open in the sanctum at when the temple is closed at night.
The name
Tirupati, meaning the ‘the Lord of Lakshmi’ should have been
appropriately applied to the village on the Venkata Hill, the abode of the
Lord. However, it has been popularly assigned to the Municipal town at the
foot of the Hill, while the village around the Hill near His temple is
called Tirumala (the Sacred Hill). |
