THE HILL - SHRINE OF VENGADAM Art, Architecture and Agama of Tirumala Temple By Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao SRI VIKHANAS TRUST # 27, Sri Vaikhanasa Ashramam Ring Road, Tirumala - 517 504. A.P. India. THE HILL-SHRINE OF VENGADAM ART, ARCHITECTURE AND AGAMA OF TIRUMALA TEMPLE ང་་་་་་༥ BRUKS An image of the hill-god, sculpted by Syamsundar Bhat of Bangalore on the basis of the author’s sketches and impression. निरुपमगुणसिन्धुर्नित्यलक्ष्मीसमेतो निखिलनिगमवेद्यो निस्तुलो वेङ्कटेशः । निजचरणसमर्चासक्तभक्तौघरक्षी निवसतु हृदये मे स्वांघ्रिभक्तिं वितन्वन् || THE HILL-SHRINE OF VENGADAM ART, ARCHITECTURE AND AGAMA OF TIRUMALA TEMPLE BY S.K. RAMACHANDRA RAO Sri VIKHANAS TRUST No. 27, Sri Vaikhanasa Ashramam Ring Road, Tirumala - 517 504 THE HILL-SHRINE OF VENGADAM, (Art, Architecture and Agama of Tirumala Temple) by Vidyalankara Sastra-chudamani Vedanta-nidhi, Sangita-Kalaratna Professor S.K. Ramachandra Rao, and published by Sri VIKHANAS TRUST, Tirumala - 517 504. First Edition: 1993 Kalpatharu Research Academy Revised Edition: 2010 Sri Vikhanas Trust, Tirumala. Sri Vikhanasa Trust Publications Series No.: 10 Price: Two Hundred and Fifty Only For Copies Secretary Sri Vikhanasa Trust No. 27 Sri Vaikhanasa Ashramam Ring Road, Tirumala - 517 504. A.P. India Ph: 0877-2277952, 09494209952 Printed by: Students Offset Printers, Tirupati Copies: 2000 1437 00 Preface Introduction

INDEX

1. Chapter One The Hill shrine How it looked

Origin of Hills - a brief view Sacred Theerthas and different routes The word Vengadam’ The Hill shrine & Tondaman Chapter Two - Historical Perspective

1. The Temple Geography Page No. i to vii 13732 ii) Inside Temple iii) The Tirumala Village iv) Ramanuja and the Hill shrine

4. Kapila-Tirtha The Vaikhanasa priests Chapter Three - Pilgrimage to the Hill-shrine
5. Begining of the Ascent
6. As one ascends
7. Nearing the summit 20 27 29 33 45 50 55 58 60 66 68 69 72 74 80 85 87 94 99 100 107 113 121 122 128 132 139 143
8. Dova-Bhashyakara-Sannidhi
9. Ananda Nilaya Vimanam
10. Sannidhi Street
11. The entrance to the shrine
12. The sacred tank Svami-Pushkarini
13. Adi-Varaha shrine
14. Pratima-Mantapa
15. Two Prakaras
16. Sampangi Pradakshina
17. Ranga Mantapa
18. Tirumalaraya Mantapa
19. Aina-Mahal
20. Dhvaja-Sthambha-Mantapa
21. The inner entrance
22. Vimana Pradakshina
23. Varadaraja shrine
24. The kitchen and Lakshmi shrine : : :. 164
25. Tallapakam - Ara 23. Ramanuja shrine 24. Narasimha shrine 25. Tirumamani Mantapa 26. The main shrine 27.Snapana Mantapa
26. Ramar Medai 172 176 179 189 191 194 29.Sayana Mantapa 197 30.Mukkoti Pradakshina 197
27. The Sanctum 203

Chapter Four - Icons in Sanctum

1. Dhruva Bera in Sanctum 215
2. Vastu Pada Vinyasa of Sanctum 216
3. Dhruva Bera 219
4. Kautuka Bera
5. Bali Bera 223 228
6. Pancha Murti Ideology 281
7. Utsava Bera 238
8. Rama and Krishna 246

Chapter Five - The Hill God 250 6. Chapter Six - Worship in the Hill-Shrine

1. Early worship - Vaikhanasa 268
2. Worship - A Close look 273
3. Daily Worship - Nityarchana 4. Worship - Different Asanas

1. Mantrasana ii) Snanasana iii) Alankarasana iv) Bhojyasana v Yatrasana vi) Paryankasana

5. Different Festivals

1. Kalotsava 277 280 280 281 283 286 287 289 291 292 ii) Sraddhotsava 296 iii) Nimittotsava 297

6. Temple Administration and two important religious functionaries 299 Sculptures in the Hill-Shrine 305 Appendix-I 311 Appendix-II 319 PREFACE We have great pleasure to publish The Hill shrine of Vengadam’ as the 11th Publication of Sri Vikhanas Trust, with the divine blessings of lord Sri Venkateswara. The presiding deity of the world famous Tirumala Hill shrine is Sri Venkateswara, lord Vishnu’s direct manifestation eulogized by sages, ascetics, kings, emperors, chieftains as also praised by innumerable devotees. He was popularly called as GOVINDA", as he fulfills all the wishes of the devotees. This popular book was written by famous scholar Vidyalankara, Sastra chudamani, Sangeeta kalaratna Prof. S.K.Ramachandra Rao. The book elaborates about the various details of the main deity, discuss the inscriptions of the temple, well researched and explained by various historians, the book also has separate sections focussed on worship method Sri Vaikhanasa Bhagavachhastram’ followed in the daily rituals of the temple as well as the details of practices, customs and traditions followed during important festivals and mythology of the shrine. This book was published by Kalpataru Reaearch Academy, Bangalore in the year 1993. The copies of first edition have sold out long back which evidences its popularity in the devotees of Lord Venkateswara. The devotees are much eager to know about the hill shrine through such authentic works. Considering this demand the author, Sri S.K.Ramachandra Rao has kindly consented to transfer the copy rights of this work to Sri Vikhanas Trust, Tirumala which is engaged in publishing the books to fulfill its aims and objectives of preserving, promting and propagating the ancient Indian culture and heritage. The book is a gem of its kind and it elucidates the art, architecture and agama of the hill shrine. The content presented in the book is the outcome of extensive research by Sriman S.K.Ramachandra Rao. He presented authentic information collected from various sources related to temple to bring out the final edition. This reprint is enriched with necessary additions at appropriate places and contains more colorful pictures. We are sure that the sincere effort of the author in compiling this great authoritative work will be appreciated by the readers.We are very grateful and obliged to Prof. S.K.Ramachandra Rao for giving us the golden opportunity of publishing this work. Sri Vikhanas Trust is committed to publish more such divine books in future, and we hope that the efforts of the trust in this direction would be patronized by all the readers who are interested to know in depth, details about the Holy temple of Lord Sri Venkateswara, Tirumala. My sincere thanks to the members of Sri Vikhanas Trust, comprising, the Chairman, SrimanA.S.Narayana Deekshitulu. Hereditary Priest of Tirumala Temple. Treasurer, Sriman D. Srinivasa Deekshitulu, Senior Analyst, TTD and Secretary, SVDSV Sabha, Tirumala. Trustee, Sriman D. Raghava Deekshitulu, Tirupati. Trustee, Sriman A. Anantasayana Deekshitulu, Tirupati, Hereditary Priest of Tirumala Temple, for their continued support and encouragement for this project. My special thanks are due to Sriman Archakam Ramakrishna Deekshitulu, Hereditary Priest of Tirumala Hill shrine, for his untiring efforts in bringing out this book with more colorful pictures. Thank you for your continued support. Tirumala Vikruti Ugadi 16-03-2010 || Om Namo Venkatesaya || G. Prabhakara Charyulu Secretary Sri Vikhanas Trust INTRODUCTION When I finished the manuscript of this book, I felt relieved and fulfilled. I could truly say ‘अद्य मे सफलं जन्म जीवितं च सुजीवितम् । ‘Today my life has been fulfilled, and I have indeed lived well’ For this was on my mind for over fifty years. Even when, as a boy, I visited this hill-shrine with my parents and grandparents, I was excited by the idyllic surroundings (which alas has disappeared in recent years) of the shrine, the majestic peaks, the deep gorges and the dense jungle through which one had to journey to reach the shrine. The god of the hills is my tutellary deity, and it has been a custom in our family for several generations now to visit the hill-shrine as frequently as possible, at least once a year. We go to no other place of pilgrimage, and in our puja-room it is only this hill-god who is worshipped. I could say, with Nammalvar, that here is the god whom my parents, their parents, their parents and all their ancestors have worshipped. 66 tiru vengaḍattu elil-kol sodi yendai tandai tandaikku" “endai tandai tandai tandai tandaikku mundai……..’ During my annual visits as a young man I have roamed about three of the seven hills, visited the several shrines associated with the water-falls and streams on the hill, and have gone round all the apartments and enclosures of the hill-shrine. I also had occasion to study the inscriptions that abound here; I have looked at the temple’s art, and architecture rather closely. In art and architecture, it cannot of course compare favourably with most of the South Indian temples. As a student of art I found little here that was really interesting. But the history of the temples over the centuries, as revealed by the inscriptions as well as by the structures, fascinated me. The enduring hold of this shrine over the imagination and peity of the people from different parts of the country, and for great many generations, filled me with wonder. I have visited the shrine several times when travel to the shrine was rather hazardous, when facilities that we are now used to were utterly lacking, and when the sole attraction was the god of the hills that stands in the sanctum, towering over all the hills. Even then, crowds of pilgrims and devotees thronged the hill all through the year, excepting in the rainy season. I was struck by the deep devotion and single-minded zeal that were all too evident in these pilgrims, who cared for nothing else, and they did hardly anything else on the hills; especially the rural folk and tribals who climbed the hills almost mechanically went straight to the shrine as if nothing else mattered, and returned home as soon as they had a glimpse of the god of their dreams. What a contrast the current picture presents! Whatever else I was doing in my professional career, this was always at the back of my mind: to reconstruct the history of this hill-shrine and to present to myself a complete account of the worship that went on there. About fifteen years ago I did write a book in Kannada, giving as many details as I could get from my own visits and my study of the inscriptions. I wove a neat and meaningful fabric within the limits of historical accuracy. The book was no doubt well-received, and it even bagged the coveted Sahitya Academy award. But somehow I was left dissatisfied: I had not discussed the architectural unfoldment of the shrine; and had at that time very few photographs with me to illustrate the peculiarities of the apartments, the sculptures, the icons, and the festivals. I had also not unravelled many a riddle concerning the structures here. I was, however, sure that I would be able to do a more satisfying job sometime later, and that I would procure all the necessary materials to present the hill-shrine in a much clearer light. My faith in the hill-god left no room for despair. And sure enough, the pieces began falling into their places, doubts were cleared, the dark niches were illumined, and the missing links were gathered. The hill-god found me friends and favourable circumstances. The first and foremost among the gifts of the hill-god to me in the endeavour was Divi Vikhanasacharyulu (D.V. Chary), the retired Executive Engineer of the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams. He was associated with the hill-shrine for more than forty years, and is intimately acquainted with every inch of the temple as well as the hill on which it stands. He is an extraordinarily intelligent, energetic, honest and efficient man. He had painstakingly collected all documents, reports, measurements, maps publications and photographs pertaining to this temple and its environs all of which he put in my possession with a readiness that was amazing, and without my having to ask for them! It was indeed a treasure for me. He was in charge of most of the alterations that have been effected in the temple in recent years, and he spent hours telling me all about them. All the photographs appearing in this book (excepting about twenty) are his contributions, as also the source-materials that have been used here. Next in the list of gifts is Archakam Srinivasa Narayana Dikshitulu of the Paidipalli family (one of the four families hereditarily entrusted with the worship of the hill-god). He made available to me several Agama texts and arranged for my observation of the icons in the sanctum and of the details of the main shrine. Himself a poet, musician, and artist, he impressed me as a devout, sincere and earnest person, a friendly and intense soul. The hours I have spent with him were most precious experiences for me. He filled my heart with his songs and with the narration of his experiences which bordered on the occult. He introduced me to the head-priest of the temple, Madambakam Srinivasa Bhattacharya, who proved a veritable mine of practical and relevant information not only about the Agamic worship in the hill-shrine, but about the hill-shrine itself. Having spent long years in the worship of the hill-god, year after year, he was probably the best authority I could dream of encountering for discussing the discrepancies between the Agamic prescriptions and the actual practices in the temple. He has taken very kindly to me, and his explanations are always marked by wisdom wit, and frankness. I consider it my good fortune that I got to know him. The friend who made my visits to the hill-shrine not only pleasant but altogether worthwhile, who is truly a selfless benefactor in various ways, and whose knowledge of the men and matters in the temple-town is remarkable, is Varanasi Chenchaiah. Should I express my gratitude formally to these gentlemen who have become my personal and valued friends? I would sound artificial and words would surely be inadequate. As Kalidasa has put it, प्रमाणमन्तः करणप्रवृत्तयः There is a reason why I undertook to write this book. Tirumala is an important religious centre which has always attracted large crowds of pilgrims from far and near. In recent years, with the modern modes of transport and conveniences provided by the Temple administrators, the pilgrim population has increased enormously: on the average about five to six lakhs every year. The Defence Institute of Work study of Mussoorie conducted a survey in this regard in 1976, and found that there were about five hundred people arriving at the shrine every hour, and that about 850 people were passing in front of the sanctum in each of the hours • allowed for sarva-darśana. The study showed that the minimum number of pilgrims that wait for the vision of the god in the sanctum is 7,569 per day, and the maximum (on Sundays, holidays and festive days) is 26,785. The actual time available for each pilgrim to stand in front of the sanctum would therefore be between two and four seconds; walking in the it would take him about eight minutes to move from the Golden Doorway (Bangaru-vakili) to the viewing point inside the front porch of the sanctum called Sayana-mantapa! And he would have waited from three to thirteen hours in the Queue Complex (depending upon the season, time of the day and day of the week), to reach the Golden Doorway!!! queue, The Queue, however, is a necessary evil here. Without this, there would be stampede all the time, and no one would be able to get anywhere near the main shrine at all. The TTD authorities must surely be thanked for the excellent queue arrangements that they have made, and for the conveniences that they have made possible. But the fact remains that every pilgrim becomes a virtual prisoner in the queue passages, and his movement along the queue lines precludes his having a look at the structural details of the temple. His movements become exceedingly restricted, and he can possibly have no idea whatever of the’ art and architecture of the temple. Not that most pilgrims would be interested in this aspect of the hill-shrine; but for those that happen to be inclined that way, the queue complex presents a handicap. It is for these few that my book has been planned. I have attempted to provide here as graphic a description as possible of the various structural details of the temple, as many particulars as were available to me of the practices prevalent in the temple. The purpose is to present an integrated picture of the shrine, the deity and the worship. It would not only be artificial but meaningless to divide them into so many disparate studies. I have taken care to consider all or most of the details within the Agama framework, which is undeniably the most relevant one. And in this sense, this book may claim to be the first of such attempts. But I do hope that other and better studies would follow. I have also taken as my prop an unusual but altogether interesting poem in Sanskrit called Sri-venkatesa-seva-krama. It is long poem of 122 short two-line verses, taking the pious pilgrim to the hill-shrine in hand, and conducting him right up to the sanctum, showing him all the spots of significance en route. The poem provides an excellent pen-picture of the hill as well as the shrine on top of it. It also describes vividly the main deity in the sanctum. I have for years been intrigued, and also fascinated, by the iconography of the so-called Venkatesa (or Srinivasa) form of Vishnu, which is the form in which we find the hill-god. It is not one of the usual or classical forms of Vishnu that we come across in the Agama texts or Silpa-sastra manuals. It does not figure in the lists of four (chatur-murti), five (pañcha-vyuha), ten (dasavatara), twelve (dvadasa-rupa), twenty-four (chaturvinsati-rupa) or thirty-eight (ashta-trimsad-vibhava-deva) forms of Vishnu which are wellknown in Vaishnava iconography. Legends or episodes connected with the assumption of this particular form (of Venkatesa) are not available in any early texts (like Bhagavata or Sattvata-samhita). There is, of course, the popular tale recounting Bhrgu’s curse, Vishnu’s separation from Lakshmi, Chola-raja’s discovery of the human form of Vishnu and Akasa-raja’s bestowal of Padmavati (incarnation of Lakshmi) on Venkatesa (the form of Vishnu) to be found in the Puranas. Even as a story it is a poor one: it abounds in absurdities and wild flights of fancy. It is of recent origin, and the Mahants who administered the temple were mainly responsible for its popularity. Whatever the relevance of the tale to the appearance of the hill-god here, it does not in any way explain the iconographic peculiarities of this god. It has been one of the most precious good fortunes in my life to have been privileged to observe several times the magnificent icon in the sanctum, bereft of all the glittering ornaments, flower-decorations and gilt coverings. Words fail to describe my feelings whenever I have stood in front of this icon, on Friday mornings, bewitched by its beauty, charmed by its grace, and overwhelmed by its majesty. It is truly a remarkable work of art, perfect in every detail, and most compelling in its appeal. Its spiritual attraction is too well-known to need any mention of it by me. Whether the icon is self-manifest or was fashioned by an inspired genius, there is no doubt whatsoever that “thousand eyes would not be enough to look at this god”, as a poet spoke of it: And one who stands नाथं प्रेक्षितुमञ्जनाचलतटे नालं महस्रं दृशाम before the sanctum and obtains even a fleeting vision of the icon within, would feel fulfilled and ejaculate without words what occurred to the author of Markandeya-purana (4,5) अहो भाग्यमहो भाग्यमहो भाग्यमहो महत् । वेंकटेशं कृपासिन्धुं दृष्टवानस्मि सांप्रतम्। There was a time when I was interested in the controversy concerning the identification of the icon as Vishnu, Siva, Sakti, Skanda, Bhairava or Virabhadra. I got out of it when my father chided me for my interest in such controversies which were unseemly, irrelevant, purposeless and mean-minded. Later, 1 was duly impressed with what I read in Varaha-purana (1, 16, 6-10) about this god who dwells on the sacred hill of Vengadam: “Who indeed can fathom your form as it really is? Sometimes myriad-headed, myriad-eyed and myriad footed; sometimes with but two arms, and at times four-armed; sometimes devoid of all limbs and subtly pervasive like sky. At times, you become readily known to our minds, and at other times perceived only in deep contemplation. For some, you are full of forms, shapes, qualities and aspects; and for others, totally devoid of any identifiable form or attribute. Some realize you as pure awareness, and some only as pure existence. However, what we prefer is the view that you have a magnificent and bewitching form, charming our hearts and bringing hope and succour to our lives. It comes well within our inner experience, and its authenticity as beyound doubt” ओं नमो वेंकटेशाय शेषाद्रिनिलयाय च। सिंहाचलनिवासाय श्रीमन्नारायणाय च || त्वत्स्वरूपं यथावद्धि ज्ञातुं शन्कोति कः पुमान्। क्वचित्सहस्रमूर्धा त्वं सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् ।। कदाचिद् द्विभुजस्त्वं तु कदाचित् त्वं चतुर्भुजः । कदाचिच्चतव स्वामिन्न किञ्चच्चरणादिकम् ॥ आकाशमिव ते रूपं कदाचित् ज्ञानगोचरम् । कदाचिन्निर्विकल्पेन वेद्यं यत्नेन कस्यचित् ॥ आहुस्त्वां सगुणं कोचिन्निर्गुणं ज्ञानमात्रकम् । किञ्चिदित्येव केचितु सदित्येव तु केचन । दिव्यावयवसौन्दर्यं नित्यविग्रहयोगिनम् । वदन्ति केचिदस्माकमापि तन्मतमुत्तमम् । हृद्यं प्रामाणभूयिष्ठं तं नताः स्म जगद्गुरुम् ।। I am inclined to believe, after years of study, that the hill-god was originally a folk-deity, a god worshipped by forest-tribes and hunters, and that the shrine is of very great antiquity. All available evidences point to the conclusion that the icon was earlier than the temple. For a great length of time, it must have 2 been a free-standing figure without a roof over it, and the first temple was probably built in the fourth or fifth century after Christ. The celebrity of the icon dates back to the first century at least. Although at first glance, the image seems to have early Pallava features, on closer scrutiny (which is by no means easy to accomplish in recent years, as every one who has been in the hill-shrine knows) it is characteristically pre-Pallava. In fact, the details of the icon (in so far as I was able to note, and as could be guessed from the descriptions left by the early Alvars), suggest a period for the icon which is long before iconometric and iconographic stylization, and very much anterior to the rise of Saiva and Vaishnava cults as distinct religious ideologies. It is natural, therefore, that the figure does not conform with Agamic prescriptions regarding proportions, ornamentations, hand-gestures and postural orientations. On the other hand, the celebrity of the icon must have influenced the Agama ideology in several particulars, and also the early Pallava sculptural representations. In any case, here is an account of the hill-shrine which seeks to present a comprehensive picture. I hasten to add that it is not in the nature of an academic exercise, nor in that of a research monograph. I have been a devotee of this hill-god all my life, and it is therefore that the feelings of devotion are uppermost in my mind; this is obviously the undercurrent in the whole volume. Writing this book has been for me an act of devotion. And when I have completed it, there is reason to feel relieved and fulfilled. But I am aware that it was made possible only by the will and mercy of the hill-god himself. I could not even dream of the extremely favourable opportunities that were in fact provided for me to make extensive and relevant observations, and to collect without effort all the material required for completing this work. It was not even in my wildest imagination that I ever hoped that the turn of events would throughout and consistently be in my favour, as it in fact became. I can only ascribe it to providential arrangement. How can I, then, not say that it is the hand of the hill-god that wrote, and that I was but a pen that it held? धन्योऽस्म्यनुगृहीतोऽस्मि कृतार्थोऽस्मीति च ब्रुवन् S.K. RAMACHANDRA RAO m The Hill-God (Author’s Sketch on a Fridand CHAPTER ONE The Hill-Shrine (1) It is remarkable that a small temple to a little-known god, surrounded by high peaks and dense jungles, infested with wild animals, became one of the most popular pilgrim-centres in the country. Its celebrity has a great antiquity. The author of Tolkappiyam, an ancient Tamil classic of the first century before Christ, was acquainted with this mountain; he gives its name as Vengadam, which name has survived to our own day. Ahanānūru, another early Tamil classic composed in the latter half of the first century after Christ, describes vividly the festivals that were once or twice a year conducted on this hill, which attracted throngs of people from all the neighbouring tracts. The hill is here named after the chieftain Pulli (‘pulli-kunram’) of the Kalvar hill-tribes. The peripetatic Vaishnava saintpoets, the Alvars, who lived between the third and the seventh centuries, have sung of this hill-shrine in ecstatic fervour. They have described the hills The Hill-Shrine as difficult of ascent and dangerous with huge elephants and wild boars roaming about, and leopards and lions lurking. They have also recorded that people (men and women) gathered there in large numbers to worship the god of the hills. The songs of the Alvars as well as the early inscriptions suggest that there was no permanent settlement of any sort on top of the hill, although the slopes were inhabited by wild tribes (like the kalvars, koravas, kurumbas and the yanadis). It is also indicated that there sprang up a proxy temple at the foot of the hills around the seventh century for the convenience of the devotees who did not dare to undertake the arduous journey up the hills. However, the fascination of the hill-shrine was so great that this proxy-temple on the plains was soon wound up. Devotees preferred the hill-shrine, however difficult the ascent and dangerous the journey! By about the eighth century, the sanctity of the hill-shrine had already appealed to the imagination of monarchs, ministers, military generals, 1a merchants as well as the common folk from all neighbouring tracts. Periodical visits to the hill-shrine became regular feature in the area around the Eastern ghats (of which the sacred hill is a part), although the terrors of the wilderness and the risks of being robbed on the way continued, to make the pilgrims uneasy and wary. The hill-shrine also became increasingly affluent with royal patronage and numerous endowments, grants and gifts, although the place continued to be uninhabited except for a few hours during daytime. There are inscriptions available from eighth century down to the nineteenth which give us some idea of how the fortune of the hill-shrine was ever on the ascending note all through the centuries. Even when the shrine was wealthy and resplendent with a fairly extensive temple-complex and the tower above the sanctum gold-plated, it still did not have a township worth its name, and the approach to the hill was still full of trouble and risk. There was forest beyond the four streets immediately around the temple and only the priests, guards and other officials of the temple resided in the village. The conditions prevailing on the hill-top around 1800 A.D., soon after the East India Company gained control over the revenues from the temple (in 1748), documented in the Meckenzie Collections: Manuscript Translations and Reports, (Vol. XVI 48, item 6, p 449 preserved in Fort St. George, Madras) “The streets which surround the Pagoda on the mountain are inhabited, wild hogs, daily at present, come into the place and remain indisturbed by the inhabitants passing and repassing through all the streets, never attempting to bite anyone, unless they are attacked and troubled,and in that case the wild hog will tear the offender to pieces; otherwise they never disturb any person walking alone. Snakes also abound and frequently come in sight but never bite. “In the woods of this mountain, a lakh yanadies collect honey, beeswax, chendana (or Red-wood), fruits and roots by great exertions; these they dispose of by sale and also medicinal roots and other rare things by which they maintain themselves, residing in these woods, (caves) which no one ever enters”. The above extract supports the rather paradoxical conjecture that the area beyond the four streets round the temple was extremely dangerous even at the beginning of the modern period. There is also a suggestion in the above manuscript that there was the everpresent danger of one being lost in the woods; instances are also provided of members of the parties of pilgrims perishing during their journey up the hills. This was despite the celebrity, popularity and glory of the temple for several centuries before this period. 2 The Hill-Shrine A The British District Collector writing in the Asian Journal of May-August, 1831 A.D. describes not only the temple but the worship as it was conducted then. He records that “the annual net proceeds from this source” (viz. offerings by the people) was 1,02,000 rupees in 1820, and “one lakh forty two thousand and odd” in 1822. He, however, made bold to predict that “the revenues of Tripetty are on a gradual decline and will die in the lapse of years a natural death. Some of the most celebrated temples in the country are worse off. But there are still, alas, many more strong holds of the devil.” The poor officer with an understandable missionary zeal of invoking fury on the heathen, would find, were he to return now to the hill-temple, that the ‘devil’ has after all won the battle; the revenues of the temple, far from dying a natural death as he predicted, have multiplied marvelously and in terms of wealth; this shrine now “surpassed” the Vatican among the religious institutions of the world. This enlightened Britisher who “on my road to Tripetty we passed several groups of these besoted heathens, and it made the road quite lively, whilst strange anomaly, a slight reflexion excited mournful feelings”, would now be stricken dumb looking at the vast crowds of people flocking at this shrine in their thousands every day of the year; he would no doubt have more of the “mournful feelings”! The Hill-Shrine (2) The precise origins of the hill-shrine cannot satisfactorily be ascertained. But it is certain that it was an early expression of the ancient cult of deification and worship of mountains, which was almost universally practised. The Babylonian gods (like Entil) abided on hills. The Phrygian Cybele, “the mother of the mountains” stood, veiled in glory, on a mountain-top. The devotees of Zeus visualized the great god holding court on the mount Olympus. The Celtic god Poeninus was lord of the Penine Alps. The Mexican Tlabe had his home on a mountain. In Persia, the mountain Alburz (or Hara Berezaiti) was honoured as the first of the mountains on earth; the sun and the stars revolved round it, and light emerged from it and returned to it. Images of gods were set upon it in ancient times. It was ‘brilliant with holiness’ and ‘glorious with sanctity’. The Japanese word ‘Kami’ meant not only deities but mountains. -The Chinese included their hills in the class of ‘beneficent gods’ (shen); they worshipped the mountain-spirits with prayers and offerings. Mountains were regarded in all ancient cultures as possessors of unusual and inordinate power. In India, the worship of mountains is not merely a practice of the past, but it is very much prevalent even to this day. Like many other details, this particular too confirms a continuity of 3 culture in our country from a distant past to our own times. From Vedic times, all through the long stretches of time, mountains have been deified, and periodical and reverential visits to them undertaken. The folk practices as well as sophisticated religious conduct have regarded mountains not only as abodes of gods and goddesses but as divinities in their own right. Legends are legion which extol the might and merit of the mountains. The tribes of the hills and forests (like the Cheñchus, Gonds, Bhils, Santals, Irulas, Kurumbas, Malaipandarams, Totos, Yanadis, Birhors etc,) adore the mountains, and look upon them as alive and holy, persistent and benign presences, and protectors of the folk who live in their vicinity. The great gods of classical Hinduism are invariably associated with hills, valleys, streams and jungles. The Himalayas, the Vindhyas, the Sahyadri ranges, the Malayan mountain, the Śri-saila group, Arunachala and Nilachala are some of the better known among the thousands of hill-shrines in the country. The puranas celebrate their greatness and relate tales of their glory. The mountain with its great height, immensity and mighty presence naturally evokes in the sensitive mind the sense of the mysterious. The natural dangers in the fastness of the forests that cover the mountain, the strange and frightening sounds produced by the elements of nature as well as by the wild animals, the 4 persistent veil of mist and the canopy of clouds conspire to render the mountain at once wierd and fascinating. While located on earth, it pro vides a haven on haven on its top for the denizens of the celestial realms. The early religious consciousness is inclined to endow holiness on the mountain itself; a shrine on top of it is but incidental. The Indian temple is in fact built in the image of a mountain. Many are the inscriptions where a temple is likened to a great hill. The hills that are now collectively called Tirumala (or in Tamil Tirumalai, Sri-giri in Sanskrit, meaning the ‘great hills’) form the northern part of the Eastern ghats, which constitute a long range with numerous passes from the plains (Kollur in Chandragiri taluk, Mogili in Chittoor taluk and Sainagunta being the principal passes) in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Situated on 13°41’ North latitude and 79°21’ East longitude, the seven hills are connected with the Eastern Ghats through Sesha chalam hills in the Cuddapah district, Nallamalai ranges in the Karnool district and Nagari hills of Chittoor district. They rise to a maximum height of 3,622 feet above sea level, and are traditionally described as a collection of seven peaks or ridges (hence the expression Sapta-giri), called in the puranas by different names: Seshachala, Vedachala, Garudachala, Añjanachala, Vṛshabhachala, Narayana chala and Venkatachala. The total extent of the sacred hills is one The Hill-Shrine hundred square miles, and the jungle path across the length of the range of seven hills would be about twelve miles. Of the seven peaks, the first three of them are low, almost flat, while two others are separated by a deep gorge (known as Auvachari- kona). The entire range of the hills is visualized as the divine dragon Adisesha, The head being Tirumalai (Venkatesvara), the tail being Sri-saila (Mallikarjuna, about 180 miles to the north of the foot-hills of Tirumalai), and the middle portion Ahobila (Narasimha, about 120 miles to the north of the Tirumalai foot -hills). The latter two sacred spots are in the Nallamalai ranges in Karnool district in Andhra Pradesh. The hill range in Chittoor district, however, is known as Seshachala. We read in Bhavishyottara (2, 4346): बैकुण्ठ महशा दिव्या नारायणसमाध शेषमारुतरावादादागतः पुण्यकाननः।। योजनत्रयविस्तिर्ण: त्रिशद्योजनमायतः। वदनं वेंकट गिरिः नृमिहाद्रिश्व मध्यमः श्रीशैलः पुच्छभागस्थः सर्वक्षेत्रमयो गिरिः ।। The hill on which the shrine is situated is about 2,800 feet above mean sea level The standard Benchmark noted on a stone slab in the left hand corner of the entrance to the temple on the hill, (probably during the late 1800s) gives 2916.70 feet above mean sea level as the height of the hill-top stands. It is, on which the temple however, not the highest hill. In fact, this hill is surrounded by taller peaks. To the north of the temple, the hill on which a trigonometrical station in recent years has appeared is 3,426 feet in height; near Jabala-tirtha the height is 3.177 feet. To the east, the hills rise to heights between 2,250 and 2,750 feet. To the south, the hill stands 2,920 feet in height. On the south-west the peak known as Narayana-giri rises to a height of 3,620 feet, about a mile away from the temple along the Ghat road. The land to the west of the hill is 1,800 feet above sea level The early references to the god on the hills was that he stood on the highest peak (in Tamil, ‘uchchiyil ninran’); but the references after 980 A.D. show a realization that actually the god stands on a low hill, surrounded by higher peaks (‘malai-kuniya ninran’, “one who stands where the hill bends”) Vadiraja-svami, who is reputed to have worshipped in this shrine for twelve years (1486-1498 A.D.) at the bidding of the Vijayanagar monarch Krishnadeva-raya, describes the shrine in his Tirtha-prabandha as located in a basin between two tall mountains. श्रीवेकटगिरिद्रोणी कोणी यस्यानणियमी । तं वरेण्य गुराग्रण्य वेदगम्य भजामहे ।। The Hill-Shrine 5 A natural rock-formation in the form of an arch (hence now known as sila-torana) to be seen near Chakra-tirtha by the side of the road that leads to the Microwave Station. Geologists have identified the rocks on the hill as Precambrian; and this arch-formation suggests an antiquity of several million years to the hill. It is said that there are only two other natural rock-arches of such great antiquity in the world. 6 The Hill-Shrine (3) F. Wilkinson, who was the acting Sub-collector of Salem, sent a note on September 10, 1873 to W.S. Whiteside, Collector of North Arcot, as required by the Board of Revenues, giving a graphic description of the hill-shrine and the approach to it. Excerpts from this note (paragraphs 3 to 7) bear reproduction. “The range of the hills on which the celebrated Tirupathi pagoda stands are situated in the north east corner of the Taluk. The ascent commences at the Adipadi-gopuram or portal which is about half a mile distant from lower Tirupathi. Beyond this gopuram none but Hindus are allowed to proceed. At the summit of the slope stands the Gali-gopuram or portal where a light is kept burning every night. The distance from here to upper Tirupathi is six miles. The road or path which passes through scrub-jungles, and is in many places very precipitious is paved with stone. There are mantapams and halting places at different intervals.” “About halfway between the Galigopuram and upper Tirupathi, there is a fine well, said to have been sunk by one of the predecessors of the mahant. Joining it is a mattam (Skt. ‘matham’) and a tope (viz. grove, Kannada ’topu’) containing fruit trees is kept up by the mahant himself.” “The village of Tirumalai or upper Tirupathi lies in a hollow, surrounded by hills on every side but the east or The Hill-Shrine south-east. In the centre is the temple with its gilded dome. Round the temple runs a broad street, along which the car is dragged. Facing the street are a large number of mattams (viz., monastic institutions) and chutrams (viz., charitable centres where free food and lodging is provided for pilgrims), belonging to different zamindars and private individuals… At the back of these mattams and chutrems are topes (viz., Topu’, groves) containing jack, orange, plantain, mango and other fruit-trees. On the south-west on the path leading to Chandragiri is a fine tank from which the topes are watered.” “Beyond the topes is jungle. There are four roads or paths from upper Tirupathi, the most frequented path is the one which leads to lower Tirupathi, passing through Gali-gopuram; another path leads to Chandragiri; a third to Balapali, and a fourth to the tirthams or water falls”. The sacred hill is traditionally approached from Tirupati, as the above note mentions. Tirupati was for long a tiny village, but now a town, on the plains overlooking the hills, at a distance of less than two miles from the foot of hills. The pathway described above would be about seven miles from Tirupati (or Lower Tirupati in the above note) to the hill-shrine (or Upper Tirupati, better known as Tirumala), and is covered in about three hours. Crossing the seven hills along this route could be delightful, enchanting, awe- 7 J 1 C ( of t View of the Hills from Tirupati inspiring and breath-taking, with fine views of cliffs and dales covered by luxuriant vegetation. Most of the journey is accomplished by easy ascents and descents over hill-slopes but there are two rather stiff climbs over steep hill-sides covered by steps: one at the commencement itself (the entrancetower known as Alipiri or Adipadi leading to it), and the other just before we enter the holy precincts on top. There is more recently a motorable road, stretching to about twelve miles, from the outskirts of Tirupati right up to the shrine. Tirupati (called Kottur after a neighbouring tract before the the days of Ramanuja), however, became cele brated only from the twelfth century. after the advent of Ramanuja (10171137 A.D). There were at least three other approaches to the hill-shrine before this period. The route from Chandragiri, another town of considerable political significance from about 990 A.D., is a much shorter one, a little more than two miles in distance from the foot of the hills known as Śripati-vari-mettu. But it involves a stiff climb over a steep hill. However, the pilgrims who take this route will reach the shrte from behind, which is regarded as inauspicious, whereas the route from Tirupati will take him directly to the main entrance of the shrine. Devotees prefer walking along the main street (sannidhi) facing the deity, and so the route from Tirupati эс n 3 d ex an 8 The Hill-Shrine became more popular, the additional reason being the comparative ease in the hill. The ascending present township of Chandragiri is about seven miles west of Tirupati, and about five miles away to the south of the hill. A memorandum dated 16th of March 1874 from the Collector to the Secretary of the Board of Revenues gives the distances covered by the roads from the hill-top to places below. The road leading to Tirupati was given as 9337 yards (five miles, two furlongs and ninety-seven yards); the road to Chandragiri 3920 yards (two miles, one furlong and one hundred and eighty yards); and the road to Balapalli (the third route) 14745 yards (eight miles, three furlongs and five yards). The road from Balapalli begins with the Chittoor district border. In deciding the boundaries of this sacred hill-shrine, the East India Company, which took over the control of the shrine’s revenues, instituted an inquiry around 1873 A.D. The general opinion was that the area considered holy upon this hill “begins with a tirtham named Srinivasa-pushkariņi (where are some feet of the god on the rock) about two miles from Balapalli on the north-east; that the eastern boundary of Tirumalai is Kirukamadi and Mamandoor, the western Nagapatla, Gopalapuram and the Cuddapah frontier and the southern Adipadigopuram”. Broadly, however, ‘on the Balapalli side by Srinivasa pushkarini and on the east Tumburukona are the The Hill-Shrine boundaries of the hill which belongs to the god” (cf. note by F. Wilkinson). An important consideration was the location of tirthas (water-falls, rivulets or ponds), which were visited periodically by the pilgrims. “On these occasions, people bathe in the pools, the puranas are read and rice is distributed”. The note prepared by Wilkinson also noted that “all these thirthams are situated on the northern and eastern sides alone, and there are none on the south and west” (paragraphs 27 and 30). The pathways leading to these tirthas were also carefully measured in order to ascertain the extent of the territory of the hill-shrine. Twelve of such tirthas were identified on the hill-top outside the immediate vicinity of the shrine, although the puranas spoke of as many as one hundred and eight (Brahmapurāṇa, 3, 16) अष्टोत्तरसहस्राणि सन्ति तीर्थानि चात्र वै। Traditionally, seven tirthas are recognised as capable of bestowing salvation (sapta-muktidani) puraṇa, 4, 8-9) (Skanda- स्वमिपुष्करिणी चैव वियगंगा ततः परं । पश्चात्पापविनाशं च पाण्डुतीर्थं ततः परम्॥ कुमारधारिकातीर्थं तुम्बोस्तीर्थं ततः परम् । कृष्णतीर्थमिति ख्यातं सर्वपापहरं शुभम् ।। However, the following are mentioned as the sacred waters on the hill: 9
7. Akāśa-ganga, two miles to the

north of temple (the road measured in 1870 was 2685 yards) but the report says: “One tirtham by name Akasa-ganga is about a mile from upper Tirupathi. From this water in which the god is bathed is daily brought to the temple”

Jabali-tirtha, about two miles to the northwest of the temple (road: 1966 yards);

Papa-vināśanam, low water-fall about three miles to the north of the temple (1561 yards); source of water supply for the township on the hill;

4. Tumburu-kona, about

two miles to the north of the temple in the midst of a thick forest (4390 yards); *

5. Kumara-dhara, about three miles to the northwest of the Pāpavināśa-tirtha (1200 yards);

6. Vaikuntha-tirtha, to the northeast of the temple; water coming out of a cave called Vaikuntha-guhā (2304 yards);

7.

8.

Gogarbha-tirtha, about a mile to the northeast of the temple; also called Pandava-tirtha (430 yards);

Sesha-tirtha (4390 yards);

9. Ramakrishna-tirtha, about six miles to the north of the temple (2740 yards);

10. Sanaka-sanandana-tirtha, on the

same road as to the above, and about four miles to the north of

Papavinasam; said to be not visible to the common people;

11. Chakra-tirtha almost two miles to the northwest of the temple where images of Sudarsana and Lakshminarasimha are installed (835 yards); 12. Pasupu-tirtha (1961 yards)

Besides these twelve, Svami-pushkarini in the immediate neighbourhood of the temple (about which details will be given later), Alvar-tirtha (close to the temple), and Kapila-tirtha (at the foot of the hill, with a shrine to Kapilesvara) are also included in the tirtha-yatra prescribed in the puranas. Within the temple-complex itself are two more tirthas. Kataha-tirtha (also

Akasa-Ganga

10

The Hill-Shrine

Akasa-Ganga

called Totti-tirtha) said to emerge from the feet of the deity in the sanctum (‘idam tirtham maha-punyam bhagavat-pada-nissṛtam’

Skanda-

purāṇa, 2, 37, 19) within the first enclosure of the Vimana-pradaksiņa on the northern side of the temple) and Viraja-tirtha (water of a river called Viraja which is said to flow under the feet of the main deity in the sanctum, collected in a small stone tub in the second enclosure or Sampangi-pradakshina, at the entrance of the storeroom at the northen corner). Katahatirtha, which was a brick and mortar tub, into which was poured the water! from abhishekam of the deity in the sanctum on Fridays, no longer exists;

and after digging a borewell in the street behind the temple, the quantity of water in Virajatirtha is very much reduced.

In Skanda-purana (4,123), mention is made of another-tirtha, Brahma-tirtha by name,

the hill Ghanachala, which is said to be the residence of Narasimha, about ten yojanas away in the southern direction of the temple. And about ten yojanas distant from this tirtha in the east, the celebrated river Svarna-mukhari (also called Suvarna-mukhi) flows (ibid 25, 26). According to the Puranic accounts the sacred hill Venkata, also known as Varaha-kshetra, is situated on the banks of this river, to the north.

The Hill-Shrine

11सुवर्णमुखरीतीरे ऋषिसंघनिषेविते । वर्तते दैवतैः सेव्यः पावनो वेंकटाचलः ।

(Skanda, 10,23)

सुवर्णमुखरी नाम नदीनां प्रवरो नदी । तस्या एवोत्तरे भागो वृषभाचलनामतः।

तस्याग्रे सरसी नाम्नी स्वामिपुष्करिणी शुभा ।।

(ibid, 4,1,25,-26)

अधोदीच्या महानद्यो योजनार्थे विराजते।

योजनोत्सेधसहितो विख्यातो वेंकटाचल:

(ibid, 3, 7, 11)

वराहक्षेत्रमित्यार्यै: कीर्तितोयं महीधरः सुवर्णमुखरी तीरे विख्याते वेंकटाचले ।।

(ibid, 3,7,11)

Chakra-Tirtha

12

Papavinasana-Tirtha

The Hill-Shrine

3

अञ्जानन्तवृषभनीलकेमरिपोत्रिणः । एतान्युपवनान्यद्रे: स्युर्नारायणवेंकटौ। वराहवपुषा पूर्वं स्वीकृतत्वान्मधुद्विषः।।

(ibid,3,7,14)

सुवर्णमुखरीतीरे चोत्तरे कोणमात्रके । वेंकटाद्रिरिति ख्यातः सर्वलोकनमस्कृतः।।

(ibid,3,7,12,13)

Suvarna-mukhari comes to a lot of praise in the puranas. Its source is given as Agastyachala and destination the Southern Sea.

सुवर्णमिव लोकानां भागधेयादियं नदी । नीता भुवमगस्त्येन मुखरीकृतादिङमुखा ।।

(Skanda. 3,4,5)

अगस्त्याचलसंभूतां दक्षिणोदधिगामिनीम् । ममस्तपापहन्त्रीं त्वां सुवर्णमुखरीं श्रये ।।

(ibid, 3, 5, 42)

But “the river rises just beyond the south east border of the Chandragiri-taluk, near Pakala passing along the broad valley in which the towns of Chandragiri and Tirupati are situated, it reaches the town of Kalahasti, and passes thence in a north easterly direction into Nellore,, disem boguing a little north of the Pulicat lake” (North Arcot Manual by Arthur Cox, revised by Harold Stuart, Vol 1. Madras, 1895 p.7)

(4)

Although the sacred hill is at present known as Tirumala (in Tamil Tirumalai), meaning “the great hill”,

The Hill-Shrine

the traditional name which has been in vogue from a distant past is Vengadam (Sanskritized as Venkata, and in Telugu and Kannada Vengala). All the ancient Tamil classics (like Tolkappiyam and Silappadikaram), the songs of the Alvars, and the early and medieval inscriptions give only this name to the hill-shrine. The earliest inscriptional reference to the hill as Tirumala is dated 1013 A.D.; an inscription of that period speaks of “annai katti tirumalaikku” (Inscriptions of TTD, I, 19, during the reign of Rajendra Chola I). Even here, the name may be more descriptive than definitive. The Puranas also frequently make use of the Sanskritized form of Vengadam, as for instance, in Skanda-purana (3, 37. 11)

Chakra-Tirtha

13

शिरसा तं प्रणम्याथ ययौ वेङ्कटपर्वतम्।

or in Brahma-purana (7,25) प्रीत्या जगाम शैलेन्द्र वेङ्कटाख्यं स्वसिद्धये।

What the word Vengadam means precisely is not clear. It is,

however,

certain that it was once used to designate the boundary of a territory. We frequently meet with expressions like the northern Vengadam’ (‘vadavengadam’) in early Tamil works. In Tolkappiyam, for instance, we have:

“vada-vengadat ten kumari yayiḍat

tamil kurum nal-ulaḥam”

The words specify the tract between Vengadam in the north and Kumari

Vikrama-

(viz., Kanya-kumari) in the extreme south. We find references to an early political division of this part of the country known as Tonda-mandalam, comprising of the presentday district of Chittoor North Arcot, and Chinglepet during the days

days of the Pallava monarch. Ko Vijaya-Danti varma (about 830 A.D.) Tonda-mandalam (Tundira-vishaya in Sanskrit) which after the days of Raja-raja I was called Jayangonda-chola-mandalam,

had twenty-four districts each of which was called a kottam. And a kottam had its own subdivisions called nadus. A kottam signified an important temple-town after which the entire district was named. Many of these temple-

1101

Jabali-Tirtha

14

The Hill-Shrine

Gogarbha-Tirtha

towns were associated with forests and with hills (like Ven-kunra-kottam, Gokkattu-kottam, Urru-kattu-kottam, Kunravattana-kottam, Manavir-kottam); and Vengada-kottam (or Tiruvengada-kottam) was associated with the Vengadam hill. This district, which was an administrative unit, consisted of four subdivisions (naḍus); Kuḍavur-nadu (the villages around the presentday town of Tirupati), Vaikunda-vala -naḍu (the area around Chandragiri), Tuyyanadu (presentday Chittoor and its suburbs) and Arrur-nadu (roundabout the present Kalahasti). Tiru-vengadakottam was the region in which the Vēngadam group of hills were situated marking off the boundary of the province known as Tondamandalam.

That this hill was always considered sacred becomes evident not only from the references in ancient Tamil classics but also from the accounts in the puranas. Hence the later puranic conjectures about the probable meaning of the word seek to establish this sanctity. The word ‘Venkata’ (the Sanskrit form of Vengada) is made to suggest diminution, burning or destruction (kata) of all

(kata) of all sins (ven). Bhavishyottara, says:

सर्वपापानि वें प्राहु: कटस्तद्दाह उच्यते।

तस्माद्वेङ्कटशैलोयं लोके विख्यात कीर्तिमान्।।

likewise, Brahmaṇḍa-purana (6, 44) सर्वपापदहो यस्मात्तस्माट्वेंकटाचल इत्यभूत् ।।

In Sanskrit, the expression ‘kata’ signifies showering or enveloping (‘kate

The Hill-Shrine

15

varshavaraṇayoh’). Trikanda-sesha, however, takes the word to mean a crematorium, buring ground (‘pañchavasthah katah sthānah,

smaśanam tu satanakam). And the expression ‘vyamhah’ is Vedic (cf. Ṛgveda 10, 155,1) and means different kinds of evils and sins (‘vividhani papani’) (cf. Taittiriya-samhita: vyaṁhah prataryagne prataran na ayuh’), The word Venkata is resolved as a corrupt form of the Prakṛt ‘Vyamkata’ (which form is still prevalent in Marathi), meaning ‘vyamhah katayati’. Vedanta-desika suggests that the word ‘vinai’ in Tamil also means sins, and that ‘kaḍam’ (katam) means laying waste or destroying. Venkata, according to him, is derived from the Tamil ‘Vinai-kaḍam’ or Vengadam.

‘Kadam’ in Tamil means not only arid waste (cf. ‘aranguram’, comm. on Silappadikaram), but a mountain-slope (‘malaich charal,’ Pingalanthai) or shrubby jungle (‘purvani konda budarukada-ttidai’, Nartinai, 48). There is a Vedic word which means just this, and which is very close to Venkata, ‘vikata’. A hymn in Rig-veda (mandala 10, annuvaka 12 sukta 155, ascribed to Sirimbitha-bharadvaja), employs this word almost in the same context, and it is small wonder that Bhavishyottara-purana (4,21) quoted this hymn as a scriptural authority (sruti):

अरायि काणे विकटे गिरिं गच्छ सदान्वे

The deity (devata) of this hymn is the destroyer of ill-luck (Alakshmighna). The hymn entreats the evil (‘arayi’, adayini, miserliness, ‘kane’, kutsita sabda-kariņi), which is of deformed gait or nature like the torturous pathway of a densely forested hill (padapatha of ‘vi-kate’ is vi+akate; meaning ‘vikṛtagamane, vikṛatangi va, Sayana), to disappear in the loneliness of the mountain (‘girim’, nirjana-pradeśam).

There is also another explanation offered. The commentary on Tiruvaimoli (3, 36 iḍu) takes the word to be comprised of ‘ver’ (burning) and ‘kadam’ (debts viz., the misery of indebtedness). The latter term signifies, according to this work, the three debts with which an individual is born (debt to the gods, ‘deva-ma’, debt to the ancestors, ‘pity-ma’, and debt to the sages, ‘rshi-rna’) and to discharge himself from which he strives all his life. Vengada is the hill which helps him accomplish this purpose.

Varaha-purana (4, 31) provides altogether a different meaning ‘vem’ is seed of immortality, while ‘kata’ is immeasurable wealth; vemkata thus accommodates the benefits of ultimate release from the bonds of transmigration (moksha or nihsreyasa) and of prosperity in this life here and now (abhyudaya); वेंकारो अमृतबीजस्तु कटमैश्वर्यमुच्यते। अमृतैश्वर्यसंघत्वाद्वैकटाद्रिरिति स्मृतः। 16 The Hill-Shrine But Skanda-purāņa (3,10) suggests that Venkata is only a corrupt form of Vaikuntha, which is Vishnu’s natural abode. There are references like वैकुण्ठनाम्नि शैलेस्मिन्नद्य प्रभृति सर्वदा । कृतावासो भविष्यामि मुने प्रार्थनया तव ।। सुवर्णमुखरीस्नानक्षालिताघौघकर्दमाः। अस्मिन् वैकुण्ठशैले मां ये पश्यन्ति समाहिताः । (ibid 50,70) The names Vaikuntha and Vengada (Venkata) no doubt bear a close resemblance, and for the Sanskrit Vaikuntha, Vengada may reasonably be the prakrit form (tadbhava). Bhavishyottara (2, 42-44) describes this hill like unto Vaikuntha, verily the form assumed by Vishnu’s couch Sesha. सुवर्णगिरिपुत्रस्तु सर्वतीर्थसमन्वितः। साक्षाच्छेषावतारो सो सर्वधातुविराजितः । वैकुण्ठसद्दशो दिव्यो नारायणसमाश्रयः। The celebrated Vaishnava saints, known as the Alvars (who lived between the third and the seventh centuries A.D.) have visited and described this sacred hill, which is known to them only as Vengadam. They confirm the general notion prevailing at that time that the mountain itself was held sacred and their songs indicate that the entire region, hill-ranges with peaks as well as the plains around them was one vast and thick jungle, at quite a few places impenetrable. The hill, Vengadam, according to them, abounded in huge black elephants, poisonous snakes, wild pigs, monkeys, lions and yalis which roamed about freely. The slopes were marked by tall bamboo bushes “growing upto the sky”, decay and sprout again growing to great heights. The forest on top of the hills ‘rubbed the sky’. There were numerous streams with “flowery creepers entwined on either bank”, which developed into torrential rapids due to heavy rain. There was dense fog on the hills most of the year, and the woods were cool and fragrant. There were flower-groves “with honey dripping from their branches, sucked by humming beetles and buzzing bees”; there were ponds filled with lovely lotuses. But there were also the Korava tribesmen, who drove away the elephants with bows and arrows. The early Alvars refer to their valour as well as their splendid appearance. Other tribes like Kurumbas, Irulas, Yanadis, Chenchus and Kadars are known to have resided in the Nallamalai ranges. They moved about fearlessly in the jungles and were excellent hunters. It is probable that they had their scattered settlements close to the hill-ranges. In fact, the early Yadava kings were kurumbas originally; they overpowered the more primitive hunting tribes (vedars, ventari) and founded their settlements in Narayanavanam on the banks of the The Hill-Shrine 17 Aruna river (three miles from presentday Puttur). the “They are the modern representatives of ancient Pallavas, who were once so powerful in southern India. In the seventh century the power of the Pallava kings seems to have been at its zenith, though very little trace of their greatness now remains. But soon after this, the Kongu, Chola and Chalukya chiefs succeeded in winning several victories over them, and the final overthrow of the Kurumba sovereignty was effected by the Chola king Adondai about the eighth century A.D. and the Kurumbas were scattered far and wide” (A.F. Cox., Manual of the North Arcot District, revised by H.A. Stuart, Madras, 1895 p.220) Even as late as 1804 A.D., “there were about a lakh of yanadis who collected honey and bees’ wax and sandal wood, fruits, and roots by great exertion. These they dispose of by sale and also medicinal roots and other rare things by which they maintain themselves, residing in these woods” (cf. Meckenzie Collections, Manuscripts translations and Reports, vol XVI, ITEM 6, p. 449). The Yanadis are a dark-skinned tribe of middle height. “They are regarded as possessing magical powers, and are often applied to for fortune-telling, spells and such exercises of their power by members of the lower castes’””" (A.F.COX. op. cit, p. 250) The Tamil songs of the Alvars make it clear that none but the Korava tribesfolk lived in the woods on Vengadam, but they also describe the fascinating festivals that were OCcasionally held on the sacred hill to participate in which large groups of people assembled from the neighbourhood. The most picturesque of these festivals, according to the early Alvars, was the one held on Mukkoti-dvadasi (‘parasi-na!’), when men and women with incense and flower-garlands ascended the hill. It is not clear if there was at that time a temple to the god of the hills (whom the Alvars uniformly call Vengaḍattu-meyan or Vengadattan), but the hill itself was held in high esteem: “It annihilated the sins”. Even when the shrine became celebrated, the sanctity of the Vengadam hill did not disappear. Vedanta-desika, for instance, begins his Dayasataka (a hymn of hundred verses eulogizing the mercy of the god on the hill Vengadam) with an adoration of the hill, which is verily the form assumed by the grace of the great god, even as the flow of sugar-cane juice gets solidified as a rock of sugar: प्रपद्ये तं गिरिं प्रायः श्रीनिवासानुकम्पया । इक्षुसार स्रवन्त्येव यन्मूर्त्या शर्करायितम् ।। Even as late as 1803 A.D. Geo. Stratton, who was the Collector of Chittoor noted: “In such veneration is even the hill held the hill held that pilgrims 18 The Hill-Shrine resorting to the pagoda prostrate themselves to the ground first getting a sight of the range of hills connected with it” (Report to the Board of Revenue, dated 31st January 1803 ). was The hill that provided the scene for the self-manifestation of God. traditionally looked upon as the worthy offspring of the mythical mountain of gold, Sumeru, which is the hub on which the universe revolves. We read in Brahmānda purāna (1, 7): मेरो: पुत्रो महाशैलो जम्बूनदीतटे । योजनत्रयविस्तीर्ण: त्रिंशद्योजनमायतः। वेंकटेति कृतं नाम्ना and in Skanda, 2, 37, 76 मेरो: पुत्रो महापुण्यः सर्वदेवाभिवन्दितः। वैकुण्ठलोकादानीतो विष्णोः क्रीडाचलो महान्।। It was an aspect of Vaikuntha itself, the natural abode of God, who however preferred the Vengadam hill to Vaikuntha in his compassion for the mortals (’tyaktva vaikuntham uttamam svami-pushkarini tire ramaya saha modate’), In Bhavishyottara (10, 19), this hill has been described as Vaikuntha itself वासुदेवो वसत्यङ्ग वैकुण्ठगिरिमूर्धनि । and elsewhere (ibid, 9, 25 ) वैकुण्ठस्थो हरिः साक्षाद्वर्तते वेंकटाचले । According to Skanda-purāna (10, 63), this is the hill dispatched from The Hill-Shrine Vaikuntha for the god’s sport : गन्धर्वयक्ष शैलादि सेवितं मेरुपुत्रकम् । वैकुण्ठादा गातं दिव्यं कीडाचलमनुत्तमम् । मेरुपुत्रो महापुण्यः सर्वदेवाभिवन्दितः। वैकुण्ठलोकादानीतो विष्णो क्रीडाचलो महान् ।। The sanctity of the hill was so great that it was considered a sin to walk up the hill. The puranas prescribe that before one thinks of ascending the hill, he must seek forgiveness from it: “It is a golden mountain, and all the gods abide in it and adore it. How can a mortal set his foot on it ?” But one has to ascend the hill to behold the its ’top. great god that dwells on Therefore, one prays the hill to forgive him and permit him to see the god; and he must walk on it gently, with humility in his heart (Skanda-purana, 9, 10-13) वेंकटाद्रि गिरिं तं तु प्रार्थयेत्पुण्यवर्धनम्। स्वर्णाचल महापुण्य सर्वदेवनिषेवित ।। ब्रह्मादयोऽपि यं देवाः सेवन्ते श्रध्दया सह। तं भवन्तमहं पद्भ्यांमाक्रमेयं नगोत्तम। क्षमस्व तदघं मेद्य दयया पापचेतसः त्वन्मूर्धनि कृतावासं माधवं पर्शयस्व मे ।। प्रार्थयित्वा नरस्त्वेवं वेकटाद्रि नगोत्तमम | ततो मृदुपदं गच्छेत् पावनं वेंकटाचलम् ।। The puranas describe this hill as enduring through all the aeons: in the first aeon it was called Vṛshadri (or Vrshabhachala); in the second Anjanadri, in the third Seshadri and in 19 the fourth Venkatachala (viz., Vengadam). कृते वृषादि वक्ष्यन्ति त्रेतायामञ्जनाचलम् । द्वापरे शेष गैलेति कली वेङ्कटाचलम् । नामानि युगभेदेन शैलस्यास्य भवन्ति हि ।। (5) It is a matter of pure conjecture as to when it was that the temple appeared on the hill. As mentioned above, the ancient Tamil classics and the songs of the early Alvars do not refer to any temple having been there. Silappadikäram, however, speaks of the hill as Vishnu’s (‘senkan nediyon kunram’). The early Alvars also identify the god of the hill as Vishnu, whose image they saw on the hill. Their songs suggest that it was a free-standing image, exposed to sun, moon, wind and the rains. The later Alvars indicate presence of a low stone enclosure round the image, allowing the image to be seen from all sides. (e.g. Tirumalisai-alvar). The presence of a regular temple is not documented until 830-850 A.D., when a local ruler of the Bana dynasty, Vijayaditya, made arrangements for a perpetual light to temple to the hill-god (nanda-vilakku for Tiru-vengaḍattu-peruman-adiga! 1, 3). But then it must have been a small shrine, and people must have visited it only once or twice a year, during festivals. The hill was still a thick forest, filled with dangers of all sorts, and inaccessible to all but the brave and 20 sturdy, as evident from the songs of the Alvars. It is probable that considering the long-standing and ever-increasing celebrity of the god of the hills (who has always been known simply as the ‘god of the Vengadam hill’, ‘Vengadam-udaiyan’, without any sectarian labels), a proxy temple, housing a representative image of the god of the hills, was set up at the foot of the hills, for the benefit of the devotees and for assuring daily worship. In fact, an inscription of 830 A.D. found in the Padmavati temple at the present day Tiruchanuru refers to Ulaḥapperumanar, who was a Chola chief governing Chola-nadu under a Pallava ruler, making a gift of thirty kalanju of gold for burning a lamp in the temple that was set up at Tiruchanuru (called in the inscription Tirucchokinur, a village in Kuḍavur-nadu district of Tiruvenkata-kottai division). The god is called Tiru-vilan-koil peruman-adigal’ (the god of the minor shrine or provisional temple, ‘balalaya’ or ’tarunalaya’ in the Agama terminology, ‘ilan-koil in Tamil), who was deemed to be representative of the god of the Vengadam hills (’tiru-venkatattu emperuman-adigalukku elundaruvitta tiru-vilan koil-peruman adigalukku…’) The expression ‘balalaya’ (tiruvilan koil, young temple’) signifies a temporary or make-shift shrine when the main temple is being constructed or repaired It is not meant to be a regular or permanent temple. The deity The Hill-Shrine worshipped here would eventually be accommodated within the sanctum. This structure, according to Agama must be situated to the east or north east of the main shrine, and must be square in shape (e.g. Rauravägama, 27, 5). It may further have a pavilion (mantapa) in front of it, called ‘agramantapa’. The ’tiru-vilan-koil’ in this case was obviously in the hill-shrine, in front of the sanctum. It is probable that the hill-shrine had been in a state of disrepair, and the ‘kautuka-bera’ was housed in a temporary substitute shrine. While we get to know that such a temple existed in Tiruchanuru no traces of it have survived now; it must have fallen into disuse or must have been closed, when hill-shrine was repaired and became more easily accessible, with forests cut down and pathways made. In any case, the sanctity attached to the hill-shrine could never be transferred to any other shrine, however representative. But Tirucha nuru, which was a deva-dana village, bestowed upon the hill-shrine, continued to be the seat of administration (including the arrangement of worship in the hill-shrine) till at least 1013 A.D. An officer, who probably was a governor of a province (adhikari Korra-mangalam-udaiyan) encamped at Tirucha nuru to settle a case concerning the hill-shrine. The assembly of the the deva-dana village (tiru-mundiyam) had received twenty-three gold coins (pon) to light twenty-four lamps in the The Hill-Shrine hill-shrine, including one of camphor. But the servants of the temple were burning only two lamps; because of some difficulty in the transference of funds. The officer heard the case and ordered that the necessary money must immediately be transferred to the temple funds to enable all the twenty-four lamps to be lit. This inscription suggests that the hill-shrine was already there: the lighting of as many as twenty-four lamps would imply the presence of a sanctum and a covered circumambulatory pathway (pradakshina-patha), with a porch (mukha-mandapa) in in front of the sanctum. There is also reference to ghee and other articles of daily provision being transported to the hill-shrine from Tiruchanuru. Tirupati (Kottur) had not, at that point of time, become important enough to serve as the gateway to the hill-shrine. It rose into prominence only during the rule of the Yadava kings, and after Ramanuja arrived on the scene. We have another inscription dated 614 A.D. (TT No. 18, this is a correction of opinion that this inscription is dated 966 A.D.), assigned to the reign of the Pallava king Mahendra-varman (600630 A.D.) and found in the first prakara (north wall) of the hill-shrine, which records that Samavai(kadavan-perun-devi), daughter of a Pallava chieftain (pallavap-pergadeyar) and wife of the kadava chief Sakti-vitankan another Pallava chief, got a silver image installed in the 21Tiru-vilan-koil of the hill-shrine, for purposes of regular worship (karmarchana). This inscription will be noticed again when we discuss about the mobile icons in the shrine. But it should be mentioned here that the hill-shrine had a’ tiruvilan-koil’ of its own, quite distinct from the later (830 A.D.) one at Tiruchanuru. The location of the Tiru-vilan-koil in the present hill-shrine will be discussed later. Yet another inscription which suggests the growing popularity of the hillshrine is dated about 1000 A.D. and found in the western wall of Mukkotipradakshina of the hill-shrine (TT No. 117). Ulaga-ma-devi (Danti-saktivitanki), queen-consort of the Chola king, Raja-raja I (985-1005), provided a lamp for Tiru-venkatam-udaiyan, the god of the hill-shrine. Thus the temple was already becoming celebrated, although there is no inscriptional reference whatever to the founding of the temple. The puranas however, ascribe the origin of the temple to Rangadasa of the Pandya-country. Even before his days, it is said that a Haihaya king, Samkha by name, had excavated the image of the god from an ant-hill under a tamarind tree on this hill-top in the latter part of the first aeon (Brahma-purana, 6, 20-21) वल्मीकस्यान्तरे विष्णोः प्रतिमा वर्तते शुभा। शंखेन निर्मिता पुण्या सर्वपापहरा मला। जानुमात्रे निमग्ना हि तिन्त्रिणीवृक्षमूलत: । In course of time, a Vaikhanasa priest, Gopinatha by name, was ascending the hill everyday to worship this image (‘pritya jagama sailendram venkaṭakhyam sva-siddhaye’); and he was joined by a sudra devotee, Rangadasa, who undertook to provide flowers for daily worship. The two of them are said to have lifted the image from under the tamarind tree to its left side and provided a hut-pavilion (’traih kṛtva cha mandapam’) for it (ibid.30); तिन्त्रिणीवृक्षमूलस्थं हरिं परम् । उद्धृत्य पश्चिमे भागे स्थापयामासतुश्च तौ। According to Varaha-purana (9, 1650), Ranga-dasa, mentioned earlier, when he was travelling in the vicinity of Narayana-puri in Tonda-mandalam, heard about the hill-shrine and went through a thick jungle to reach it. He was joined by the Vaikhanasa-priest, Gopinatha, and the two of them beheld the image of the god “poised in air, “viz. open to the elements (‘akasastha’), beneath a tamarind tree on the southern bank of the pond, now known as Svami-pushkarini. Ranga-dasa resolved to raise a flowergarden in the vicinity. Both Gopinatha and Ranga-dasa lived on the hill, levelled the ground and cleared the jungle around the tamarind tree, and built a wall of stones alround the image. Ranga-dasa raised a garden of 22 22 The Hill-Shrine flower-plants, creepers and trees. He spent seventy years in the service of the hill-god, and after he died he was reborn as Tondaman, the ruler of Narayana-vanam. According to the Puranas, it was this Tondaman who was responsible for the shrine on the hill. Son of Suvira and Nandini, he married Padma, the daughter of a Pandya king, and ruled from Narayana-pura. He discovered the image of the God “standing under a tree, with the lower part of the body hidden in an ant-hill” when he ascended the hill in the company of a hunter (nishada), who was cultivating syamaka grains in his fields on the hillslope. The purana says that the local deity, Varaha (wild boar), entered into the hunter and through him gave out to the king the direction that enclosure for a temple must be constructed (ibid, 10, 1-53). Tondaman constructed the prakara with a gateway with a gopuram on it, and arranged for regular worship of the god. The oracle had told him that the actual temple would be built by a descendent of his. But other sources (viz. Brahmapurāṇa, 7, 55-57 and Bhavishyottara, 13, 31ff) say that Tondaman built the entire temple-complex with prakaras and two gopuras. प्राकार त्रयसंयुक्तं गोपुरद्वयसंयुतम्। गर्भागारसमायुक्तं अकरोद्दिव्यमालयम् ।। Two The description of the temple said to be built by Tondaman given in these two puranas (especially the latter) is derived from the temple that actually existed when this section of the puranas (Venkatachalamahatmya) came to be written (around the 15th or 16th century) of It would not be correct to dismiss the puranic account as altogether unreliable. Tondaman, for instance, is not a fictitious character. He was a historical personage. We know from other sources that this Tondaman chakravarti was Adonḍai (Audanda-cholan), the illegitimate son of Kulottungachola who ruled at Tanjavur (cf. A.F. Cox. North Arcot District Manual. Vol. I, p.39). He was the governor Kalahasti, and it was he who cleared away the jungles and built Tonda-mandalam in the vicinity of Kalahasti. He is also reputed to have attacked the Pallava forces. However, his date is uncertain. He appears to have been a contemporary of lan-tirayyan, the grandson of Karikala-chola, who lived about 550 A.D. The kingdom that Tondaman founded came to be known as Tondama-nadu (or Tonda-mandala), and later as Jayan-konda-chola-mandala. This area is immediately below the Vengadam hill-ranges; and the first temple on the hill is associated with his name. Bhavishyottara-puraṇa (3, 15-16) also describes the first builder of the hill-temple as a Chola prince born to a girl of the Naga tribe. The Hill-Shrine 23 अतीते वत्सरे कश्चिच्चोलाजो नृपोत्तमः। अवतारं समापन्नो नागकन्योदरे तथा। तस्मिञ्छासति भूखण्डं बहुपुण्यफलप्रदम् ।। It should also be noted that the Tamil works call the Pallavas ’tondaiyars’ or ‘kadavars’; they are also described as ‘katu-vettigal (those who cleared the forests for making human settlements). It is surmised that they came to the south from some northern province and began living in the forests. “The Pallavas were almost the first people to acquire dominion in the south. All the tract of country that lay between the Cholas and the Kalingas was formed into a dominion and over this the Pallavas ruled” (K.V. Subrahmanya lyer, Historical Sketches of Ancient Dekhan, Madras, 1917, p.20). There must have been close interaction between the early Pallavas and the early Cholas. Tondaman’s identification as an illegitimate son of a Chola king may not be purely fictitious. He may have been a Pallava, and Pallavas are associated with Tonda-mandalam until the Cholas conquered it in the latter part of the eighth century and renamed Tonda-mandalam as Jayan-gonda-chola mandalam. This may also be the reason why Samavai, who was the daughter of a Pallava chieftain (‘pallavap-pergaḍe’) and wife of a ‘kadavar’ chief (‘kadavar’ was another name for Pallava), was devoted to the hill-shrine of Tondamandalam. And the Bana kings, who were devoted to this hill-shrine as 24 indicated by their inscriptions, were feudatories of the Pallavas governing their frontier territory (ibid, p.24) According to the information contained in Meckenzie Collection of Manuscripts, Translations and Reports (Vol. XVI, pages 299-314), after Tondaman, seventeen Yadava kings of Narayana-vanam ruled over the region of Torda-mandalam. The Yadavas belonged to the Kurumba tribe, which was patronized and made strong by Tondaman himself. Narayana-vanam was a stronghold of these tribals, and the forest adjoining it was reputed to be frequented by Vishnu. The Kurumbas initially did not have a chieftain of their own, but later selected Komanduru-kurumba-prabhu (probably a Pallava chief) as their lord and king. This king divided the country into twentyfour ‘kottas’ (divisions), and built a fort at Narayana-vanam. A Marathi manuscript (cited by V.N. Srinivas Rao in his Tirupati Sri Venkatesvara-Balaji, Umadevan & Son, Madras 1949, p.87) documents that the rulers of the Yadava dynasty ruled between 809 and 1262 A.D. Among the Yadava kings who ruled over Tonda-mandalam, the names of Sriranga-yadavaraya (about 800 A.D.), Vira-narayana, Vobala, Tiru-vengala, Porumkeyana-Ganda-gopāla (about 900 A.D.), Narasimha, and Viranarasinga (968 - 1000 A.D.) have been preserved. The last named king is said to have built or renovated the hilltemple; he ruled the country from Narayana-vanam and is reputed to The Hill-Shrine have loved to dwell in front of Seshachalam (viz. Vengada hills). The kings had their capitals in Narayana-vanam, Chandragiri and Tirupati, and they were staunch devotees of the god of Kalahasti as well as the Vengadam hill-god. One of the Yadava monarchs, probably Toya-yadava-raya (or Ghatti-deva) is said to have been a contemporary of Ramanuja (1017-1137) and to have been converted by him around 10201029 A.D. He is said to have put the affairs of the hill-shrine in order and arranged for regular worship, with the help of, and under the guidance of Ramanuja, as claimed by Tirumalaiolugu (which is a history of the hill-shrine from Ramanuja’s days till Tiruvenkata-ramanuja-jiyar’s period, 1544, ed. by R Balasundara Nayakar, V.O.I., Tirupati). ‘Chalukya- The later Yadava rulers, NarasingaTirukkalatti-deva (about 1185 A.D.) and Tiruk-kalatti-deva Yadava-raya (1191-1246) described themselves as ‘maharajadhiraja’, narayana’, ‘Godavari-vallabha’ and ‘ventaripalaka’ (‘The protector of the hunter-tribes’). The latter ruler is said to have bestowed upon the hill-shrine the Kudavur village around 1209 A.D. Vira-narasinga Yadava-raya (12091262) was a contemporary of Parantaka I (Sundara-chola), who renovated the sanctum of the hill-shrine. This Yadava king ruled for over fifty years, and his services to the hill-shrine were considerable. Among them was his weighing himself with gold (tularohana) The Hill-Shrine and presenting that gold to gild the vimana. He permitted the pilgrim (desantri), Tiruppullani-dasar, to reconstruct the central vimana of the shrine. His queen-consort (yadava-rayanacchiyar), however, was devoted to Govindaraja-svami of Tirupati, which shrine had been consecrated by Ramanuja in 1130 A.D. A later descendent of his, Hobala-yadava, who was the governor of Tañjai (viz., Tanjavur), got a gem-set and gilt copper covering made for the right hand (varada-hasta) of the god of the hills. The hill-temple grew enormously in wealth and celebrity during the reign of the Yadava kings of Tonda-mandalam. The last of the Yadava kings, Ganda-gopala, is said to have ruled between 1250-1285. After the collapse of the Yadava line, the Saluva family of the Vijayanagar empire turned their attention to the hill-shrine. The period between 1359 and 1684 was a golden age for the temple, which became richer than ever, and celebrated in the land. Especially so when Krishnadevaraya was emperor (1509-1530). He visited the shrine seven times and has left 54 inscriptions recording his gifts and the gifts of his two queens. There are altogether 807 inscriptions on the walls of the temple: in Telugu (47), Kannada (24), Tamil (720), Sanskrit (15) and Hindi (1), which record the gifts of land, villages, ornaments, funds for food-offerings and their distribution among pilgrims, rent on land leased out (puliyuttu) and 25 various other sources of income to the temple, made by Pallavas, Cholas, Yadava-rayas, Telugu-Cholas, Telugupallavas and the Vijayanagar kings (cf. published in 6 volumes by T.T.D., between 1931 and 1938). After the collapse of the Vijayanagar empire in 1565 (the battle of Talikota), the affairs of the southern region known as ‘Karnatik’ were in a state of flux and confusion, uncertainty and strife, and several were the contenders who were eager to appropriate the income of the hill-shrine while taking care to preserve the celebrity of the shrine (which had become proverbial goose laying golden eggs). Even during these troubled times, the temple continued to attract large crowds of devotees from all over the country. the Now there are over 30,000 pilgrims on the average that visit the hill-shrine every day of the year. Even in the lean months (usually January and February), there will be an influx of about 20,000 pilgrims daily. During the celebrated Brahmotsavam, there will be more than one lakh each day !In 1961, the pilgrim population was 10.4 lakhs, in 1970 it was 16.4 lakhs, and in 1972 it rose to 18.2 lakhs. In 1981, it became 22-34 lakhs and in 1991 it stood at 29.41 lakhs. The figures provide a fair idea of how increasingly popular the shrine is becoming even in recent years. There was only a small village on top of the hill lying in the hollow surrounded by hills on all sides except east or south-east in close vicinity of the temple as late as 1951; the total population of residents in this village then was only 43. But in 1961, it had already become a town with a population of 5,561. Ten years later, the population rose to 12,879. And in 1981 it was in the neighbourhood of 25,000. The projected population figure for 1991 was 37,3491 (cf. Background paper for Development of Tirumala, Director of Town planning Govt, of A.P., p.10). The area of the township is 1.50 square miles, while the forest surrounding it spreads to 10.33 square miles. Entrance of the pilgrims into the shrine is controlled by a queue complex, which is 9210 feet in length, accommodating about 10,000 pilgrims. Hours of waiting for every one of them has become unavoidable. And one can hardly have a fleeting glance of the deity in the sanctum. Even according to the Workstudy Project Report (Defence Institute of Workstudy, Mussoorie, TTD, Tirupati) of 1976, “The estimated time that a pilgrim gets to stand and pray before the lord is about 4 seconds” (p.21). This was a generous estimate, and only theoretically valid at that. Now after seventeen years, the crowd has enormously increased and the time a pilgrim can get to have a look at the deity has proportionately been reduced, despite the increased hours of queue visits to the shrine (the so called sarva-darsana). 26 The Hill-Shrine (1) CHAPTER TWO HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE It was mentioned earlier that the hill-god had, since ancient times, the reputation of standing where the hills bent (malai-kuniya-ninran). It is not only that the Vengadam hill is surrounded by higher peaks, but the actual shrine too is located in a depression even on this hill. The level of the area, bounded by the four main streets (called maḍa-streets) around the shrine, is much lower than that of the neighbouring land. The depression is as much as fifteen feet. The shrine faces east; and the street that runs right in front of the temple (called East Mada-Street) is again at a level lower than the street at the back of the temple (West Mada-Street). ground slopes from west to east. The North and South Mãḍa-Streets are each of them 800 feet in length, while the West Mada-Street is 900 feet and the East Mada-Street 750. This constitutes what is known as the ‘great circumambulation’ round the shrine (maha-pradakshina), and includes the sacred tank called Svami-pushkarini (or Tiruk-koneri). As one proceeds towards The the shrine from the Sannidhi street (to be described later), there is a flight of steps (now removed) for getting down to reach the East Mada -Street and begin this ‘great circumambulation’. The total area of the shrine as at present is sixteen acres in extent, but the temple itself covers only 2.20 acres out of this large area. The tank (Svami-pushkarini) which is outside the actual temple abutting the North MadaStreet covers 1.50 acres of the area, and another old tank (Pata-pushkarini) which has dried up and is being now used for flower-gardens, cottages, tenements and queue-sheds, also abutting the North Mada Street, covers 2.50 acres. The available area on the hill is in extent 1.2 square miles. Of this area, 0.8% (viz., 6.00 acres) is mountainous, 12.7% (viz., 94.8 acres) is covered by water-stretches, and 44.5% (viz., 345.9 acres) is forest. It is only in the remaining area that we find the temple, the streets around it and the human habitation. The temple is rectangular in shape, and the sides measure 413 feet long and 263 feet wide, It is by no means The Hill Shrine 27 a big temple when compared with the several celebrated temples of South India, especially in Tamil-naḍu (like the ones at Chidambaram, Madurai, Tiruvannamalai and Ramesvaram). The streets around the temple are called East Mada-Street (where the main and the only entrance to the temple is situate), South Mada-Street, west side prakaram lane behind the temple, and very narrow) and the Tirtha-katta street (on the northern side, adjoining the sacred tank (tirtha-katte) known as Svami-pushkariņi. It is a time-honoured custom for the pilgrim (now, alas, observed by very few indeed) to enter the shrine only after walking along the four Mada streets, always keeping the shrine to his right. This is, as mentioned earlier, known as ‘maha-pradakshina (the great circumambulation), and includes, besides the shrine, the sacred tank (Svami-pushkariņi), Varaha-svami temple and the original village of Tirumala. The temple as it stands now, and curiously enough as described in the Varaha-purāṇa (7,55-57) as built by Tondaman, has One pradakshina marga and two enclosing walls (prakaras) and two entrances surmounted by towers (gopuras), and a sanctum (garbha-griha). प्राकारत्रयसंयुक्तं गोपुरढयसंयुतम्। गर्भागारसमायुक्तंमकरोद्दिव्यमालयम् ।। Bhavishyottara-purana (13, 31f) descri bes the temple that Tondaman built more elaborately, and probably the description is based on the structures that the author actually saw (in the fourteenth or fifteenth century). All the apartments that the purana mentions can really be found within the precincts of the temple (except perhaps the ‘seven doors’). अत्रैव कार्य राजेन्द्र चैत्यं पूर्वमुखं शुभम् । गोपुरद्वयसंयुक्तं प्राकारत्रयमव्ययम् ॥ सप्तद्वारवरापेतं देहलीतोरणान्वितम्|| आस्थानमण्डपं दिव्यमद्भुतं यागमण्डपम् । गोशालां धान्यभवनं ततो मालाकरं गृहम् ।। वस्त्रगेहं तैनशालां घृतार्थं भवनं पृथक् । भक्ष्यशाल। विशाला च भूषणानां गृहं तथा।। कर्पूरगन्धभार्जालतैलकस्तूरिकागृहम् । || कल्पयाशु च राजेन्द्र गजाश्वभवनं पृथक् ।। The Puranic account, which puts this description in the mouth of the god himself (instruction to king Tondaman) is obviously misleading, for these apartments were actually built at different periods of time. They might have been there when the author of the ‘Venkatachala-mahatmya’ section of the purana composed the verses; but such was certainly not the temple that Tondaman built. That the temple complex which we find find now (and in essence as the purana describes) has evolved during several centuries is known by textual and inscriptional references. 28 The Hill Shrine While it is not difficult to reconstruct the stages in the shrine’s development or to ascertain their periods, it is not easy to determine the social and religious forces at work during the long history of the temple. There are several aspects of the temple’s architecture which are unusual and enigmatic, as for instance, the closure of the first circumambutatory path (mukkoti-pradakshina). We are often unsure if the inscriptional references to some of the additional structures in the temple pertain to altogether new structures or to renovations of old structures. We hear of major and extensive renovations in the thirteenth century, but how the temple looked before this period can hardly be ascertained. The central shrine (consisting of the sanctum, the antarala, and the mukha-mandapa) must have been the nucleus of the temple in strict conformity with the agama conception of temples. The Mukha-Mantapa (known now as Mahamani-mantapa) constructed in 1417 A.D. by Madhavadasar of Chandragiri must have made provision for a circumambutatory path (now called Mukkoti-pradakshina or Vaikuntha-pradakshina), which has now been closed The rest of the temple evolved in course of time as necessitated by needs..,it different periods of time; the structures that were added after 1417 AD were not directly related to the central shrine, nor were they interconnected organically. The Hill Shrine (2) It is impossible for a pilgrim at present to obtain an idea of the temple as a whole; he is confined to the queue lines, and has little opportunity to observe either the art or architectural peculiarities of this temple. The administration too has altered many of the structures to suit contemporary needs and ideas. Therefore, an account of the ‘denominations, measurements and utility of the various apartments and structures” in the temple officially prepared in 1818 (for the East India Company which took possession of this temple) would be the best guide to get a detailed picture of the temple. This is known as the Paimayishi Account and was prepared by the Karnams (administrative officers on the spot) or the temple. The account is here reproduced from Sadhu Subrahmanya Sastry’s Tirupati Sri Venkatesvara (T.T.D., Tirupati, 1981, pp. 324-326). “In Venkatesvara’s temple in Tirumala, it (Paimayishi Account) notices the garbha-grham (sactum sactorum) with the Vimanam (dome) over it, the Antaralam (walls or roof) and the Mukha-mantapam (front portico) as item No.1, then the mancapu-sevagrham (the apartment in which the cot is suspended from the ceiling for the bed of the Deity), next the Sri Ramacandrasvami-sannidhi (the high pial where Sri Rama was stationed). adjoining it on the east Mukha-an- 29 or tarala-mantapam (front terraced walled portico) and lastly the Rangamantapam (a pavilion for public show of functions and services to the Deity, the unwalled Mahamani-mantapam) with an inner circuit (to pradaksinam) commencing at south-east and passing around the sanctum from the dolumantapam (for the play of the drummer and pipers) and ending on the north-side with the shrine of SenaMudaliyar and the adjoining exit mantapam. All these together form the central shrine. To the south east of this group, stands the Svayam-pakasala or Melpotu (kitchen); from this westwards upto the Kalyana-mantapam (pavilion for the performance of the marriage of the Deity) is a passage with a line of 10 stone pillars in front and three rooms behind, one for the lamplighter, next the Yagasala (Sacrificial room for oblations to the Fire-God); and the third in charge of Mehtaji Sahukar. The Kalyana-mantapam is said to comprise a thin sculptured double-pillared Simhasana (seating)mantapam, a small shrine for lodging Malayappasvami (Processional Image) during the Brahmotsavam, and a small Garbha-grham behind it. All these stand on a high platform to the south of the Vimana-Pradaksinam (corridor around the central shrine with the Vimana (dome) over the sanctum). The platform on the western side of this corridor is said to contain rooms (1) for Raghoji Bhonsle’s pallaki (palan- 30 quin) and Vahanalu (vehicles), (2) for the vahanalu of the Nadigaddam family men, (3) Surapuram state’s Vahanams and other things, (4) Venkatagiri Raja’s prasadam distribution, (5) in Padagala family’s charge, and (6) room for extraction of civet oil. On the platform to the north of the Vimana-Pradaksinam were rooms occupied serially by the cooks, the Mysore state for provisions, the Matla chief’s people, the Kaikala servant, Vagapadi (offered panyarams), Tallapakam musicians inscribed copperplates, Sabha-ara for keeping the Deities’ cloths’, Bhasyakara’s shrine, mancapu-ara (room for keeping the Deity’s cot), the Kanuka-ara (room for keeping donations from the pilgrims), and the Bokkasam people’s panyaram the sandal-grinding room, temple-prasadam-keeping room, and to its south at the east end the shrine of Yoga-Narasimhasvami. room, At the south-east corner between the inner door-way under the samller tower and the kitchen stands Varadarajasvami’s shrine. In the second circuit, the Sampangi-Pradaksinam around inner the prakara commencing from the guardsgate at the entrance under the bigger front tower, it first refers to the statues of Achutarayalu and Krsnarayalu beside the east prakara wall, then on the south-side it locates the room for torches and the room for keeping Mysore state’s vehicles, next Ran- The Hill Shrine ganayaka’s kitchen and His shrine with a Vimanam of plaster over it and a Simhasana-mantapam of four slender posts in front of it, adjoining it on the west the Pindisala (rice flouring room), then an unenclosed mantapam; on the west side the store room with a small shallow well of oozing water called Viraja-nadi at its entrance; on the north side the panyaram preparing kitchen, the Yamunottara where flower-garlands are tied and last the Suvarna (golden) mantapam with four storeys. To the west of this is noted the Rajita (silver)-mantapam. In the midst of the Suvarna-mantapam adjoining the entrance gate is the mantapam in the north portion of which the three forged statues of Krsnaraya and his two queens are noted to have been installed and in the southern portion the statues of Acyutaraya and his queen. The darvaja (central gate) is noted to be 33 feet from east to west, 21 feet from north to south and 15 feet high, with the gopuram of three tiers of plaster surmounted by Kalasams, (small ornamental vases) of 33 feet in length from east to west, 21 feet in breadth from north to south and 51 feet in height. It mentions the Tirumalaraya-mantapam as containing 54 pillars and built in three stages, comprising the upper most Simhasana-mantapam (for seating the Processional Images) of black stone of 6x6 square feet with a Vimanam of plaster supported by four small pillars; the lower second mantapam with 30 pillars and measuring 33 feet from east ot west in width and 39 feet in length from north to south; and the third lowest one with 16 pillars and in extent 24 feet high, 33 feet long from north to south, and 30 feet broad from east to west; and its pillars are beautifully sculptured. It then refers to the Dhvajastambham-mantapam in front of the Tirumalaraya-mantapam with the gilded flag-staff and the Bali-pitham. To the north of it is mentioned a brick mantapam of four pillars with cast images of Tondramallu and others installed in it (Todaramalla). Between this Tondramallu’s (the family) mantapam and the pula-bavi (the well into which the flowers and garlands on removal after decoration are deposited so as not to be worn by any body) it specifies, on the east side, adjoining the Suvarna-mantapam, the Rajita-mantapam, and behind the Todaramallu-mantapam, the four pillared mantapam of 9x9 square feet containing the image of “Venkata patiraju. 11 More interesting is an account of important spots spots in the Vengadam temple-complex, given in the timehonoured Temple-Dittam relating to the lamps that are to be lit during Kartikotsavam. Traditionally the lights signify the areas which are most relevant in a complex. The Dittam enumerates as many as forty-two spots, six of them The Hill Shrine 31being outside the temple-complex but within the kshetra:

1. Svami-pushkarini (the sacred tank by the side of the temple); 2. Varaha-svami shrine (on its bank); 3. Pushkariņi - Anjaneya shrine (in front of the Varaha-svami-shrine); 4. Bedi-Anjaneya shrine (at the begin- ning of the Sannidhi Street);
2. Kshetra-palaka (near Gogarbha-tir- tha); and
3. Dova-Brhashyakara shrine (Rāmā nuja-shrine at the summit of the last flight of steps, which mark the entrance into the kshetra) The spots in the Sampangi-pradakshina are:
4. Maha-dvāra (Padi-kavali; towered gateway)
5. Ranga-nayakula-mantapa first
6. Kshetra-palaka (near Balipitha)
7. Yamunat-turai( room where flower- garlands are prepared)
8. Poola-bavi (the step-well where used flower-garlands are immersed)
9. Pindi-potu (kitchen)
10. Padi-potu (kitchen)
11. Ugraṇa (store-room)
12. Téru-bommala ara (room where the materials of temple are kept)
13. Tirumala-rayan-mantapa
14. Bali-pitha (altar)
15. Dhvaja-stambha (flag-pole)
16. Nadimi-Padikavali (second towered gateway) The spots in the Vimana-pradakshina are;
17. Parimala-ara (room where fragrant articles like civet-oil etc are kept)
18. Narasimha-svāmi shrine
19. Chandana-ara (room for grinding sandal-paste)
20. Mañcham-ara (room where the Sayanotsava cot is kept).
21. Bhashya-kara-sannidhi (Rāmānuja- shrine)
22. Senadhipati (image of Vishvaksena)
23. Totti-tirtha (tub where abhishekam water is received)
24. Tallapakam-ara (the Sankirtana- bhandara)
25. Vagapadi-ara (room for keeping paṇyaram-offerings).
26. Kaikala-ara (room for temple-ser- vants)
27. Vahana-ara (room where proces- sional vehicles are kept)
28. Padagala-ara (room where some delicacies are stored)
29. Bokkasa-ara (treasury; peoples’ panyaram room) 33. Kalyana-mandapa also
30. Bangara-bavi (well in front of the kitchen)
31. Potu-amma (Kitchen, Bakula-devi near the door)
32. Varada-raja-sannidhi
33. Vimanam (dome over the sanctum)
34. Garuḍalvar (in Tirumamani-man- tapa) 32 The Hill Shrine Dvara-palakas (in Tirumamani-mantapa) The spots within the main shrine: 40. Bangaru-vakili (entrance door for the shrine)
35. Śri-ramula-vari-meda
36. Kulasekharap-padi (door-step of the sanctum) (3) are of The temple owns numerous flowergardens (nanda-vanams) which which spread around the township Tirumalai. From very ancient times, decorating the deity of the hill-shrine with flowers and sandal paste has been a well-known feature. We read about it in ancient Tamil calssics and in the songs of the Alvars. In fact, tradition ascribes the first flower-garden as an accessory to the temple to the time when the deity was discovered and consecrated. The puranas tell us that Ranga-dasa in the distant past took upon himself the task of supplying everyday flower-garlands to the god of the hills, which was being worshipped by the Vaikhanasa priest Gopinatha. Ranga-dasa and Gopinatha were the builders of the first shrine, which must have been a simple one; the flower garden was close by. Ranga-dasa was reborn as the prince Tondaman, who was, according to the Puranas, responsible for a magnificent temple, and also for numerous flower-gardens. At present there are about three hundred temple-gardens from which flowers are supplied. About fifty-three gardens have inscriptional references. The earliest was Arisinalaiyan tirunanda-vanam started by Pillai Tiru venkatach-chirukkar in 1390 A.D., while the last inscriptional reference to a garden was in 1606 A.D. However, a garden mentioned in an inscription of 1250 A.D. (Moita-sōlai tiru-nanda vanam, set up by Mullai Tiru-venkatajiyar) was in Tirupati. In 1848, there thirty-seven nandavanams tached to the temple, but by 1905 many of them had disappeared into the adjoining jungles. A note dated 1906 (D. Dis. No. 170 dated 3-111906) granted the area of 10 1/3 square miles to the temple, conferring the right to use the flowers and fuel within this area. were at- It is likely that Samavai (Kadavanperundevi) who got made the silver replica of the hill-god and instituted some festivals in 614 A.D. also arranged for a flower-garden on the hill. There was a ‘perundevi-totam’ on the northern side of Varahasvami temple until recently. However, the first garden attached to the hill-shrine in the recognizable past was set up by the first citizen of the village on top of the hill, Tirumala-nambi (about 10001074). Also known as Sri-saila-purṇa, he was the grandson of the celebrated Sri-vaishnava teacher Yamuna-muni The Hill Shrine 33 (Alavandar) and the maternal uncle of the great Ramanuja. He heard one day his grandfather explain the eulogy of Nammalvar the hill-god by (Tiruvaymoli, ten verses of the third ten of the third centum); he was just twenty years of age then, but decided immediately that he should visit Vēngadam. When he did visit, he resolved to settle down permanently on the hill and grow a flower-garden as service for the deity. He lived there alone for a long time. He is supposed to have taught the hidden meaning of Ramayana to Ramanuja for a year. He would everyday come down to the foot of the hills for this purpose, as Ramanuja was living in Kottur (which was later absorbed into Tirupati). The spot where he taught was under a tamarind tree on the foot-path to the hill, and a shrine to Ramanuja was subsequently built there. Anandalvar (also called. Anantalvan, born in 1046 A.D.), who was a disciple of Ramanuja, joined Tirumala-nambi and took up the same service (nandavana-kainkarya). He dug up a new tank as watersource for the flower garden. This fresh-water tank is now known as Alvar-cheruvu, not far from the temple, to the north of the road which leads to Chandra-giri. The garden that Anandalvar set up was known as Purusha-vari-tōtam. His son and grandson continued this service to the god; there are several inscriptions (No. 171 to 175 in vol I) to this effect by his grandson Venkatat-turaivar. Anandalvar’s descendents are to this dayassociated with the hill-shrine ‘acharya-purushas’. as The Kararu-nama executed on the 21st of April 1843 by the then administrator of the hill-shrine (mahant), Seva-dasa of Hathiramjimatha, mentions several several ‘pagodas’ (viz.shrines) of minor importance (on the hill) which he took possession of, along with ornaments, clothes, vehicles, idols and all other property belonging to each of them.

The Varaha-svami temple, on the north-western bank of the sacred tank, Svāmi-pushkariņi; 2. The Anjaneya temple, in front of the above; 3. Bēḍi-Hanuman temple, in front of the main entrance to the hillshrine, at the other end of the Sannidhi street (viz.the street that leads the devotee straight to the main entrance, and touches the East Māḍa-Street); 4. Kshetra-pala shrine, which was originally inside the present precincts of the hill-shrine but now stands shifted to the Gogarbha tirtha; 5. Bhashyakara shrine, being the shrine to Ramanuja which is now found in the Vimana-pradakshina enclosure, within the temple-complex, and 34 The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine 6. Dova-Bhashyakāra shrine, being the shrine to Ramanuja near the summit of the foot-path that leads the pilgrim to the hill-top. This is an interesting document, for it provides an insight into the landmarks of the then village of Tirumala, besides the main shrine. During kartika-dipotsava, lamps are lit at forty-two spots in the hill-shrine, as already mentioned, and of them thirty-six are within the temple precincts; the remaining six are lit outside the temple and at the spots identified as Dova-bhashyakara, Gogarbha-kshetrapalaka, Bedi-Anja neya, Pushkarini - Anjaneya, Varahasvami and Svami-pushkarini. These are the very ‘pagodas’ mentioned in the Kararu-nāmā executed by Mahant Seva-dasa in 1843 (excepting Svamipushkarini, which is substituted by the Ramanuja shrine in the VimanaPradakshina). The customary kartikadipa in a temple suggests the limits of the town or village. The six spots for dipa prescribed in the Tirumala Devasthanam’s Nitya-dittam (T.T.D., reprinted 1963, pp. 33-35) indicates of the the customary landmarks Tirumala village. The Kshetra-pala is actually a huge stone believed to be the guardan-spirit of the place, which was formerly kept near the present Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa, outside the inner prakara. It was Kshetra-Pala-Gundu in Gogarbha-Tirtha THO 35 believed that, as the shrine was in the midst of a wild forest and as there was no human habitation near the shrine, the Kshetra-pala-gundu would roam about during daytime and come back at night. The priest, who visited the shrine everyday, would lock the doors of the shrine in the evening, and place the keys on the Kshetrapala-gundu before he got down the hill. He would find them safe there, when he arrived at the shrine the next morning. It became the custom to worship this stone periodically during nights, when the village of Tirumala took shape. The custom was observed all along the history of the temple, until recently, when the stone was shifted to a spot near the Gogarbhatirtha, about a mile to the north-east of the temple. The reason for this shifting has not been made explicit. But the temple administration still arranges for worship of this stone in Gogarbha-tirtha on Sivaratri night every year.

However, for an official document to mention this stone as a ‘pagoda’ and for the Mahant to be interested in taking possession of it, it must have been of considerable importance in the village. It is usual for Kshetrapala shrines to be located on the outskirts of a settlement; and being a guardianspirit it is usually fierce in nature, demanding animal sacrifices. In the case of Tirumala, the village first grew at the back of the temple and towards the northern side, as evidenced by the location of the West Maḍa-street and North Mada-street, as well as by the location of the Alvar-cheruvu (the water-source for the village). The two streets mentioned above enclosed the original village. The Kshetrapala stone, situated outside the enclosure known Sampangi-pradakshina probably denoted the limits of the village on the eastern side (including the shrine within the limits of the village). as A medieval work, Sri-Venkatesaseva-krama, by Gargya-Sathari (which will be discussed later) was composed when the temple had only the enclosure known now as Vimanapradakshina. Outside the stone walls of this enclosure was an uncovered and unenclosed circumambulatory path called Champaka-vithika (pathway named Champaka, or Sampangipradakshina), because of the Champaka-tree which stood there (verse 64). आगम्य चम्पकतरुं तन्नामाङ्कितवीथिका। The pilgrim who went round the shrine along this open pathway would see the sacred tank Svami-pushkariņi to his left (verse 66) स्वामिपुष्करिणीतीर्थं दृष्ट्राचम्य ततः परम् । before he again reached the bali-pitha in front of what now is the inner dvara-gopura and outside the inner prakara walls (verse 68): 36 The Hill Shrine बलिपीठं पुनर्गत्वा प्रत्यग्द्वारं च चाम्पकं । His circumambulation which had started from this bali-pitha (which is even now in the same spot) ends there, before he enters into the Vimana-pradakshina. It is clear from the account that what now is the inner gopura was, when the work was composed, the main entrance, (mahadvara). The precincts of the temple were bounded by the outer prakara walls of the Vimana-pradashiņa. outer Thus the Kshetra-pala stone was originally outside the temple. When, however, the the Sampangi-pradakshina too was enclosed, and an was constructed (probably gateway around 1217 A.D., for an inscription of the Yadava-prince Vira-narasingadevar is found on this gopuram), its location was included in the shrine area, and it was no longer on the outskirts of the village. And its independent identity was also lost: it could no longer be propitiated with the customary food -offerings by the village folk. It was in this context that it was probably shifted near Gogarbha-tirtham, to accommodate the possible expansion of the village on this side of the temple. Of the other ‘minor pagodas’, Varaha-svami-shrine and one of the two Anjaneya-shrines are associated with the sacred tank, Svami-pushkariņi. The sacred tank itself is outside the precincts of the temple, and its water The Hill Shrine is not used in the temple for any purpose. It is a long-standing custom that water from Akasa-ganga, about a mile away, is brought for the Friday abhishekam for the hill-god; and water from the well inside the temple, known as Bangaru-bavi, was used until recently for other requirements in the temple. It is also to be noted that none of the Alvars who visited the shrine has mentioned this sacred tank, or the Varaha-svami shrine on its bank; nor does any early inscription refer to either of them. The tank is of course eulogized in the Puranas. Among the seven most important water-sources on the hill, Brahma-purana(4,7) counts this tank as the first. Skanda-purana (3,49-50) says: सुवर्णमुखरीतीरे वेंकटे नाम पर्वते । सर्वपापहरे पुण्ये नानाधातुविनिर्मिते ।। स्वामिपुष्करिणी चेति तीर्थमस्ति महत्तरम्। पवित्राणां पवित्रं हि मंगलानां च मंगलम्। श्रुतिसिद्धं महापुण्यं ब्रह्महत्यादिशोधकम्।। According to the puranic accounts, the sacred tank was there much earlier than Varaha-svami’s shrine was built on its banks; and Venkatesa appeared on the scene much later. The mahants took advantage of the puranic prescription, and made the tank a source of more revenue. The sage Agastya of yore is said to have bathed in the tank, and paid reverence to Varahasvami before he visited Venkatesa’s 37 Svami-Pushkarini shrine; and the pilgrim therefore had to follow suit. ततः कालान्तरे गस्त्यो वेंकटाद्रिं मनोहरम्। गत्वा श्रीस्वामितीर्थं च स्नात्वा नियमपूर्वकम्।। वराहस्वामिनं देवं नत्वा तीर्थस्य दक्षिणे। वेंकटेशालयं गत्वा श्रीनिवासं कृपानिधिम् ।। A bath in Svami-pushkarini, and a visit to Varaha-svami’s shrine on its banks became an established practice for the pilgrims; and legends about Varahasvami being the earlier owner of the land on which Venkatesa’s shrine was built and about Varaha-svami, before he allowed Venkatesa to dwell where he now dwells, stipulating that every pilgrim must therefore visit him first, were set afloat. 38 Nirali-Mantapa in Svami-Pushkariņi The Hill Shrine 37 Պ Yantra in the sanctum of Varaha-Svami Shrine But it would seem from a perusal of the development of the shrine that this tank was never very useful for the village of Tirumala. If it was, why would Anandalvar think of digging. another tank to the west of the village in the close vicinity of the temple, the tank subsequently known as Alvar cheruvu? This latter tank has really been of great use in Tirumala for over eighthundred years now. Among the works undertaken by the first Mahant was to fill Svami-pushkariņi, which had become almost dry, with water from Pata-pushkariņi (also called Achyutaraya-kōnēru) on the west through underground channels. After Pata-push- 39 kariņi also dried up, Svami-pushkariņi is now being fed by water from Alvar-cheruvu. And Varaha-svami’s shrine on the banks of Svami-pushkariņi finds mention for the first time in an inscription of 1380 A.D. (relating to the tirup-pumandapa in front of the Varahanayanar, a service instituted by Alagappiranar Tiru-kkali-kanr-dasar). It is probable that a small shrine was built for this deity around that time; but there is little to show that it was of any importance on the hill in subsequent years. But the attention devoted by Sri-vaishnava enthusiasts on Varaha was not entirely absent, for The Hill Shrine Varaha-Svāmi Shrine on the banks of Svāmi-Pushkariņi Varaha is one of the three principal manifestations of Godhead (mukhyavrtti, the other two being Nrsimha and Hayagriva) in the Srivaishnava theology, and was the foundation for the Vijnana-maya-kosha of human constitution (and hence called Jnanappiran). An inscription of 1476 elevates this Varaha-nayanar to the status of Jnanap-piran (’tiruk-kōnēri karayil jnanappiran sannidiyil iramanujayyan tirup-pu-mandapattil’). Very soon, the deity was addressed as Adi-varahaperumal (in an inscription of 1481). But in 1801 the East India Company did not consider it worthwhile to take over the administration of this temple, for its income was less than Rs. 250 in a year! 40 Varaha-Svami The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine Varaha-Svami in the sanctum of the shrine 41When in 1900, Mahant Prayagadasa became the administrator of the Tirumala temples he found the Varahasvami temple in a terrible state of dilapidation and neglect. For over ten years, the Varaha-svami idol had to be protected in the Aina-mahal (the enclosed mantapam to the right of the main gateway as one enters) of the hill-shrine. It was this Mahant that took pity on this Adi-varahap-perumal and got his shrine repaired and renovated; the image was shifted back to its original sanctum! The sacred tank was not in a happier position either; never of much use in the village, it was also in a state of utter neglect. This Mahant turned his attention to this tank, and got a Nirali-mandapam (also called Vasanta-mandapam) constructed within the tank, for occasional spectacular festivals like the tirthavari (ablutions) on the ninth day of Brahmotsava (tirokkodi-tirunal) and Margali-nirattam which had become popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Mahant was obviously thinking of tourist attractions and revenue. a While the Varaha-svami shrine had a background and did become landmark in Tirumala, the Anjaneya shrine in front of it, which was sought to be projected by the Mahant as another landmark failed to attract any attention, despite the claim that Vyasaraya-svami (born 1446 A.D.) worshipped it. It is likely that the shrine 42 to Anjaneya was built by Vyasa-rayasvami on the plot of land donated to him by the Vijayanagar monarch Krishnadeva-raya close to the sacred tank (’tirumalai-melil-tiruk-könêrikku’) January 12, 1524. on The other Anjaneya shrine mentioned in the Mahant’s deed of execution of 1843 fared better. This was the one that marked the beginning of the Sannidhi Street, the only link-road for the pilgrims who ascended the hill from the Tirupati side and the one that led the pilgrim to the main entrance of the hill-shrine, and came therefore easily to the attention of the Anjaneya in front of Varahasvami shrine on the banks of Svami-pushkariņi The Hill Shrine pilgrim. Known as Beḍi-Hanuman (viz. Anjaneya in chains’), called so for an unknown reason (although there is a fanciful story of how the hill-god chained the monkey-god’s feet and prevented his being constantly on the move), he stands directly facing the hill-god. This shrine was formerly contiguous with other structures adjoining the thousand-pillared-hall’ (sahasrastambha-mantapa), which is on the left side of the Sannidhi-street. There was a passage through which the pilgrims could enter and this was by the side of this shrine. Thus, the pilgrim would worship at this shrine before he walked along the Sannidhi street. When the street was widened in 1970 by the TTD, the Bedi-Hanuman shrine was isolated, and this is almost a modern structure now. In any case, this was one of the landmarks in the old temple area which began with the Sannidhistreet, and included the thousand-pillared mantapam. Then the document mentions two shrines for Ramanuja (Bhashyakara) as ‘minor pagodas’ one within the temple complex and the other, known as Dova-Bhashyakara-shrine, on the summit of the stiff flight of steps (called ‘knee-breaker’, ‘moṇa-kal-murippu’). Ramanuja (1017-1137 A.D.), the great acharya and leader of the Sri-vaishnavacommunity had much to do with the regularization of worship in the hill-shrine, and has left a deep imprint on the village on the plains, Kottur, which he renamed Tirupati. He is said The Hill Shrine Bēḍi-Anjaneya to have initiated many trends in the development of the village on the hill-top, although there is not a single inscriptional reference to the work he did in the hill-shrine or in the village atop the hill. We have to rely entirely on sectarian works like Tirumalai-olugu, Guru-parampară, Koil-olugu and 43 which do not always distinguish fact from fiction. to In any case, the Sri-vaishnava community of Tirupati was eager to set claims on the hill-shrine, which was a stronghold of the Vaikhanasa priests, and set up these two shrines to the Ramanuja. About shrine Ramanuja within the hill-shrine (in the Vimana-pradakshina), we do not hear of it until about 1476 A.D., although there was a shrine to Ramanuja in the village below the hill (Tirupati) as early as 1220 A.D. And this shrine on the hill has never been treated as an Anjaneya (Bedi-Hanuman) Installed by Saluva-Narasimha in the Sannidhl street, facing the temple of the hill-god independent one, and did not at any time mean the ascendance of the usual Pancharatragama in the hill-shrine. It cannot be ascertained how or why the Mahant described it as a minor pagoda, which he was anxious to take control of. Being a part of the temple-complex on the hill, it would naturally be under his administrative control. The possible reason may be that this shrine was being managed by the Sri-vaishnava community from Tirupati, the Vaikhanasa priests having no interest in it whatsoever. Although within the temple-complex, it may have been treated as a separate entity during the days of the East India Company. The other shrine to Ramanuja (the Dova-Bhashyakara-sannidhi which was erected in 1485 A.D.) now served as a landmark in the outer periphery of the Tirumala village, signifying the pilgrim’s entry into the sacred circuit on top of the hill. It should also be remembered that the Mahant had about this time represented before the Board of Revenue that he be given “a circular tract of two square miles in extent having the temple in the centre, and a radius of 1404 yards, and also as regards the roads leading to lower Tirupati, Chandragiri, Balepalli and the water-falls” (which came up for hearing only during 1876 before D.F. Carmichael, Secretary to Government). Inclusion of Dova-Bhashyakarasannidhi among the minor pagodas was 44 The Hill Shrine Сл 5 probably meant to strengthen the Mahant’s claim. (4) Despite the availability of a large number of inscriptions recording numerous royal benefactions and providing information about a variety of festivals newly instituted and a richer variety of food offerings, arranged for different occasions, it is hard to reconstruct the religious history of the hill-shrine. The elaborate puranic accounts no doubt offer some clues, but they are not sufficient. Books like Kōil-olugu, Tirumalai-olugu, and Venkatachala-māhāthmyam are sec- tarian in orientation and give details only suited to their religious inclinations. The documents got prepared by the East India Company when they took over the administration in 1748 A.D. (the well-known Meckenzie manuscripts, the Dittams, the Kainkaryapattis, Bruce’s Code, the Sawal-Jawab Patti, the Paimayishi account etc.) throw light on the conditions (more administrative and economic than religious) prevailing then, and have limited interest in the religious character of the temple. Two details, however, stand out as almost undisputed. One is the influence exerted by the great Srivaishnava teacher Ramanuja (10171137 A.D.), who visited the shrine two or three times during his long life; and the other is the persistence of the The Hill Shrine Vaikhanasa mode of worship in the temple, from very ancient times till today, in spite of the impact of Ramanuja (who was an enthusiastic supporter of the Pancharatra system of worship) and his followers (not only the temple functionaries like the ekangi, jiyar, acharya-purusha, dasanambi, koil-kelvi and kaikkolar but royal patrons like the Yadava-rayas and the Vijayanagar monarchs). The Vaikhanasas are zealous worshippers of Vishnu but do not follow Ramanuja; they do not recognize Pancharatra as a valid method of worhsip. And they have never been other than templepriests, and do not form a powerful or influential community. The hill-shrine was dominated for long years by members of the Sri-vaishnava community from Tirupati, Sri-rangam and Kanchipuram after the thirteenth century. Unlike the Vaikhanasa priests, the Sri-vaishnava managers and supervisors of the hill-shrine had political support. It is remarkable in the circumstances that the Vaikhanasa hold over the worship details never weakened, and that there was very little confrontation between the two groups in the history of the hill-shrine. Rarnanuja’s association with the hill-shrine began with his visit to the hill as a young man to learn the hidden meanings of Ramayana from his maternal uncle, (brother of his mother Bhu-piratti), Tirumala-nambi, who had taken up residence on the 45 hill to raise a flower-garden for the service of the hill-god. The traditional accounts insist that Ramanuja did not go up the hill for this purpose, but stayed on the plains; Tirumala-nambi used to descend the hills to reach Ramanuja. The Ramayana sessions took place under a tamarind tree, and were carried on for a year. Although Tirumala-nambi was the grandson of the illustrious predecessor of Ramanuja, Yamuna-muni (or Alavandar A.D., 918-1038 A.D.) and was conversant with the temple-rituals and temple -administraton in Sri-rangam and Kanchipuram, he never interfered with either the customary worship that was carried on in the temple or with the administration of the temple. He confined his attention to the duty that he had himself chosen to provide flowers and water for the daily_worship of the gud, whom all the Alvars had glorified. The second time that Ramanuja visited the hill-shrine was after he had become the Acharya or leader of the Sri-vaishnava community in Sri-rangam (hence called Emperumanar or Uḍaiyavar); it is said that Tirumalanambi was still living at that time. The books mentioned above say that Ramanuja visited the hill-shrine for the third time in his extreme old age, a year or two before he passed away, and that the Yadava-king Ghattiga (or Ghatti-deva) who ruled over the region, patronized him and carried out the changes in the temple according 46 to his directions. It is said that this king ruled from Narayana-vanam as a feudatory of the Chola monarch Kulottunga-chola II (1123-1146). And the books, sectarian as they are, especially the Tirumalai-olugu), narrate in great detail how Ramanuja converted the hill-shrine into an unmistakably vaishnavite one. Among the changes instituted by Ramanuja, the following are noted in them: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. he identified the deity as Vishņu; he provided the deity with the usual emblems in the two upper hands, samkha and chakra, which were then absent; he bestowed a golden pendant with the image of Tirumal-nacchiyar (viz. Lakshmi) to be hung round the deity’s neck; he arranged for the Friday bath for the deity (tiru-mañjanam); he prescribed the characteristic Vaishnava mark on the forehead (urdhva-punḍra); he got the vimana over the sanctum (Ananda-nilaya) repaired and also got the forms of Vishnu, Varaha, Narasimha, Vaikunthanatha and Venkatesa installed on its four sides, as also the figures of Vishnu’s attendants, Ananta, Garuda, Vishvaksena and dvara-palakas; the he organized the flower-gardens on the hill (nanda-vana); the garden tended by Tirumala-nambi, his uncle, had already gone into disuse: he therefore asked Tirumala- The Hill Shrine nambi’s grandson Tolappan tatacharya to look after this garden; 8. he installed the processional deity, Malayappan (which is now being used), in place of Ugra-srinivasa (about which there will be an occasion to deal with later); 9. he appointed a mendicant-disciple of his, Satha-kōpa-yati, to supervise the worship in the temple, and an ekangi was named as a helper. The account giving the above details is certainly not a historical one, and the details themselves are open to serious misgivings. The sectarian prejudices have freely played their role; and there are more conjectures and fictions than a faithful narration of actual events. For instance, the story about the identification of the hill-god as Vishnu presupposes a tussle between the Saivas and the Vaishnavas. There is no evidence that the character of the hill-god was ever disputed; nor is there evidence for the occurrence of an encounter between the Saivite and Vaishnavite factions on the hill at that time, or at anytime for that matter. Such encounters became prevalent only in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the Tamil country; and then they raised an unwholesome dust of discontent, animosity and suspicion. It was probably under this influence that such stories were invented and projected back to Ramanuja’s days. There was no king Ghattiga by name in the Yadava line of kings who ruled over the northern and eastern divisions of Tonda-mandalam; the lists documented in the Meckenzie Manuscripts (vol XVI, pp. 390-414) mention Toya-yadava (1008-1020), Talalu-gottina-raya (1020-1029) and Vasudeva-raya (1029-1041) as contemporaneous with Ramanuja. There was a Ghatti-deva among the Yadava-kings, (the father of Raja-malla). He ascended the throne only in 1184 A.D., long after the passing away of Ramanuja. But these are mere names, and we know little about what the Yadavakings did until we come to Tirukkalatti-deva Yadava-raya (1191-1246 A.D.) who ruled the region of Tonda-mandalam with Venkata-giri as capital, and who bestowed the Kuḍavur village to the hill-shrine as a source of revenue in 1209 A.D., long after Ramanuja passed away. His successor Viranarasinga Yadava-raya (1209 probable date of his birth-1262 A.D.) was a contemporary of the famous Chola monarch Parantaka II (Sundara-chola), who renovated the vimana of the hill-shrine. Vira-narasinga is said to have weighed himself against gold (tularohana) and to have presented this gold for gilt-plating of the Vimana. His wife, Yadava-raya-nacchiyar, was a devotee of the Govindarają shrine in Tirupati, which had been established by Ramanuja in 1130 A.D. (24th February). It was probably after the days of Vira-narasinga that the in- The Hill Shrine 47 fluence of the Sri-vaishnava community began to be felt on the hill. The ‘reforms’ in the hill-shrine that are ascribed to Ramanuja may actually have been the doings of the powerful Sri-vaishnava lobby during the later Yadava-rayas, especially during the reigns of Vira-narasinga-deva, GandaGopala (1250-1285) and Sri-ranganatha Yadava-raya (1336-1367). What Ramanuja did was probably only to organize the flower-gardens (nandavanams) on the hill and associate his disciples with them. The expression ‘matham’ being usually linked in the inscriptions (e.g. TT 354) with the nanda-vanams is very suggestive. The owners of the gardens were also heads of ‘mathas’ as, for instance, Emperumanar-Jiyar (who was also a Kōil-kelvi, a temple functionary in the hill-shrine) who is mentioned as such in an inscription of 1445 A.D. In fact, it was the manager of Arisinalayamnandavanam (made over by the original owner Singanna Dannayaka, commander of the army of Hoysala Vira-Ballala), who was also the head of a matha, Mullai Tiru-venkata-jiyar (1375-1445), who established the Periya-jiyar - matham, which is very much involved in the worship-rituals in the hill-shrine. His successor, Emperumanar-jiyar, (1445-1493) who looked after Paňkayachchelli-nandavanam, has been called in an inscription (TT, 106, 48, 15) ‘kōyilkelvi’ (temple-functionary). After his 48 as death, Ramanuja-jiyar was the manager of the same flower-garden as well as a temple functionary. And the jiyar that came after him, Anusandhanam Tiruvenkata-jiyar (1504-1520) managed a flowergarden after his own name, Tiru-venkata-nathan-nandavanam, well as another, Per-arulalan-nandavanam. It was during his time that a junior Jiyar (another kōil-kelvi) was also there to assist him in the hillshrine; and so he came to be known as Periya-Jiyar. It is thus that the Jiyar-matham came to be associated with the hill-shrine in an important manner. The image of Ramanuja is claimed to have been installed in the hillshrine around 1248-49 A.D., during the days of Vijaya-ganda-gopala (D.No. 79), over a hundred years after the passing away of the great teacher. The claim that Ramanuja himself established the Jiyar-matham in 1047 A.D. to supervise and guide the worship rituals in the hill-shrine can hardly be sustained, as we have shown above. But it is a fact that there was an increasing influence of the Sri-vaishnava ideology in the hill-shrine. The residence of the processional image of Ranganatha of Sri-rangam (along with the leaders of the Sri-vaishnava community) within the temple-complex on this hill (in the present Ranga-nayakulamandapam) for several years during its travel from 1368 (when it was taken out of Srirangam to protect it from the imminent invasion by the Muslim army The Hill Shrine of Malik-kafur) to 1371 (when it was brought back to Sri-rangam when the place was safe) was was another circumstance that made the Sri-vaishnava ideas and practices familiar to the Vaikhanasa priests. Likewise, the processional images of Varada-raja of Kanchipuram and Narasimha of Sholinghur are said to have found refuge in this hill-shrine at different periods, although evidence for such residence is not there. Even before this date, the Vaikhanasa priests had agreed to accommodate some of the Pancharatra practices (of the Sri-vaishnava brand in the hill-shrine. The images of Vishnu with two) consorts (ubhayanachchiyar, Śri-devi and Bhu-devi) appeared in the hill-shrine for the first time in 1339, during the third regnal year of Sri-ranga-natha Yadava-raya (inscriptions, I, 104). Considering that this was an ’eka-bera’ temple (the sanctum housing the lone image of Vishnu), and considering that even the silver iconic replica of the hill-god which was got made by Samavai in 614 A.D. and installed in the ’tiruvilankoil ‘of the hill-shrine was a lone figure (without consorts), this was a big concession indeed. And permission to sing the Tamil verses of Nammalvar’s Tiruvaymoli before the hill-god in 1360 (inscriptions, 1, 107) was another concession given to the Pancharatra enthusiasts. As mentioned earlier, a shrine to Ramanuja was already there within the temple-precincts, although no inde- The Hill Shrine pendent worship was allowed there; but shrines to the Alvars did not come up in the hill-shrine or in its vicinity. During the reign of Vira-narasingadeva Yadava-raya (1209-1262) .there was an extensive renovation of the hill-shrine, as indicated by an inscription (No. 17 TT) on the north wall of the first enclosure of the hill-shrine. This was at the instance of a Srivaishnava pilgrim from outside the region (desantri), Tiruppullani-dasar of the Tamil country (Seravan-mahadevichaturvedi-mangalam, the present day Shermadevi). The renovation work is said to have begun around 1245 A.D. But what changes were actually carried out at that time cannot be known. But there is a reference in the inscription to some work done with regard to the sanctum. The words of the inscription are: kōvil-alvarukku kōvilukku kōvil seyya’. There is a play on the word “Kõvil’ (kō-il,“great house”), which generally means shrine or temple. The ‘alvar’ of the ‘Kōvil’ is of course the god housed in the shrine-sanctum. The expression speaks of a shrine being constructed for the god of the shrine (‘kovil-alvarukku’) as also for the shrine itself (‘kovilukku’). It may refer to the erection of a vimanam over the sanctum, for a vimanam is architecturally indicative of the location of the sanctum and the crowning glory of the temple-complex. The expression ‘seyya’ in the inscription literally means ‘doing’, 49 ‘constructing’. It suggests that there was no vimanam for the hill-shrine till that date. If the Tamil expression is used figuratively it may mean ‘renovation’, ‘reconstruction’, in which case the vimanam that was already there needed repair and renovation. It is not improbable that the sanctum had some sort of a superstructure before the date of this inscription, but we do not hear of a regular vimana being there earlier. To bear the burden of a new and grand vimana, the walls of the sanctum had also to be reinforced or built anew. The renovation mentioned in the inscription may refer to the reconstruction of the sanctum as well as erecting a vimana over it. We find that not long after this event the vimana was covered by copper plates and gilt. Vira-narasingadeva got himself weighed against gold (tularohana) and presented this gold for purposes of gilding the vimana (TT 37, No. 19). He was a feudatory of Jata-varma Sundara-pandya I, who ascended the throne in 1251 A D and ruled over the entire peninsula till the river Godavari. Defeating the Cholas, Pallavas, Kakatiyas and the Andhra kings, this Pandyan monarch anointed himself cremoniously (virabhisheka) at Kanchipuram. To mark his victory, he also got a golden vase or kalasam fixed on the gold-plated vimanam of the hill-shrine, which Viranarasinga-deva Yadava raya, his vassal, had just then completed (TT No. 172). Both these events (gold-plating and fixing the Kalasam) took place between the years 1260 and 1262. It was during the days of Viranarasinga-deva Yadava-raya, therefore, that the hill-shrine became glorious like the mount Sumeru. The Yadava rulers were devotees of this hill-shrine and also the shrine at Kalahasti, but the inscriptions during the later Yadava rulers frequently seek “the protection of Sri-vaishnavas” and mention “permission of Sri-vaishnavas” and “feeding the Śri-vaishnavas”, and Tirupati becomes increasingly important. There came about also an administrative council (sthanattar) to manage the financial and other affairs of the hill-shrine. Of the ten or twelve members of this council, around A.D., the majority were Sri-vaishnavas of Tirupati and Tiruchanur, (including Kōil-kelku Jiyars and Koil-kanakku tiruninrai-uḍaiyār), and only one of them was a Nambimar (Vaikhanasa priest) (TT. No. 67) (5) 1390 The Vaikhanasas have been an ancient and distinct religious community, long before the Sri-vaishnava group was formed under the leadership of Nätha-muni (824-924 A.D.), Yamuna (died 1030 A.D.) and Ramanuja (1017-1137). It is likely that the worship in some of the shrines which the Alvars visited was conducted by the Vaikhanasa priests; the ideology of the first four Alvars (Poygai, Pey, 50 The Hill Shrine Bhuta and Tirumalisai) has strong correspondances with the Vaikhanasa outlook. Worship of Vishnu had become popular in the South by the time the Gangas began to rule (early fourth century). The Halmidi inscription (of about 450 A.D.), which is one of the earliest inscriptions, suggests the prevalence of the Vaikhanasa doctrine of Lakshmi-višishtadvaita. जयति श्रीपारिष्वंगशार्ङ्गमानतिरच्युतः। दानवाक्ष्णोर्युगान्ताग्निः शिष्टानां तु सुदर्शनः । The Vaishnava movement in the south gathered momentum when the Pallavas crossed the Vindhyas and came down to the South to establish a great empire here. The early Pallavas were Vaishnavas by creed and were ’temple-builders’ (chettha-kari). Mahendra-varman (580-630 A.D.) built the famous Mahendra-Vishnu-gṛha in Mahendra-vaḍi and the Vishnu caveshrine in Mamandur. His successors were responsible for Narasimha cavetemple at Singap-perumal-kōil, Ranganatha shrine at Singavaram and, Maha-varaha shrine at Mamallapuram. Of the early Chalukyas of Badami, ‘Mangalisa (596-619 A.D.) called himself a ‘parama-bhagavata’. The Alvars moved about and composed their pasuram-songs during the same period. The Vaikhanasa group was probably formed in the wake of the popularity of iconic worship and the institution of temples. The Vaikhanasas are a small community of temple priests, devoted The Hill Shrine to the worship of Vishnu in iconic form (samurtarchana). They trace their descent from an early group of hermits, who were within the Vedic fold and who combined sacrificial rituals with an ascetic and austere way of life. The worship of Vishnu was, according to them, tantamount to the performance of a great Vedic sacrifice; and Vishnu was for them the Vedic god par excellence. In fact, the credit for having institutionalized the iconic worship of Vishnu within the Vedic framework must go to the Vaikhanasas. They do not recognize Ramanuja or the earlier Alvars in their guru-prampara. Nor do they subscribe entirely to the Visishtadvaita doctrine as followed by the Sri-vaishnavas. They have their own philosophical position which is ably summarized in Srinivasamakhin’s Lakshmi-visishtadvaita- bhashya, based on the Vaikhanasa scriptures. They carry on their worship entirely with Vedic mantras and rituals, and have no place in their worship for the recital of Tamil prabandhas and tantrik ceremonials. They are strict in their adherence to the Vedic sacraments, and they also insist on the performance of fire-rituals, at home and in the temple, as ordained by the Taittiriya-brahmana texts. Equal importance is given by them to the Vedic sacraments and rituals on the one hand and worship of Vishnu-icon at home. and in temples on the other; in their view, the two are complementary to each other. They worship Vishnu alone 51as the supreme god comprehending in himself all other gods: अथाग्नौ नित्यहोमान्ते विष्णोर्नित्यार्चा सर्वदेवार्चा भवति । अग्निर्देवानामवमो विष्णुः परमस्तदन्तरेण सर्वा अन्या देवता इति ब्राह्मणम्॥ Vaikhanasa-smarta-sutra, 4,10, 95 and 97) आखिलजगदेकारणभूतश्रीनारायणैकपरत्वात्। (Dasa-vidha-hetu-nirpaṇa, 9) This is characteristically different from the Pancharatra view that the role of Lakshmi merits equal recognition. The Vaikhanasas, while accepting one Vishnu-icon as the main object of worship (mula or dhruva-bera) recognize four other iconic forms thereof for various ritual sequences: kautuka, snapana, utsava and bali. This is known as the ‘pañcha-murti’ ideology, quite distinct from the Vyuha doctrine of the Pancharatra. The main icon is likened to the fire that is worshipped at home (aupasanagni), and the other iconic forms are said to represent other ritual-fires that are derived and sanctified from this fire (sabhya, ahavaniya, anvaharya and avasathya). The five forms are technically called Vishnu, Purusha, Satya, Achyuta and Aniruddha. If Vishnu is the ‘prana’, the other four are apana, vyana, udana and samana. samana. (Marichi-Vimānārchana- kalpa, patala 89). We will have octo deal with the five casion later iconic forms found in the hill-shrine. The Telugu-speaking Vaikhanasa priests appear to have been the original inhabitants of Tonda-mandala; and most of the temples in this area had Vaikhanasa priests. Later, they spread to the other areas, but after the advent of Ramanuja, they suffered a set-back, as he preferred the Pancharatra mode of worship. There are even today many important Vishnu temples in the South besides the hill-shrine, where worship is conducted according to Vaikhānasa prescription; temples in Tirupati, Mamallapuram, Sri-Kakulam, Vijayanagaram, Amaravati, Tirucchirapalli, Vedadri, Dharmavaram, Kakinada, Chola-simha-puram, Ramanatha-puram, Pithapuram, Vinu konda, Khadri, Uttara-merur, Tanjavur, Tirukkurunguḍi, Madurai, Darbha Konda-vidu, Nellur, Tirumasai, Señji, Vellur, Venkata-giri and Karveți-nagar. It is to be noted that many of the shrines intimately associated with Ramanuja and the Alvars (like those in Sri-perumbudur, Poonamalli, Vanama-malai, Alagar-kōil and Tiruvali-tirunagari) continue have Vaikhanasa priests, even as the hill-shine. The large-hearted Ramanuja does not seem to have cared to interfere with the age-old customs prevailing in these temples. sayanam, to 52 The Hill Shrine nenu Dove Ipa Gunka 3426 Akosa-dongo Theertham Wappa Theertham Chakra Tirtham 4140 Gadi Montopom atram attiram-bava Samadhi Parvatamonfopam TIRUMALAL Math Murla-gunfd pet Thirtham Kokula Konda Gogorbham Thirtham 29.09 1100 Vaikun Avochari Bashikal Mantapam -2240 TIRUMALA HILLS TOWN MAP NOT TO SCALE Year 1990 19 22 6 The Hill Shrine C6 " C4 24 19 (13 M 16 IR 吕吕 23 20 O 100 53

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1. Caasee (Kāsi, Varanasi) 2. Gayah The Hill Shrine 55
2. Prayag
3. Hurridwar (Hardvar)
4. Cashmeer (Kasmira)
5. Oojanee (Ujjayini)
6. Babayola
7. Ayodhaya (Ayodhya)
8. Jaganaat (Puri-Jagannatha)
9. on the South from
10. Arcot
11. Teru-na velly (Tirunalvēli) 3. Madura
12. Rameswar
13. Malleyal (Malayalam, Kerala) 6. Anuntasaina (Ananta-sayana)
14. on the East from
15. Chinnaputtana (or Madras) 2. Callasree (Kalahasti) 3. Nellore
16. Bunder or Masulipatam
17. Rajamahendra (-varam)
18. Sickakole (Chikakolu) etc.
19. on the west from
20. Seringapatam (Sri-ranga-pattana)
21. Bedanoor
22. Oodipee (Udipi)
23. Audavanae
24. Harryhur (Harihara) 11. Bellary etc” Tarigonda-Venkamāmbā, a pious poetess who was a devotee of the hill-shrine, wrote in a work dated about 1750 that the hill-god receives offerings from pilgrims who come from a variety of places like Magadha, Malava, Malayala, Chola, Nepala, Konkaṇa, Dravida, Tenkaṇa, Saurashtra, Sauvira, Kuru, Kukara, Kosala, Pulinda, Lāta, Marāta, Ghota, Karnata, Kamboja, Kashmira etc. (“Kasmiradi-sakaladesadhiśvaradhina-samasta-jana-vittāpaharaṇam sādhu-satkaraṇam śrivenkatesam”). People who visit the hill-shrine are all pilgrims, and few ever think of settling down there. And many of them go there to discharge a vow, to express their gratitude for a favour conferred, or to seek providential intervention in a predicament; and, therefore, they follow a regimen in order to make the pilgrimage effective and fruitful. There is an injunction that one who sets out on a pilgrimage must have faith and devotion; तीर्थयात्रां प्रकुर्वीत श्रद्धाभक्तिसमन्वित:
25. Soobramanya (Kukke-Subrah- manya)
26. Goa
27. Gocurnum (Gokarna)
28. Ickery (Ikkeri)
29. Gooty 56 For, going on a pilgrimage, one can purify onself. विशुध्दद्यर्थं प्रकुर्वन्ति सत्क्षेत्रस्यानुवर्तनम्। The Hill Shrine One must have good company (satsangi) while on a pilgrimage, must listen to good talk (satkatham śṛṇvan), and observe the codes of good conduct (sadachara-samanvitah). He must also be conversant with the details of how the particular pilgrimage is to be undertaken (vidhi-jñah): what spots are sacred and must be visited, what route in going round is proper, and how one should conduct himself while he is there. Texts like Brahma-purana (ch. 9 verses 3 ff) say that a pilgrimage helps understand the import of the scriptures. तीर्थयात्रां प्रकुर्वन्ति शास्त्राणां प्रत्ययाय च। Unless one recognizes the veracity of scriptural prescriptions and teachings, he does not develop lasting faith, and it is such faith that brings about real devotion, which is indispensable for obtaining the ultimate benefit of pilgrimage (viz. grace of god). दृष्टप्रत्ययशास्त्रार्थे पुनः श्रद्धाभिजायते। श्रद्धया जायते भक्तिर्भतया तुष्यति केशवः।। With regard to the pilgrimage undertaken to the hill-shrine, there are several details given in the purāņas. The several sacred spots (tirthas) on the hill are mentioned; bath in tanks like Svāmi-pushkarini and rivers like Svarna-mukhi is recommended; and approaches to numerous shrines are described. There is, however, a long poem in Sanskrit entitled Sri-venkatesaseva-krama, composed by GargyaSathari of the Tirupati village, which provides a graphic account of the main temple-complex on the hill, the ascent up the hill, enclosures and pavilions, deities and minor shrines along the circumambulatory paths. There is in it an excellent pen-picture of the hill-god. The exact date of composition of this work cannot be ascertained, but the pen-picture of the temple given here suggests that the work belongs to the fifteenth century. This work which has been included in Sri Venkatesa-Kavya Kalapa (ed. by D.T. Tātacharya, T.T.D, Tirupati, 1943), is here given in full to focuss attention on the architecture of the temple. || वेंकटेशसेवाक्रमः ॥ यश्चक्रे वेंकटेशस्य सेवाक्रममनुत्तमम् तं शाठारिगुरुं वन्दे गार्ग्यं श्रीपुरवासिनम् ।। This laudatory verse (taniyan) has been composed by a disciple of the author, who is mentioned as a resident of Tirupati. श्रीवेंकटाचलाधीशं श्रियाध्यासितवक्षसम् । श्रितचेतनमन्दारं श्रीनिवासमहं भजे || १॥ The opening verse is in the nature of The Hill Shrine 57 as supplication to the hill-god who is addressed here Srinivasa and described as the lord of the Vengadam hill; Lakshmi abiding in his chest and the god being the protector of the people who seek refuge in him are given as his distinguishing features. प्रातरुत्थाय पूतात्मा ध्यायेय स्वगुरोः पदे । श्रीवेंकटेशपादाब्जे इयासुर्वेंकटाचलम् || २ || The devotee, desirous of making a pilgrimage to the Vengadam hill, should get up early in the morning and contemplate on the feet of his religious preceptor as also the sacred lotus-like feet of the lord of the Vengaḍam hill. चक्रतीर्थे ततः स्नात्वा कृतपूर्वाह्निकक्रियः । ध्यायन् श्रीवेंकटाधीशं सेवेयाञ्जनभूधरम् ||३|| Having left the town (Tirupati), he goes to the Chakra-tirtha for his bath and morning rites, before he approaches the sacred hill. KAPILA-TIRTHA The Chakra-tirtha mentioned here is more familiarly known as Kapila-tirtha, for there is a small shrine to Kapilesvara just beneath a boulder and on the banks of a pool formed by a splendid water-fall at the foot of the hill, about a mile to the north of the Tirupati town. This is a shrine to Siva constructed in the latter part of the eleventh century by Rayan-RajendraCholan (Brahma-mārāyan), who was governing the village Kottur (which was on the outskirts of the Tirupati town and has now disappeared). The sanctum containing the linga called Kapilesvara is 6 3/4 x 7 1/4 x 7 cubic feet. To the north of the sanctum is another room 9 x 5 1/4 x 6 cubic feet, where the processional images are kept, along with the celestial cow of plenty, Kamadhenu, and its calf. In front of the sanctum is a porch (mukha-mandapa), where the bull sits facing the lingam in the sanctum. There are sculptural representations (facing west) of Uma-mahesvara (in the northern wing), Surya-nārāyaṇa and Vinayaka (Southern wing). There are the usual door-guardians in the outer apartment. This tirtham (water-fall and pool) was used for the festival (like tirthavari) in the Govinda-raja temple at Tirupati, until Govinda-pushkariņi was formed near the temple. Rāmānuja, who consecrated the Govindaraja temple is said to have installed the Sudarsana-chakra in the four directions on the banks of this tirtham. From this circumstance, it came to be known as Chakra-tirtha among the Sri-vaishnavas. The Tamil name for Sudarsana-chakra being Tiruvali-alvar, it was also known as Alvar-tirtha. There is also a shrine to Nammalvar on the southern side of the tank. 58 The Hill Shrine Entrance to Kapila-Tirtha But soon, the Sri-vaishnavas of Tirupati found little use for this tank, which is situated so far away; and it was neglected. The Vijayanagar monarch Achyuta-raya turned his attention to this tirtham, which he referred to in an inscription only as Chakra-tirtha, in 1531. The water-fall was rendered picturesque by granite stone steps; he got sandhya-vandanamantapas constructed in two rows on the eastern and western sides for the performance of ablutions and rituals by the pilgrim before he ascended the hill. This has been mentioned in the above verse (‘krta-purvāhnika-kriyah’). Because of the presence of Kottur village and the growing popularity of The Hill Shrine Kapila-Tirtha (belore renovation) 59Kapila-Tirtha (after renovation) Tirupati from the twelfth century, the ascent to the Vengadam from Tirupati became more popular than the other approaches (viz., from Chandragiri and from Bale-palli). And from Tirupati, of the two alternative approaches, the road from the Municipal boundary of the town to Kapila-tirtha was preferred by most pilgrims. ततः पश्चिमादिग्भागे गत्वा कश्चिन्महापथम् । श्रीवेंकटगिरेर्मूले शेषांशेनोत्थितां भुवः || ४|| चिञ्चामुन्निद्रसुभगां दिव्यां तन्मूलतः शुभे। श्रीनिवासपदाम्भोजे स्वसंकल्पात् समुस्थिते ||५|| तन्मूलतः स्वयंव्यक्तान् सरोयोगिमुखानपि । लक्ष्मीनृसिंहं शेषाद्रिं प्रणिपत्य कृताञ्जलिः || ६ || From Chakra-tirtha (viz. Kapila-tirtha) the pilgrim walks for some distance in the western direction along the wide pathway and comes to the foot of the Vengadam hills. There he sees the holy tamarind tree, looking splendid with spreading branches, and emanated from an aspect of Sesha (viz. Ananta, an attendant deity of Vishnu). Then he sights the holy feet (imprints) of the hill-god, appearing there from the god’s own choice. The pilgrim then visits the shrines of the Alvars, Poygai and others, prostrates before Lakshmi-Nrsimha and bows to the sacred hill (Seshadri). BEGINNING OF THE ASCENT Outside Kapila-tirtha are some interesting spots, like the cave-shrine of 60 The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine 6 THE ASCENT ON THE HILL 61 Talayeru-Gundu Lakshmi-nrsimha to the west of the western bank of the tank, and the Nammalvar shrine at the entrance of the tank. The latter was built by Vanedutta-kai-alagiriyar (Pallava-rayar) about 1285 A.D. (vol I, No. 57, 58, 165). On the eastern road to the tank there is a shrine to Tirumangai-alvar, and to the west of the road leading to the tank a shrine to Kula-sekharaalvar, built by Ayodhya Rāmānuja jiyanagar. From Kapila-tirtha one walks in the westerly direction and reaches the flight of steps up the hill. The mantapa at this spot is called Alipiri-padala mar tapam (or Adi-vara-mantapam) :‘ali piri’ (adi-padi) means the lowest In the flight of steps at the foot of the hill. 62 Sri-Lakshmi-Narasimha-Svami temple (now deserted) The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine Gali-Gopura (Agra-gopura, 1628) 63 64 Alipiri-Gopura Aliniri-opura, Padala Mandapam The Hill Shrine The Tamarind Tree The stone mantapam has a tower called Alipiri-gopuram (or Adipadagopuram). And not far from this mantapam are ancient shrines to the Periyalvar, Tiruppaṇalvar and Tondar adip-pody-alvar. Nearby is the rock called Talayēru gundu, touch of which is said to bestow luck in ascending the hill; there is on this rock a splendid sculpture in relief of Hanuman. There is also to be seen in the same spot the famous tamarind tree, under which Rāmānuja is believed to have learnt mystic aspects of Rāmāyaṇa from Tirumalanambi, his maternal uncle. Rāmānuja The Hill Shrine is regarded as an incarnation of Sesha, and this Vishnu’s couch, tamarind tree is said to share this detail. The story is that Ramanuja, before he became an Acharya, was residing for a year in Kottur, a village on the outskirts of the presentday Tirupati, for learning the secret doctrines taught in Ramayana from his uncle Tirumalanambi, who was residing on top of the hill, engaged in the daily service of the hill-god. Every morning Tirumala-nambi was coming down the hill and Ramanuja would be waiting for him under this tamarind tree. He would return as soon as the lessons were over, to be in time for the service of the hill-god. Out of consideration for this devotee, the hill-god manifested his holy feet close to the tamarind tree, so that Tirumala-nambi may offer his services to them, without having to hurry back. The feet of the hill-god are even now shown to the pilgrims, as engraved on a granite-slab in relief on the floor of what is known as Sri-vari- This pädala-mantapam. has been referred to in the above verses as ‘Srinivasa-padambhoje sva-samkalpāt- samutthite’. There is also a shrine to Lakshmi nṛsimha on the pathway to Seshadri (the name of the hill). This was constructed in 1485 by Saluva Nara simha to commemmorate his becoming the Vijayanagar monarch (sriman-sar- 65 vabhauma-narasimha) (G.T. No. 273, and No. 82). An inscription of 1544 refers to this temple as ’tirumalai-valikatti-singar koil’. This is said to have been destroyed by Hyder-ali when he attacked Chandragiri in 1782. दयाशतकमप्युच्चैः स्तोत्रगद्ये समुच्चरन् । भक्तैर्भागवतैः सार्धमारोहेयं वृषाचलम् ||७| घुष्यद्भिः संघशश्वोच्चैर्गेविन्देति पुनः पुनः । गच्छद्भिः स्वामिसेवार्थमागच्छद्भिर्निरन्तरम् ||८|| सम्पूर्ण लब्धकामैश्च चतुर्वर्गार्थिभिर्नरैः । शिखराणि च रम्याणि निर्झरान् परिषत्प्रभुम् ||९|| श्रीवेंकटेशं संसेव्य गच्छेयं तं महापथम् । आरुह्य तिष्ठन्नामोदादञ्जनाद्रिशिरोवरम् ||१०|| AS ONE ASCENDS complete, and watch the zealous devotees that are coming down with their wishes granted or going up to secure them. They are all oblivious of the difficulties and dangers of travel here. Devotees who resort to this hill are desirous of wealth, worldly pleasures, virtue or salvation. The first of stone steps beginning with Alipiri (Adi-padi) appears to have been renovated by Matla Ananta-raja (Kumara-Ananta), a chief of the Devachola family, exercising authority over the region between Tirupati and Ahobilam. The Agra-gopura (also known as Gali-gopuram) on the top of the first hill, which one reaches after climbing this winding flight of steps, was also constructed by him around 1628 A.D. A lamp was seen burning in this gopura at nights. And as one climbs the stone steps and walks along the foot-paths on the hill-tops, he is bewitched by the spectacle of lovely hills, dales, valleys, streams and thick jungles. It is of an unforgettable experience, and the pilgrim is not in a hurry: he rests at times, tarries on the steps or on the path, to drink deep the scenic beauty, and moves along in slow strides, at this stage of the journey. These verses describe the crowds that one meets with while ascending the hill. They constantly course constantly shout ‘Govinda’, not only to offset the strain of climbing the steep steps, but out of devotional fervour. Sri-vaishnavas would recite verses from Daya-sataka, a work of Vedanta-desika eulogizing the hill-god’s mercy, Yamuna-muni’s Stotra-ratna, or Ramanuja’s two works in prose: Saranagati-gadya and Vaikuntha-gadya. One should go along with devotees and learned men, so that the benefits of the pilgrimage may be 66 The ‘maha-patha’ mentioned here may probably refer to what now is known as ‘pedda-yekkuḍu’, which is a very tiresome patch on the ascent. श्रीवेंकटाचलप्रान्तभूमिपर्यन्तपर्वतान्। The Hill Shrine वापीकूपतटाकादिन् वनान्युपवनानि च ।। ११ ।। सुवर्णमुखरी चैव शोभमानां महानदीम् । धाम गोविन्दराजस्य पश्येयं श्रीपुरीमपि । | १२ || ततः कर्पूरसुरभितीर्थं कर्पूरनिर्झरम् । गत्वाचम्य ततश्चान्यच्छृङ्गमारुह्य सुन्दरम्।। १३ ।। Standing on the first hill-top, the pilgrim may turn round and see the land that he has covered, the stretch of land from the foot of the hills to the town of Tirupati of Tirupati (called here Sri-puri). Numerous tanks, pools, wells, streams, gardens and groves present themselves before him. He can see the meandering river Suvarna-mukhari, which flows past Tiruchanur and Chandra-giri and at a distance of a little more than two miles south of Tirupati. The puraṇas describe this river as most sacred, and it is by the side of this river that the Vengadam hill rises, according to the purāņas. It was an important river during the reigns of Pallavas and Cholas. He can also behold the great temple to Govinda-raja in the town. Rāmānuja on his second visit to this place found an ancient shrine to Parthasarathi on the outskirts of the village Kottur. As at that time there was a threat of desecration of the Srivaishnava temple at Chidambaram, the processional deity of Govinda-raja of that temple had to shifted to some safe place. be Ramanuja arranged for this deity to be housed within the Parthasarathi shrine near Kottur. Later, when the processional image was taken back to Chidambaram, and due to some reason the original icon of Parthasarathi could no longer be worshipped, Ramanuja installed a new main icon (mula-bera) here, and called it Govindarāja. The processional image of Parthasarathi became the kautuka-bera of Govindaraja. This was in the year 1129-30 A.D. Ramanuja was also responsible for the new township called Tirupati, incorporating the area former ly known as Kottur. The Yadavarāya ruler Vira-narasinga-deva contributed to the magnificence of this temple and Pedda-Yekkudu The Hill Shrine 67 the celebrity of this temple-town ( around 1234 A.D.) The ’tirtha’ mentioned in verse 13 is actually a canal that one comes to, after the first steep ascent and before the steep flight of steps known as ‘knee-breaker’ (monakal murippu). पक्षिवृक्षाकृतिधरैर्निबिडं नित्यसूरिभिः । शीघ्रं क्वचिच्च गच्छेयं सेवाचपलमानसः । । १४ । । सुखमत्रैव वर्तेय रम्ये श्रीशैलसानुनि । इतीरयन् मन्दमतिर्गच्छेयं कुत्रचित्पुनः || १५ || सुवर्चसां सुरूपाणां पुण्यानां मृगपक्षिणाम्। श्रृणुयमद्भुतं शब्दं कूजतां मधुरं पथि ।। १६ ।। अतीत्य कञ्चित्पन्थानमटवीनृहरिं ततः । प्रणम्य तदनुज्ञातः प्रविशन् वनमन्तरा ।। १७|| सालतालतमालाम्लचन्दनागरुभूरुहैः । नालिकेराम्लपनसकदलीक्रमुकैरपि ।। १८ ।। पुष्पवद्भिः फलोपेतैश्छायावद्भिर्मनोहरैः । भूषितं भुरुहैश्चान्यैर्निर्झरैश्वामलोदकैः ।। १९।। सिंहकुञ्जरगोव्याघ्रतरक्षुहरिणादिभिः । निर्वैरैर्मृगसंधैश्च रममाणैः समाकुलम् || २० || मयूरकोकिलानां च मुधुरैः कूजितैरपि । शारिकाशुकसंलापैर्मोदिताखिलचेतनम्||२१|| चन्दनागरुसंवाहि मन्दमारुतसेवितम् । श्रीमदप्राकृतं दिव्यं झिल्लिकागणनादितम् || २२ || नयनानन्दजनकं नवीनं पश्यतां सदा। सर्वत्र फलपुष्पाढ्यं संपश्येयं वनस्थलम् ||२३|| NEARING THE SUMMIT Then follows a graphic description of the charming wilderness that abounds on the hills. The pilgrim looks at the tall trees of many varieties, listens to the sounds of many birds and beasts, and enjoys the cool and fragrant breeze that wafts across. Many are the animals that freely roam about in the forests on the hills, and they seem to live amicably. The pilgrim, filled with devotion, imagines that the fortunate birds and animals that live on these sacred hills are indeed the celestial beings ( nitya-suris) who have assumed those forms. The nitya-suris are the ever-liberated beings who have secured fully the grace of the great god, but they are eager to dwell on these hills and forests of Vengadam, which is verily Vaikuntha where they normally reside. They, like the god himself, have abandoned Vaikuntha and have teamed up here to be near the god. The journey to the hill-shrine is accomplished by ascents and descents over hills (which are seven in number) and moving in and out of forests. The landscape is throughout picturesque and delightful. There is never a dull moment for the pilgrim as he walks amidst trees laden with fruits and flowers, plants and creepers which are shapely and charming, and scents and sounds which are fascinating. But now he is all eager to get near the hill-shrine, and hurries onward. 68 The Hill Shrine ततोन्यच्छृङ्गमारुह्य ततोन्यत्रावरुह्य च। क्वचिद्गच्छन्क्वचित्तिष्ठन्क्वचिद्ध्यायन्रमाप- तिम् || २४|| सानुमन्यं समारोहन् श्रीश मामानयान्तिकम्। इति ब्रुवन् यतिवरं प्राप्नुयां परया मुदा || २५ || तं प्रणम्याभ्यनुज्ञातः परं पन्थानमास्थितः । affermayer fact मित्रचन्द्रेन्द्रवेधसाम्।। २६ ।। लोकपंक्तिवदत्यन्तरम्यां मण्डपसन्ततिम् । संपश्यंस्तत्र गच्छेयं शौरेर्धामान्तिकस्थलम् ।। २७ ।। He has to climb one hill and get down, only to climb another. He moves on, resting for a while, and contemplating on the god whose presence he is approaching. He reaches the final hill, and as he climbs it, the thought uppermost in his mind is that the god should draw him soon to his presence. DOVA-BHĀSHYAKĀRA-SANNIDHI When he climbs the last flight of steps rightly called the ‘knee-breaker’ (molakal-murippan-paḍi or mokalamettu), for the steps are so high and the ascent so steep, he comes to the top of the hill that is chosen by the god for his manifestation. Even as he reaches the summit of the flight of steps, he finds himself in front of the shrine dedicated to Ramanuja. This shrine is known as Dova-Bhashyakarasannidhi, and marks the commencement of the holy area of Vengadam. The pilgrim has at last entered the sacred precincts of the extended hillshrine. There is an ancient custom of lighting a lamp in this DōvaBhashyakara-sannidhi by the temple authorities on Kartika-dipotsava, marking one of the outer limits of the kshetra, the other one being the Kshetra-palaka shrine near Gogarbhatirtha. When Rāmānuja visited Tirupati for the first time to learn the esoteric meanings of Ramayana from his maternal uncle Tirumala-nambi, he was still a young man whose greatness was not as yet recognized. He did not, at that time, ascend the Vengadam hill to visit the hill-shrine, although he stayed at the foot-hills for a year. But the second time he visited Tirupati he was widely revered Acharya duly anointed in the great temple of Sri-rangam. This time, he ascended the hills and as soon as he climbed up the last flight of steps, his maternal uncle, Tirumalanambi, received him with all templehonours at the spot where the shrine (known as Dova-Bhashyakara-sannidhi) was later erected. Beyond this shrine, the poem speaks of a long row of fine mantapams on either side of the pathway that led the pilgrim to the hill-shrine. They are not all there now, nor are those that remain so fine. As the pilgrim enters the sacred precincts of the kshetra, he is overpowered by the excitement and joy of The Hill Shrine 6970 Mondi-Gopuram (now dismantled) Bommala-Gopuram (now dismantled) The Hill Shrine those who have already reached there. An air of festivity surrounds him. Music fills his ears. The mantapas as well as the ground alround are decorated with flowers of variegated colours; and the sight is delightful to his eyes. As he walks along, bewitched by the beauty of the place, he beholds a small tower, bereft of the usual vase and finial (śrnga-vihinam tad-gopuram). The reference is to the unfinished gateway, surmounted by a tower facing south, called Mondi-gopuram. As we proceed from this Mondi-gopuram towards north through a short pathway, we come to another tower called Bommala-gopuram. Both these ornate gopurams were dismantled in 1982 to make way for a plain cement-arch which appeared three years later. The ten incarnations of Vishnu were prominently displayed here. Passing through this gateway, the pilgrim enters the village where the hill-shrine is located. In fact, he has now the first vision of the sacred temple. दिव्यं सुवर्णप्राकारैरुज्ज्वलं महत् । ततश्चोद्यत्सहस्रांशुशतकोटिसमप्रभम् ||३६|| मङ्गलं सर्वजगतां मण्डनं शोषभूभृतः । भूमावनुपमं दिव्यं लोकानुग्रहकाम्यया||३७|| स्वयं व्यक्तं विमानं तदानन्दनिलयाह्वयम् । दिव्यं च नगरं पश्यन् श्रीवैकुण्ठमिवापरम् ||३८|| धन्योस्म्यनुगृहीतोस्मि कृतार्थोस्मीति ब्रुवन्। परमानन्दभरितः प्रणमेयं प्रसन्नधी: ।। ३९ ।। His dream of many days, months or years has now come true; he stands in the close vicinity of the most sacred of all shrines. He can see the temple at a distance and over the sanctum shines brilliantly the dome with its gilt covering. The vimana, known as Ananda-nilaya, is believed by the faithful to have appeared here of its own accord (svayam-vyakta) for securing the welfare of the world (lokānugraha). It is indeed a unique structure on earth, a bright ornament on the head of the Vengadam hill (Seshadri). The Hill Shrine Mokalia-Mudippu 71 The pilgrim moves on in the village, which indeed is like another Vaikuntha, congratulating himself on his own good fortune in having been able to come here. He is grateful to the spirits who have made his ascent of the hill safe and memorable; and he is full of praise for the god whom he has come to see. ANANDA-NILAYA-VIMĀNA This is undoubtedly the most picturesque and attractive structure in the temple-complex. The golden plates covering it are intricately and exquisitely carved with traditional motifs. The shape of the Vimana very strongly resembles the Dharma-raja-ratha at Mamallapuram (which was built by the Pallava monarch Dantivarma of Kanchi puram in 830 A.D.). It is very likely that this vimana in the hill-shrine is also a Pallava structure. The height of the vimana is 37 feet and 8 inches, including the ceremonial vase on the top (kalasa). It has a square base, measuring twenty-seven feet and four inches. The tower is divided into three sections, the bottom one being square and having no figures; the middle one being rectangular in shape and having nineteen figures. The figures are all sculptures in relief and the themes are the incarnations of Vishnu, the door-guardians, attendents (like Garuda, Vishvaksena and Hanuman) and the sages. In the four directions are the customary forms of Vishnu described as the presiding deities of the vimana (vimanadhi-daivata): Varaha, Narasimha, Ananta and Vaikuntha-natha. On the northern side is the representation of the deity in the sanctum, known as Vimana-Srinivasa. It is said that Vyasatirtha used to worship this small iconic representation. It has become customary to have a look at this figure (Vimana-Srinivasa) while going round the shrine in Vimana-pradakshina. The figures and the ornamental decorations of this Vimana are only in the gilt copper plates that cover the vimana. The actual vimana which is in mortar and stucco is devoid of figures; it has only the architectural features of the Pallava vimana. We do not know how old the vimana is. But we have inscriptional references to the covering of the vimana with copper plates gilt by the Yadava chieftain Vira-narasinga-deva in 1260 A.D. and the fixing of a golden vase (kalasa) on the vimana by the Pandyan king Jaṭā-varma Sundara-pandya in 1262 A.D. (T.T. 371 No. 19). The Yadava chieftain was a feudatory of the Pandyan king, and the two together made the vimana look like the mythical mountain of gold (Sumeru, sura-giri) The next service to the vimana was in the year 1359 A.D. (6-7-1959), Saluva Mangi-deva-mahārāja, who was the general under Kumara-kampaņaodeyar is said to have fixed the golden sikhara for Tiru-vengala-natha’, on that 72 The Hill Shrine date. The vimana was renovated in 1417 A.D. by Amatya-sekhara Mallana, who was the governor of Chandra-girirajya, during the rule of Saluvanarasimha (I, 198). The famous Vijayanagar monarch Krishnadeva-raya presented thirty thousand gold varahas for gilding the vimana again, during his fifth visit to the hill-shrine. The work began on 2-1-1517 and was completed on 9-9-1518 (III 81, TT 576). Koti-kanya-dānam Tatacharya of Kanchipuram got the vimana gilt again in 1630 (Madras Epigraphical Report 1919, 650). Adhikari Ram-lakshman Dasa, a brother-disciple of the then Mahant Prayaga-dāsa, arranged for gold plating the vase over the vimana (kanaka-kalasa) on 30-9-1908. Thus, in seven hundred years (1261-1908) there were six services to (vimāna-kainkarya) the vimana rendered. The gold plates covering the vimana soon lost their brilliance and the covering plates themselves got loosened and disturbed because of the weather conditions prevailing on the hill. After the period of the Mahants, the TTD took over the administration of the temple, and thought of goldplating the vimana again in 1958. It was then discovered that the masonry work of the vimana beneath the covering had decayed, and that it had to be repaired before the old plates were replaced by new ones. The work began with the Balalaya-ritual (October 25, to November 1, 1957), and the gold plates were set in position on November 2, 1957 (kavacha-punar-uddharana). Final consecration (mahasamprokshana) was performed on August 25, 1958. Copper sheets worth Rs 57, 375 and gold weighing 12, 020 tolas were used in this renovation. The puranas describe this vimāna as Ananda-nilaya. But we find the name Ananda-nilaya-vimana for the first time in a damaged inscription of 1417 A.D. of Amatya-sekhara Mallana (No. 196). Bhavishyottara-purana (13, 80-81) says that even when the first builder of the temple, Tondaman, consecrated the vimana, it was called Ananda-nilaya, because it produced great delight. तत आनन्दनिलये तोण्डमान्नृपनिर्मिते। विमानाग्रये श्रीनिवासो रराज भगवान् हरिः। आनन्दजनकत्वात्तं आनन्दनिलयं विदुः ।। Ananda-nilaya-vimana The Hill Shrine 73 Aditya-purana (1, 42) explains that the god is distinguished by his power to bestow bliss and gnosis and so he is himself known essentially as bliss (ananda); when Tondaman beheld him in this vimana, he was filled with bliss. आनन्दज्ञानदं विष्णुं आनन्दमयनामकम् । आनन्देन ददर्शायं आनन्दनिलयालये ।। The puraṇas also claim that when the hill-shrine was consecrated, Brahma the creator put up two lamps in front of the god for the alround prosperity of all beings in the world. And he begged the god to ordain that these lamps may be burning till the end of the present aeon (kali-yuga). When the Ananda-nilayavimana crumbles down and the lamps are put out, then the manifestation of the god as Venkatesa (lord abiding in the Vengadam hill) would be over. सर्वाभ्युदयकामो भूतानां हितकाम्यया । तदा वै भगवान् ब्रह्मा दीपद्वयमकल्पयत् ।। प्रार्थयामास गोविन्दं वरमेकमनामयम्। यावत्कलियुग तिष्ठेत्तावद्दीपोभिवर्धताम्॥ यदा विमानपतनं यदा दीपविनाशनम् || तदावतारः सम्पूर्ण इति मे निश्चितोवधि: ।। (Bhavishyottara, 14, 2-3) The pilgrim bows with delight before this most impressive indication of divine presence, and proceeds towards it. He now enters what is known as Sannidhi street, which runs east to west. 74 SANNIDHI-STREET ततः सन्निधिवीध्यग्रभूषणं पवनात्मजम् । नमस्कृत्य ततः पश्यन् सहस्रस्तम्भमण्टपम् ||४०|| The Sannidhi-street is so called because it leads the pilgrim directly to the presence of the god. This short and rather narrow (until recently) street extended from the shrine to Anjaneya, known as Bēḍi-Hanuman, already mentioned, at the eastern end to the tall four-pillared and open mantapa (called Golladani-mantapa) at the Western end. Bēḍi-Hanuman faces west, and stands right in front of the main (and only) entrance to the hill-shrine, at the other end of the street. To the left of the street is the so called thousand-pillared mantapam, and to the right the Periya-jiyar matham, whose head is an important functionary in the hill-shrine. The street ends with Golladani-mantapam, which faces the gateway to the shrine. This mantapam, was formerly used for occasional festivals, but now is altogether unused. The Sannidhi street was widened in 1970 and it no longer presents the picture that once was familiar. The Bedi-Hanuman shrine has now been isolated, and it is almost a new structure now. Two bays of the thousand-pillared mantapa on the side The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine 75 THE HILL-SHRINE 76 THE VIMANA The Hill Shrine 7 The Hill Shrine Sannidhi-Street 1970 Sannidhi-Street 1993 77 Thousand-Pillared Mantapa (western side) Now Dismantled of East Maḍa-street were removed; and three bays of the same mantapam on the Sannidhi-street side were dismantled and shops were constructed. From Golladani-mantapa which marks the end of the Sannidhi-street, there is a flight of steps to the full width of the road (viz. Sannidhi-street). The pilgrim has to climb down this flight of steps to reach the main entrance of the temple which opens to the East Mada Street, running north to south. This flight of steps was renovated in 1990, and now it extends to the end of the East Mada-Street on the southern side, so that one can enter the thousand-pillared mantapa from the East-Mada street by climbing the flight of steps. The thousand-pillared mantapam which faces east is a rectangular structure, accommodated within the area covered by the Sannidhi-street on the north, East Mada-street on the west, a pathway on the east, and the road in front of Hathiramji-matha on the south. This mantapam was formerly used by the pilgrims, but now it houses the assembly hall (sadas), which in recent years was shifted to the Asthana-mantapam, Museum and Purohita-sangham. The western portion of the mantapam had crumbled down, leaving an open space on that side. 78 The Hill Shrine We do not know precisely when this mantapam was constructed, or by whom. It appears to have been one of the structures undertaken to give effect to an endowment of the Durgasamudram village (near Tirupati) to the hill-temple made by the Saluva Narasimha (in 1472 A. D), the governor of the Chandra-giri province who rose to become the lord of the entire Vijayanagar (‘rāja-mahārāja-udaiyar). This endowment was meant to enable mantapas and gopuras to be constructed in Tirumala and Tirupati. The name of Saluva-Mallaya-deva, son of SaluvaErra-Kampaya-deva, a cousin of Saluva-Narasimha, is associated with the building of this mantapa. It cannot be known if the original mantapa was designed to have a thousand pillars. The sahasra-stambha mantapa is a familiar architectural member of big temples in South India. It may not always have a thousand pillars. When the Sanskrit expressions ‘dasa’ (ten ), ‘sata’ (hundred ) and sahasra’ (thousand) are used in contexts like this, they are not meant to signify those specific numbers, but are used only in the sense of multitude. The ’thousand-pillared mantapa’ means only a hall with a large number of the pillars. Then, the text mentions that the pilgrim approaches Vaikuntha-dvāra, of the shrine (adbhutam) which is marvellous प्रविशेयं प्रसन्नात्मा वैकुण्ठद्वारमद्भुतम्। ततः काञ्चनदीप्त्या च रत्रकान्त्या च रूषितम्|| ४१ || भूषितं दिव्यमाल्यैश्च मुक्तादामभिरेव च। चन्दनागरुधूपैश्च सर्वतः सुरभीकृतम् ||४२|| आज्ञामुद्राधरैर्भीमैरस्थानभयशभिः । चण्डप्रचण्डप्रमुखैर्द्वारपालैः सुरक्षितम् ||४३|| भेरीमृदङ्गपणवतूर्यशङ्खादिभिः शुभैः । अष्टादशविधैर्वाद्ये- राघोषितनभः स्थलम् ||४४ || ब्रह्मरुद्रादिदेवानां महर्षीणां महात्मनाम् । योगिनां सनकादीनां दिव्यस्थाननिवासिनाम् ||४५|| दिव्याप्सरोगणानां च नृत्तं गीतं च कुर्वताम् । चातुर्वर्ण्यप्रसूतानां सदा भक्तिमतां हरौ ||४६ || आबालवृद्धमाबद्धमस्तकाञ्जलिशोभिनाम्। नानादेशगतानां च नराणां भाग्यशालिनाम् ||४७|| सपुत्रमित्रदाराणां वृन्दैः सान्द्रं सुशोभनम् । विच्छिन्नाग्रनिवेशं तत्परीतं द्वारमास्थितः || ४८|| The main entrance to the temple is described here. The temple doorway is decorated with festoons, garlands and buntings; fragrant smokes of incense fill the air. The doors are guarded by Chanda, Prachanda and other attendants mentioned in the Agama texts. Celestial beings crowd the entrance, as also the spiritual adepts in their invisible bodies. Pilgrims from different parts of the country, young and old, with their families are jostling about in front of the entrance. The Hill Shrine 79They are filled with devotion and bow down humbly with palms joined in supplication above their heads. They are all eager to enter. The text calls this entrance, which one encounters as soon as he gets down the flight of steps from the Sannidhi-street, ‘Vaikuntha-dvara’. The expression is now used for the entrance to the enclosure immediately around the sanctum (viz., Vaikunthapradakshina or Mukkoti-pradakshina) and which is kept open only once in a year (on the night of Mukkotiekadasi). The door-way that the text speaks of is not what is now called Paḍi-kavali (entrance guarded by sentinels) also called Maha-dvara (the main entrance, tiru-vāśal in Tamil), for the text later on mentions (in verse 56) that the pilgrim enters the maha-dvara after going round the main streets of the village. And, according to the text, he ’enters’ (‘praviseyam’) this Vaikunthadvara to reach the main streets. What, or where, then is this Vaikuntha-dvāra now? Was it some structure that no longer exists? or does it refer to what we now know as Golladani-mantapam at the end of the Sannidhi-street? It is hard to ascertain what the condition was at that time. It is likely that there was an ornamental arch-way at the foot of the flight of steps (from the Sannidhi-street) without either the prakara walls on the sides or the gopuram on its top. It was perhaps meant to indicate the entrance into ine temple-area, which was described by the devout as Vaikuntha itself. The verses included in the mantra-pushpa traditionally recited in this temple say that the god enjoys himself on the banks of the sacred tank here, having come away from Vaikuntha. And wherever the god dwells is verily Vaikuntha. मायावी परमानन्दं त्यक्त्वा वैकुण्ठमुत्तमम्। स्वामिपुष्करिणीतीरे रमया सह मोदते । भोगिराजगिरिं गत्वा स्वामिपुष्करिणितटे। रमते रमणीकान्ते रमणीये श्रियः पतिः। Such an archway would allow the pilgrim to go round the streets of the village before entering the present Padi-kavali, which is situated just a few feet away, on the other side of the East-Maḍa street. THE ENTRANCE TO THE SHRINE प्रणम्य भक्त्या साष्टाङ्गं प्रहर्षं प्राप्नुयां परम् । तत्र श्रीवेंकटाधीशं ततस्तत्र areafer: 118911 राजवीथीषु रम्यासु प्रदक्षिणपरो भवन् । नित्यमुक्तसमानानां तदीयानां महात्मनाम् ||५०|| भवनानि दिचित्राणि पश्यन् हृष्टः पुनः 97:1 स्वामिपुष्करिणीतीरं श्रयेयं श्रमनाशनम् ||५१| 80 The Hill Shrine +10-6”> ← 16! →→ !← 9!67 I PRATIMA- I MANTAPA ←24.6-> こ < 16-9 -> The Hill Shrine < 8’ 2’ واو 4313” MAHA-DVĀRA 16-91 M 13′ーバーラ ← 13-8-> 81 82 PADI-KAVALI Maha-Dvara The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine Entrance to the Hill-Shrine Inner Prakaram 83 View of Tirumala Temple The pilgrim prostrates before the main entrance and begins the first great circumambulation (maha-pradakshina), which takes him round the village which is also holy. He turns to his left, keeping the shrine to his right, and proceeds along the East MāḍaStreet. Then he turns to his right and enters the South Mada-Street which goes by the side of the outer wall of the temple. He proceeds along this road beyond the temple another four hundred feet (the compound wall of the temple on this side is 414 feet) before he turns and enters the West Mada Street (which is about 900 feet in length). He would by now have covered the village proper, the Pata-pushkarini area 84 where a tank had been excavated by the Vijayanagar king, Achyuta-rāya, in the sixteenth century, and which was filled up during the days of the Mahants in the nineteenth; and, at the far end of the road, the shorter side of the sacred tank (Svami-pushkariņi) Before he gets back to the East Mada street he covers the entire length of the tank before he reaches the north-eastern corner of the temple, walking along this road. The south-eastern corner of the temple faces the Matha of the Mahants, on the raised ground on level with the top of the terrace of, and adjacent to, the thousand-pillared mantapam. It is learnt that one of the later The Hill Shrine Yadava-rāya kings, Sri-ranganatha, built for himself a palace in 1351-52 A.D. on the hill here (I, 109). It was probably this palace that was appropriated by the Mahants who administered the temple as Vicharaṇa -kartas from 1843 to 1933. THE SECRED TANK SVĀMI-PUSHKARINI ततस्त्वाचम्य तत्तीर्थे कृतमाध्याह्निकक्रियः वराहरूपिणं देवं वामाङ्कस्थवसुन्धराम्।।५२।। प्रणम्य प्राञ्जलिः कुर्या प्रदक्षिणमहं ततः । तीर्थं प्रदक्षिणं कुर्वन् श्रीशैलस्तुतिरूपिणीः ।। ५३ ।। The pilgrim now comes to the sacred tank called Svami-pushkariņi (or Svami-saras, or Tiruk-kōneri in inscriptions), ceremonially sips water from it and finishes his noon-ablutions there. Then he visits the Varaha-svami’s shrine which is on the banks of this tank, and circumambulates the shrine as well as the tank before proceeding towards the great temple which has not been mentioned by the Alvars at all, Svāmi-pushkarini in the puraṇas as most sacred upon the hill: is extolled. सुवर्णमुखरी नाम नदीनां प्रवरा नदी । तस्या एवोत्तरे भागे वृषभाचलनामतः। तस्याग्रे सरसी नाम्नी स्वामिपुष्करिणी शुभा ।। (Skanda, 4, 1, 25, 86) स्वामिपुष्करिणी चेति सर्वपापापापनोदिनी । उत्तरे श्रीनिवासस्य वर्तते मङ्गलप्रदा ।। (ibid., 4, 1, 86) तीर्थानामुत्तमं तीर्थं स्वमिपुष्करिणी शुभम् । (Brahma 8, 2) near The tank which is almost at the middle of the North Mada-Street is 100 yards in length and 50 yards in width, covering a total area of 1.50 acres. It is actually twin-tanks: Varaha-tirtha near the Varaha-svami shrine which is on its north-western shore, and Śrinivasa-tirtha, the hill-shrine which is on its southern side. A low wall separates the two parts. And traditionally the large tank is said to consist of nine separate well-like water sources (tirthas), each displaying silt deposits of a particular colour. According to Brahma-purana (8, 32-38): i) on the northern side of the tank, Kubera-tirtha; ii) in the north-eastern corner, Galava tirtha; iii) on the eastern side, Markandeya- tirtha; iv) in the south-eastern corner, Agni- tirtha; The Hill Shrine 85 v) on the southern side, Yama-tirtha; vi) in the north-western corner, Vayu- tirtha; vii) on the western side, Varuna-tirtha; viii) in the south-western Vasishtha-tirtha, and corner, ix) in the centre, Sarasvati-tirtha. There are cut-stone steps for the tank alround, and from the midst of the waters rises a mantapa called Vasanta-maṇṭapa (or Nirali-mantapa), which was built by Saluva-narasimha in 1468 A.D. (TT No. 54). It is interesting that his inscription calls the tank not Svami-pushkariņi but Tirukkōnēri, although another inscription thirty-five years earlier (I, 201, Devarāya) calls it Svāmi-pushkariņi; and this is the first time the sacred tank comes to our notice in inscriptions. The Vasanta-mantapa was meant to be used for the floating (tiruppalli-oḍattirunal) on the ninth day of the annual festival, Brahmotsava (or Kōḍait-tirunal) This mantapa was renovated by Mahanta Prayaga-dasa in 1900; it would appear that the mantapa had almost crumbled down by that time. Svāmi-pushkarini is an important landmark on the hills, for it is on the banks of this tank that the god of the hills (Vengaḍattan) chose to manifest himself, according to the puranas. The legendary account of the origin of the hill-shrine relates that Varaha-svami (the boar-incarnation of Vishnu) was the original inhabitant of the land adjoining the tank; and that he allowed the god of the hills to dwell in a part of the land owned by him. And Brahma himself is said to have consecrated a shrine to Varaha on the north-western shore of the tank. It is related that Varaha hid himself in a huge ant-hill which, in fact, was his residence. प्रविवेश स्ववल्मीकं स्वामिपुष्करिणीतटे। (Brahma, 8, 14, 21) Later, Brahma consecrated a stoneimage of this form of Vishnu, which was dug out from the ant-hill by the hunter (nishāda) who also constructed a shrine. नाहं दृश्योस्मि ते पुत्र सच्चिदानन्दविग्रहः । किं तु वक्ष्यामि ते पुत्र ब्रह्मणा स्थापितं पुरा।। शिलारूपं च वल्मीके वर्तते तत्समुद्धर । विमानं कारयित्वा च तस्य पुष्करिणीतटे ।। The shrine and the part of the tank in front of it was named Varaha-tirtha: तस्या वायव्यभागे तु वाराहं तीर्थमुत्तमम्। The custom prescribed for the pilgrim in the puraṇas is that Varaha svāmi must be worshipped after a bath in the sacred tank and before he proceeds to the hill-shrine. अस्नातुर्नवतीर्थे तु वराहं चाप्यपश्यत: । सर्वं निष्फलता याति श्रीनिवासो न तुष्यति ।। 86 The Hill Shrine ADI-VARAHA-SHRINE धरामालिंग्य वल्मीके आस्ते पिप्पलराजिते।। The icon that we find in the shrine now is a small one with the four-armed Varaha, standing and lifting up the earth-goddess with two of his hands. It is in relief on a rock. The description of Adi-varaha given in the Vaikhānasa text Vimanarchana-kalpa (56th patala) is fully portrayed in the main image here. आदिवराहं चतुर्भुजं शंखचक्रधरं सस्यश्यामनिभं नागेन्द्रफणामणिस्थापितदक्षिणपादं acu The Varaha-shrine on the hill, however, is not mentioned by any of the Alvars, or in any inscription before 1380 A.D., when Alagap-piranar Tirukkalikanṛ-dasar made an endowment to this small shrine. The deity is called here Varaha-nāyanar. As mentioned earlier, the next inscription, eighty-six years later in 1476 A.D. (by Sathakōpar Narasimha-rayamudaliar) refers to this minor god on the hill as Jnanappiran, a typical Sri-vaishnava name (’tiruk-kōnēri karaiyil jñānappiran’). After 1481 he is referred to as Adi-varahap-perumal (Kandaḍe Dod-qucni gàn tai ḍappayyangar, 1519, Tallapakam Tiru malayyangar, 1535, Settlur Srinivasayyangar, 1541). It was Tallapakam Tirumalayyangar who constructed the mantapas, the prākāra-wall and the east gopura of this shrine in 1535 (IV 40). However, it has always remained a minor shrine, and when the East India Company came in to take control over the shrines on the hill, the annual income of this shrine was not more than Rs. 250. तदूरौ महीं दधानं दक्षिणहस्तेन देव्याः पादौ गुह्णन्तं Bhavishyottara-purana (3, 10-11) provides a general iconographic description of Varaha: एवं तीर्थवरा तत्र स्वामिपुष्करिणी शुभा । तस्या: दक्षिणदिग्भागे वराहवदनो हरिः। जिघ्रन्तं कृत्वा महीं प्राञ्जलीकृतहस्तां प्रसारितपादां पुष्पाम्बरधरां श्यामाभां किश्चिद्देवं समीक्ष्य व्रीडाहर्षसमायुक्तां सर्वाभरणसंयुतां देवस्य नाभ्यन्तां स्तनान्तां वा पञ्चतालेन कारयेत् The god must be represented as four-armed. Two of his hands (the upper ones) carry conch and discus. His complexion is grass-green! (dark). His right leg is placed on the hood of Adi-sesha and his left leg is bent for The Hill Shrine 87 ascending from the depths of the netherworld. He carries the goddess of earth on his thigh, supporting her feet by his right hand, and holding her up with his left. His head is turned towards the goddess, smelling her with his snout. The goddess, dark in com - plexion, folds her palms in supplication and looks at the god with coyness and glee. She is decorated with all ornaments, and her garment is flowery in design. She must be made in five tala-measure and her height must reach the god’s navel or breast. A similar but more concise description is given in Prakimadhikara (Bhargava-samhita) चतुर्बाहुसमायुक्तं शंखचक्रधरं परम् । वामपादं समाकुञ्च्य महीमद्धृत्य सादरम् ।। दक्षिणं चण्डितं कुर्यान्महीमूरौ समाचरेत्। महीं च श्यामवर्णां तु कुर्याच्चैव विधानतः। एवमादिवराहस्तु कारयेल्लक्षणान्वितम्॥ कुलशेखरसूक्तीरप्युच्चार्यानम्य वै रथम् । पुनः परीतं विच्छिन्नाभिनिवेशमुपेत्य च ॥५४॥ नत्वा श्रीमन्महध्वारं प्रविश्यान्तः प्रसन्नधी: । आस्थानचिञ्चामचलच्छायां शेषाशंकां ततः ।। ५५ ।। Coming out of the Varaha-shrine, the pilgrim walks along the North MaḍaStreet keeping the sacred tank 88 SRISWAR SAASRA BEERALAKAKARAM SE साहसद Koluvu Mandapam The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine H’SP Mahadvara-Gopura 89SAM KHA-NIDHI (at Main Entrance) to his right, and enters the East Maḍa-Street. Going beyond the length of the sacred tank, he beholds to his left the tall shed where the processional chariot (ratha) is kept. He bows to this chariot and proceeds towards the main entrance of the shrine. He returns to where he began his maha-pradakshina and enters the tall gateway known as Maha-dvara (or mukha-dvara; Periyatiru-vāśal), or Padi-kavali. The gateway to the shrine is 43’ 3” wide and about 30’ long. The passage through which one can enter is 9’ 9” wide, and is in the centre of this gateway. The passage widens when one reaches what is known as the Pratima-mantapam; it will be 16’ PADMA-NIDHI (at Main Entrance) here. On the large stone slabs covered with metal sheets constituting the door step are now seen two bronze icons of the traditional gateway-gods Samkha-nidhi and Padma-nidhi. Agama prescribes that these are the guardians of the third of the seven enclosures (avaraṇa) that may be had for a shrine. It may be noted that the hill-shrine has only three enclosures covered by Sampangi-pradakshina (outer), Vimana-pradakshina (middle) and Mukkoti-pradakrishna (inner). The Mahadvara (the principal gateway) admits the pilgrim to the outer (Sampangi) enclosure. On either side, two cut stone door-frames are to be seen. In the words of T.K.T. Viraraghava- 90 The Hill Shrine వెలుపలకు దారి WAY OUT Mahadvara (Inside wall) charya: “The door jambs, the sills and soffits of these are wide and thick cut stone and carved in the traditional style. The front door-way alone has folding doors, hung on pivots and made of stout lattice wood work, backed with thick battens fastened together by stout iron nails having artistic heads. There is also at trap door on the left side door to be kept closed” (History of Tirupati, Vol I, TTD, Tirupati 1953 p.167). An interesting detail found in the outer prakara-wall of the temple was pointed to out to me during a recent visit of mine to the hill-shrine by my friend, Shri D.V. Chary, who was then the Executive Engineer of the TTD. This pertains to the ‘writing on the wall’ (in the literal and literal and not the metaphorical sense), which provides a clue to the manner in which the stones were put up. The familiar sacred formula used in several rituals, “Om namah sivāya, siddham namah” has been employed here to mark the stones for vertical and horizontal placements. The first letter ‘om ‘is given to the uppermost layer, the second letter ’na’ to the second layer below, and so on. When the ten letters of the formula are used up thus, then the letters of the alphabet ‘a’, ‘a’, T, T and so on are taken up to mark the rows of stones. To indicate the sides of the prakara-wall, the letters ‘da’ (for dakshina, south), ‘u’ (uttara, north) ’tu’ (turpu, east) and ‘pa’ (paschima, west) are used to mark the stones. The height of each layer of stones is from thirteen to fifteen inches. The drawing given here represents this coding on the southern prākāra-wall. The presentday pilgrim will enter this doorway which is surmounted by a tower or gopuram which rises to a height of about fifty feet above ground level; and here are compound-walls (about four feet thick), proceeding from the sides of this doorway, 414 feet east to west and 263 feet south to north, enclosing the shrine-area covering about two acres. The surrounding walls give the appearance of a fort rather than a temple. And the tower over the gateway, which stands on a The Hill Shrine 91 Height of the Wall ఓ -ద-౧ |

3. Fr 00 3-8-00 -ద- మ-ద . ను - ద - 8-6-99 3-4-3 ధ | వా-ద- య - ద - 2-2- ధంద - న - ధ - మః - ధ - 3-6- 1 ఆ-ద- ఇద - ఈ -దఉ - ద - Esb-6- రూ-ద- 6-6. లూ-ద- లు-ద- Marking of stones in each layer of the Prakaram-wall 3 rectangular base, 38 feet south to north and 32 feet east to west, and has five tiers (talas), is by no means impressive. The sculpture-mouldings are very ordinary, and the renovation done in 1953 has not added any charm to the tower. But prior to 1250 A.D., there appears to have been no gopuram at all above the gateway (which, however, was there), and the bald gopuram that came into existence around that date, rose in five tiers only about 1472-1482 A.D. (after the endowment for repairing gopurams was made by Saluva-Narasimha, Inscriptions Vol. II No. 79). The surrounding walls (outer prakāra) may date only from about 1260 A.D.; but we do not find mention of their presence till 1320 or 1330 A.D. The processional image of the Sri-rangam shrine was housed in the mantapam inside this prakaram in 1320 or 1330. The sanctum of this mantapam almost abuts the southern prakāra-wall. The earliest inscriptions on this outer prakara are all of the fifteenth century. It is also suggested that the inner prakara-wall which encloses the Vimana-pradakshina was raised earlier than this outer compound-wall, for the inscriptions on the former wall belong to an earlier period. As T.K.T. Viraraghavacharya rightly notes: “It is thus seen that the second or outer prakaram wall inscriptions long after the first came into use for first one had been largely used” (op. cit., p.170). Our text (verse 55) mentions ‘mahādvara’, but does not refer to any gopura on it - or to the prākāra-wall. It is likely that the ‘maha-dvara’ was only a tall gateway, an arch-sort of structure, without any superstructure above it, or walls emanating from its sides. Further, the text (same verse) says that the pilgrim would see a huge tamarind tree as soon as he enters through the gateway (‘sriman-mahāddvaram pravisyantah asthana-chifichām achala-chhāyām’). We do not, however, see it now. The text also mentions that there were a few mantapas (verse 65), probably free structures standing apart from each other, outside the inner enclosure. Thus, for about 120 feet from the outer gateway to the inner, there must have been open ground with trees alround the shrine, extending on the north-eastern side to the sacred tank (Svami-pushkariņi). The puranas associate the tamarind tree with the manifestation of the hill-god. The Vaikhanasa priest Gopinatha and his sudra attendant Ranga-dasa together recovered the image of the god from the huge anthill that was beneath the tamarind tree on the banks of Svami-pushkariņi and installed it on the western side of the tree. (Brahma-purana 7, 30) तन्त्रिणिवृक्षमूलस्य वल्मीकस्य हरेरिदम् The Hill Shrine 8 93 उद्धृत्य पश्चिमे भागे स्थापयामसतुश्च तौ । This agrees with the present location of the god in the sanctum and the purana specifies that the image was hidden under the ant-hill only till the knees (jānu-mātra nimagna hi-tintrini vrksha-mulatah’, 20-21) According to Varaha-purana (9, 1650), the two of them (Gopinatha and Rangadasa) discovered the image of the god, freely standing (‘akasastha’) beneath the tamarind tree on the southern bank of Svami-pushkariņi, the image was exposed to the sun, moon, wind and rain. They levelled the ground and cleared it of all vegetation, barring the tamarind tree under which the god’s image was found and a champaka tree which was dear to Lakshmi. The tamarind tree apparently stood near the outer gateway while the champaka tree was near the present inner gateway. The circumambulation known as Sampangi-pradakshina (sambaga-chchurru) is called so because of the presence of the champaka tree, left uncut by the two builders of the original shrine. Bhavishyottara-purana (4, 19-21) explains the hidden meaning of the ant-hill, the tamarind tree, the sacred tank and the hill itself. The hill-god is a reincarnation of Krishna of the Dv para age. His mother Devaki now too’ the shape of an ant-hill, and his father Vasudeva appeared in the form of the tamarind tree; his brother Bala-bhadra (who is an incarnation of Sesha or Ananta) was the hill, Seshadri; the river Yamuna became Svami-pushkariņi and the land around it was Mathura indeed. All the animals on this hill are in fact the Yadavas who were playmates of Krshna, and the birds are none other than the gopika-damsels. वल्मीकं देवकी साक्षाद्वसुदेवो तिन्त्रिणी । बलभद्रः शेषशैलो मथुराभूदधित्यका।। स्वामिपुष्करिणी तत्र यमुना च व्यराजत। यादवाश्च मृगाः सर्वे खगा वै गोपिकादयः। एवं श्रीकृष्णरूपेण क्रीडते वेंकटाचले।। PRATIMA-MANTAPA At present, one who enters through the first gateway (maha-dvāra or mukha-dvāra) finds himself within an open mantapa known sometimes as Pratima-mantapa, for the splendid portrait icons (pratima) kept here. This mantapa is continuous with the gateway structurally. It is rectangular in shape, about 27 feet in width and 24’ 6” in length. Leaving a passage of 16’ feet in the middle, the mantapa has two wings, the southern one being 10'6" wide and the northern one 9'6". The wings have pillars, and the entire mantapa rests on sixteen pillars. As you enter facing the shrine, to your right is a group of three copper cast statues of excellent workmanship. 94 The Hill Shrine Pratima-Mantapa (view from inside) 95 They represent the famous Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadeva-raya (1509-1530) and his two consorts Tirumala-devi on his left and Chinna-devi to his right. The names are inscribed on the shoulders of the statues. They were set up by the emperor himself on 2nd January 1517. All three of them stand facing the shrine, with hands joined in supplication. This wing of the mantapa has two rows of four pillars (even as the other has). To your leit (viz. in the southern wing of this mantapa) is the copper-cast statue of another king of Vijayanagar, Venkatapati-raya of the Aravidu dynasty, who ruled over Chandra-giri around 1570, with the name name inscribed on the 96 Image of Venkatapati-raya king of Vijayanagar, in the Pratima-mantapa Image of Venkatapati-raya (close up) shoulder. By its side are the stone statues of Achayuta-raya, who succeeded Krishnadeva-raya on the throne and his wife Varadāji-amma. But the identification of these stone statues is doubtful, there being no inscription of names on them. These images have been made perfectly in accordance with the Agamic prescriptions: “The figures of a devotee must be made realistically in the eight-tala measure, in gold, silver, copper or in stone. The devotee must hold his hands in the posture of supplication; his eyes must be settled on the tip of his nose; and his gaze must be one of abstraction. If he is a The Hill Shrine Image of Krishnadeva-rāya with queens (in Pratima-mantapa) The Hill Shrine 97 Image of Achyutaraya-maharaya, king of Vijayanagar, in the Pratima-Mantapa, with his queen kshatriya, he must wear the crown on his head, but he must be shown in the attire of a devotee. He must be impressive -looking, and his limbs must be well-proportioned (SriVaikhanasa Pratishthanukramanika, Part II 36th chap. ed. Divi Venkata-nṛsimha charya, Nallur, 1978, pp. 300-301). foll अष्टतालेन मानेन मानुषाणां तु कारयेत् || ० || प्राञ्जलिं भावनायुक्त नासान्ताहितलोचनम्। क्षत्रियं मकुटोपेत .. सर्वाभरणसंयुक्त मुनिवेषमथापि वा। यथासौन्दर्यसंयुक्तं सर्वावयवशोभितम् । अञ्जलि ध्यानमाविश्य तत्तदाकृतिमेव वा।। Pratima-Mantapa (Pillars) The text does not mention this open mantapa or any other mantapa specifically; it merely says ‘mantapan’. Then it takes the pilgrim stranghtaway to the Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa, where the bali-pitha also is located. From there, the pilgrim is supposed to go round the enclosure and come back to the Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa; and enter into the first Gateway surmounted by a tower, and then come to Vimana pradakshina. From 1987, the scales for the tulabhara offerings by the devotees (weighing themselves against silver, gold, jaggery etc), were placed in this mantapa. Till then they were located 98 The Hill Shrine near the Koppara (Hundi) in the Tirumāmani-mantapa. TWO PRAKARAS In terms of the present-day temple plan, there are Two enclosures (prakara-walls) for the shrine. Between two prakara walls is the circumbalatory path, pradakshina-patha. Between the outermost prakara wall and inner prakara-wall is the pathway for circumambulation known as Sampangi-pradakshina. And between the inner prākāra-wall and the shrine proper (consisting of the sanctum, Sayana-mantapa, Rāmar-mēda, Snapana-mantapa and Tirumamanimantapa)is the pathway known Vimana pradakshina, for the golden Vimana (Ananda-nilaya) is visible for the pilgrims as they go round. There closed is another pathway which is for the pilgrims except for a single day in a year, between the prakāra wall of the five limbed shrine and the wall round the sanctum, the Sayana-mantapa, and Raman-meda. This narrow and covered pathway is known as Vaikuntha-pradakshina or mukkotipradakshina, on account of its being kept open on Vaikuntha or Mukkoti ekādasi. All Two pathways have their openings only on the eastern side. The Hill Shrine Mahadwara (Inside: north-face basement) 99SAMPANGI-PRADAKSHINA Of these three, the middle pathway (viz. Sampangi-pradakshina) contains several interesting mantapas like Ranga-mantapa, Tirumala-raya-man- tapa, would be ‘antar-mandala’; for the second (or middle) path (viz. Vimanapradakshina), ‘madhya-hara’; and for the third (viz. Sampangi-pradakshina) ‘maha-maryadi’. However, the mahapradakshina (viz., going round the four counted here. not streets around the shrine) is Saluva-Narasimhamantapas, Dhvaja-stambha-maṇṭapa and Ainamahal. In fact, the so-called Pratimamantapa which we have just now described is also in this pradakshina. At present, however, no pilgrim can use this pathway for circumambulation. The queue lines as well as the irregular (even haphzard) contours of the mantapas make it difficult even to visualize the pathway. In terms of temple-structure, the agama-texts prescribe from one to seven enclosure-walls (prākāra). The path between two prakara-walls is meant not only for circumambulation but the pavilions abutting the outer wall of this path (called madil-mantapa) would accommodate several requirements and functions of the temple. In the case of the hill-shrine there are three prākārawalls, and three circumambulatory paths. The innermost path now called Vaikuntha or Mukkoțipradakshina is bound on the outer side by the wall that becomes the inner wall of the middle one, now called Vimana-pradakshina. The outer wall of this path will become the inner wall of Sampangi-pradakshina, the outer wall of which is also the outer compound wall of the entire temple. The agama terminology for the first (or innermost) circumambulatory path 100 In former times, this pathway was an open one, not enclosed by any prākāra-wall. It is also said that there were champaka trees around this pathway, which circumstance was responsible for its name (Champakāvaraṇa, Sampangi-pradakshina, Sambaga-churru). The mantapas that were there were probably stray and unconnected structures. As mentioned earlier, one could, according to this text (verse 66), see the sacred tank, Svami-pushkarini, without a hindrance from the Dhvajastambha-mantapa. And the shrine at the far end of the present Rangamantapa does not have the outer prākara-wall as its back on the southern side; there is another mantapa (used formerly as a sort of kitchen and as Panel-Room, security room and queue line) between the outer prakara-wall and the Ranga-mantapa. This suggests that the outer prakarawall was a later construction; originally the Ranga-mantapa must have been an isolated structure the open ground, at a distance from the present Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa (which must have been there even when this Ranga-mantapa was raised). now on The nathway known as Sampangipradakshina skirted close to the inner The Hill Shrine prākāra-wall (viz., outer prākāra wall of the Vimana-pradakshina), which appears to have been built around 1190 A.D. There was no other wall enclosing this pradakshina at the time our text was prepared. The Bali-pitha and the Dhvaja-stambha were outside the precincts of the shrine. now a In the north-western corner of this pradakshina there is even spring-well, small and shallow, called Viraja-nadi; at present its water is unfit for use. But it must have been in use in former days. Saluva-Narasimha constructed around 1470 A.D. four mantapas in the open court-yard at the four corners of Sampangi-pradakshina, in the names of himself, his wife and his two sons. On occasions of festival, the processional image of the hill-god was brought out to go round this pradakshina, and it held court in each of these mantapas, when food-offerings were made to the pilgrims. Each mantapa is tall, unenclosed, and stands on four plain pillars. The four mantapas, however, are not of the same size. The two at the corners of the Sampangi-pradakshina behind the shrine are 8’ 6” square each, while the one at the south-eastern corner is 11 feet square and the other at the north-eastern corner is 11’ 6" x 12’ 3" When, however, the outer prakāram wall was raised, mantapas or rooms were constructed along the wall in The Hill Shrine the front of the long corridors on the three sides (excluding the eastern) till the Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa. Beyond the Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa, were large structures like the Tirumala-raya-mantapa and Ranga-mantapa on southern side. The rooms constructed in front of the Sampangi-pradakshina were used as Ugrana (store-room), Paṭṭādi (the room where silk garments were preserved), Rāmānuja-kūtam (where pilgrims were fed freely, constructed in 1450), Padi-potu ( kitchen for the preparation of sweets known as ‘panyārams’, fried and baked delicacies and Yamunat-turai (where flower-garlands for the god were strewn) A word may be said here about Yamunat-turai, where flower-garlands for daily worship are prepared. It is a custom of great antiquity in this temple that specific numbers of garlands are prepared each day, and each of them of a specific length. The length of the garlands is in terms of ‘mura’ (18 inches) and ‘bara’ (36 inches). The list of garlands used in tomala-seva everyday is given below:

1. Tiru-vadi garlands 2 in number, each 18" long

for Vaksha-sthala-Lakshmi 2; 27" garland for neck (kantha-sari): 1; 60" 3) 4) Tavalamu 1: 40" 7) Tavalamu 1: 50" 8) Saligrama-mala 2: 60" 101 Narasimha panel in a pillar in one the open Mantapas (four legged) in Sampangi-pradakshina 7) Kathari-sara (waist) 1 :36" 8) Sikhamani (of crown) 1: 50" 9) Bhoga-srinivasa 1: 27" 10) Koluvu-srinivasa 1: 27" 11) Utsava-murti 3 12) Ugra-srinivasa 3 13) Rāma 3 14) Krishna 1 15) Chakrattalvar 1 Outside the sanctum: One garland for each of the following: Ananta, Vishvaksena (bronze), Garuda, Hanuman. Angada, Sugriva,in Ramar- 102 mēḍa; Dvara-palaka, and Garudalvar in Tirumā-mani-mantapa; Varada-raja, Vishvaksena, Narasimha and Rāmānuja in Vimana-pradakshina. In 1923, some rooms were built on the southern side to store several articles relating to teppotsavam (floatfestival). Now these rooms are used to store laḍdus. The small tub-like watersource on the north-eastern corner of the shrine has been used to deposit the used flowers in worship (nirmalya) every day. The custom in the hillshrine forbids flowers worn by the god being distributed to the devotees; such flowers are dumped in this tub called pula-bavi (’the well for flowers’). In 1952, this tub was converted to a small well. The Paimayishi Account mentions that on the northern side of Sampangi-pradakshina there was a Suvarnamantapa of four storeys. Our text (verse 67) also mentions a Suvarnamantapa, which the pilgrim is said to see in this pradakshina, after beholding Svāmi-pushkariņi. It is difficult to determine what this Suvarna-mantapa refers to. The text also mentions that the pilgrim would see Nārāyaṇa-giri after seeing Suvarna-mantapa (‘suvarnamantapam chaiva narayana-girim tatha’). Does it mean that the custom was to climb the four-storeyed mantapa mentioned in the Paimayishi Account, and have a look at the highest peak (3620 feet) Narayana-giri from a disiance? Nārāyaṇa-giri peak is claimed to be the spot where the hill-god The Hill Shrine landed; there are the stone imprints of his feet on the peak, which the hardy pilgrims visit. According to our text, the order of noteworthy details in this part of the pilgrim’s journey are Padipotu (kitchen ), Svami-pushkarini (the sacred tank), Yamuneya-malyāgāra (the present Yamunat-turai), the icon of Krishna installed therein, Suvarna-mantapa, Narāyana-giri and Bali-pitha. Here is this portion of the text, much of which however is not relevant to our purpose here: आनम्य मण्टपांश्चैव पश्येयं विपुलोन्नतान्। बलिपीठं महादिव्यं ब्रह्मरुद्रादि सेवितम् ||५६|| ध्वजस्तम्भेन सहितं प्रणम्य प्राञ्जलिर्मुदा । भावयेयं वृषाद्रीशं प्रणतार्तिहरं प्रभुम् ।।५७|| 1 तत्र प्रदक्षिणपरान् नमस्कारपरान् मुहुः वेदपाराणपरान् वेदान्तव्याक्रियापरान् ||५८|| इतिहांसपुराणादीन् पठतः श्रृण्वतो पि च। स्तोत्रपाठे च निरतान् ब्रह्मविद्यासु निष्ठितान्| |५९|| सङ्कीर्तनपरान् शौरे: गुणश्रवण तत्परान् ध्याननिष्ठान् योगनिष्ठान् जपशीलांस्तथा यतीन् || ६० || आबद्धाञ्जलिपदांश्चाप्यानन्दाश्रुभिराप्लुतान्। The Hill Shrine Sampangi-pradakshina 103 पुलकाञ्चितगात्रांश्च पूतभावान्महात्मनः ।। ६१॥ सन्तानधनराज्यश्रीसम्पदादिवरार्थिनः । लब्ध्वा वरं ततस्तूर्णमिष्टालाप परानपि ।।६२।। सर्वान् महाभागवतान् सम्पश्येयं पुनः पुनः । ततो वेंकटनायक्या: स्थानं दृष्ट्वा ततः परम् ||६३।। अनम्य चम्पकतरुं तन्नामाङ्कितवीथिकाम् । प्रदक्षिणपरं सर्वं पश्येयं च कृताञ्जलिः ।।६४।। Here is mentioned the champakatree, which was imagined to be dear to the consort of the hill-god (Lakshmi) and which gave the name for this circumambulatory pathway. However, the text speaks of an abode to this goddess (venkata-nayakyah sthānam), in this pradakshina-patha. What or where it was cannot now be known. There is now no shrine to Lakshmi anywhere in the temple. Lakshmi is supposed to reside in the right chest of the hill-god, who is eka-murti here. शालिमुद्गतिलादीनां शालास्तत्र सहस्रशः । सर्वसम्पत्समृद्धाश्च पाकशाला मनोरमाः ||६५|| स्वामिपुष्करिणीतीर्थं दृष्ट्वाचम्य ततः परम् । यामुनेयाभिधं दिव्यं माल्यागारं मनोहरम् ‘॥६६॥ (After the mention of the Champaka-tree, the present Padi-poțu ( kitchen ), Svami-pushkarini (the sacred tank), and Yamunat-turai are 104 men- PADI-PŌTU, Kitchen (in Sampangi Pradakshina) In the foreground is the well. tioned one after another. Padi-potu and Yāmunat-turai are located in the northern side of Sampangi-pradakshina, then probably overlooking the the Dhvajastambha mantapa (now Aina-mahal obstructs the view). And the sacred tank would be almost immediately at the back of Padi-potu and Yamunatturai, not very far removed. In front of the western end of Padi-potu, there is a well. Did the Champaka tree stand nearby? Perhaps it was situated in front of the present Rāmānuja-kūtam hall (adjoining Padi-potu on its western side), which was then not existing, so that a view could easily be had of Svāmi-pushkarini. Even at present, The Hill Shrine Yamuna-turai is the last apartment in the Sampangi-pradakshina on the Svāmi-pushkariņi side) गोपीनां रमणं तत्र वेणुनादविनोदिनम्। सुवर्णमण्टपं चैव नारायणगिरिं तथा । | ६७ || The ‘malyagara is the place where flower-garlands are prepared for the daily decoration of the god, and it is also described as ‘yamuneya’ that is to say, pertaining to Yamuna. It is now called Yamunat-turai, meaning the stream of Yamuna. It has already been mentioned that the Puranas explain that the hill-god is a reincarnation of Krishna of the Dvapara age; the ant-hill being Devaki, the tamarind tree Vasudeva, the hill Bala-bhadra and Svāmi-pushkariņi the river Yamunā. The expression Yamunat-turai becomes significant in this context. The apartment is not very far from Svami-pushkarini, which is in spirit the river Yamuna, according to this legend. And the expressions like ’the delighted of gopika-dansels’ (‘gopinām ramaṇam’) and ‘producer of ravishing music from his flute’ (‘veņu-nada-vinodinam’), referring to Krishna (whose image is found installed in the present Yamunatturai) are reminiscent of Krishna’s sports on the banks of Yamuna. The Hill Shrine KRSHNA IN YAMUNAT-TURAI 105 口 ᄆ ᄆ a SAMPANGI PRADAKSHINA MANTAPAS 415’-2’> //// OUTER PRAKARA WALL////// < 29-7-7 13'0 <8'6> T 13-07 101.9"> 108’-0" ← 93-3"> T 106 T ← 01-28→→ ←42-0 16:07 ← 35'0’> 417-01 13'01 SILVER DOORWAY 41007 0:88 TIRUMALA-RAYA MANTAPA GROUP I PHVAJASTAMBHA MANTAPA 1 TODARMAL RANGA-MANTAPA The Hill Shrine RANGA-MANTAPA (Sancturm) The Hill Shrine RANGA-MANTAPA Of the many mantapas in the Sampangi-pradakshina mentioned in general terms in the text, the most important are the Ranga-mantapa (108 x 60’) and Tirumala-raya-maṇṭapa (108’ x 401’). The former is called Ranga-nayakula-mantapa in the official Dittam for Kartikotsava (enumerating the spots in the temple-complex where lights have to be put up). It is also called Ranga-natha-mantapa, because it was constructed to house the processional image of the god Ranga-natha of Srirangam (which was being secretly conveyed from place to place to save it from Muslim vandalism during 13201360); and also because the Yadava- RANGA-MANTAPA (Inside) 107 RANGA-MANTAPA (Pillars) RANGA-MANTAPA (Northern corner) RANGA-MANTAPA (Western side) RANGA-MANTAPA (Hall) 108 The Hill Shrine 9 RANGA-MANTAPA (Sculptures) RANGA-MANTAPA (Inside) RANGA-MANTAPA (Inner mantapa) 109 The Hill ShrineT RANGA-MANTAPA (Central Hall) RANGA-MANTAPA (Vijayanagar royal emblem on the entrance pillars) RANGA-MANTAPA (Ramayana-frieze) 110 The Hill Shrine RANGA-MANTAPA (Western wall) king, Śri-ranga-natha, was responsible for its construction. This spacious mantapa comes to our view as soon as we step out of the Pratima-mantapa at the very entrance to the shrine, and turn our head to the left. This mantapa, which is at the south-eastern corner of the large courtyard of the temple, is positioned between the eastern and southern sides of the outer compound-wall (prākāra), to the south of the Pratimamantapa, leaving, however, a gap of six feet from the southern prākāra-wall, and 27'4" from the eastern wall. It is doubtful, however, if this prakara was at all there when this mantapa was A piller in Ranga-Mantapa The Hill Shrine RANGA-MANTAPA (Portion of Kumbha-panjara on the western wall of shrine-room) 111 RANGA-MANTAPA (Portion of Kumbha-pañjara in the western wall of shrine-room) built. It would be more reasonable to assume that if this mantapa was constructed to be a shrine for the god of Sri-rangam who was worshipped according to the Pancharatra division of the Agama, it should be outside the premises of the hill-god, who was worshipped according to the Vaikhānasa division of the Agama. During 1320-1360, therefore, the outer limit of the hill-shrine must have been the Bali-pitha, and the present Ranga-mantapa would have been built beyond this, in the open ground. And even now, it can be seen that this mantapa is a shrine in its own right. It has a sanctum with a vimanam of plaster over it, and a separate kitchen and rooms for torches and vahanas (cf. Paimayishi Account which states that at the southern side of the Sampangi-pradakshina in this mantapa consisting of a room for torches, a room for keeping Mysore state’s vehicles, Ranga-nayaka’s kitchen and a shrine). It must have been an unenclosed pavilion, large enough for the Sri-vaishnavas from Sri-rangam and Tirupati to gather for congregational worship during the many festivals that are celebrated in a Pancharatra shrine (unlike in a Vaikhanasa shrine) 112 The Hill Shrine This mantapa, supported by massive granite pillars, delicately sculpted in the Vijayanagar style, stands on a high basement, and measures 44’ 10" east to west and 112’ 7" north to south. At the far end on the southern side is the shrine (garbha-gṛha and antarala) that was mentioned earlier, square in shape (12 feet) with a porch. It is called in the Paimayishi Account ‘Simhasana - mantapa’, having four slender posts in front of it; adjoining it on the west, continues the Account, is the rice-flowering room (pindi-salā). The doors of the shrine were closed and locked up, after the Pancharatra god was taken back to Sri-rangam, when favourable conditions prevailed there. A large Sesha-vahana is kept there now, blocking the entrance to this shrine. The hall was later used for functions like kalyānotsava. And the vahanas (processional vehicles) have been kept here now in the rectangular space to the west (15'2" wide) TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA Adjoining the Ranga-mantapa on the western side, farther removed from the southern prākāra-wall (about 10 feet) and facing the Dhvaja-stambhamantapa, is a spacious complex of The Hill Shrine RANGA-MANTAPA (Left) and Tirumala-Raya-Mantapa 113 114 TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA The Hill Shrine TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (basement of the northwestern corner) TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Front View) The Hill Shrine pavilions (38 feet east to west and 77 feet north to south) generally known as Tirumala-raya-mantapa, after the chieftain Tirumala-raja of the Araviti family. But this chieftain only renovated and extended an earlier structure (the southern or the inner mantapa) built by Saluva-Narasimha in 1473 A.D. for celebrating a new festival to the hill-god (processional deity) called in Tamil, anna-unjal-tirunal (Skt. hamsa-tulika-dolotsava, swinging ceremony), a five-day festival in the month of Ani (June-July). There are two tall stone pillars in this earlier pavilion for suspending the swing; but there is also a small mantapa (of black granite), 6 feet square in extent and supported by four ornamental (in with Vijayanagar style) pillars, and 115 TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Inside) TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Pillars on the Western side) 116 WANG MANCAD TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Side View) The Hill Shrine TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Inner Pavilion) TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Pillars at the The Hill Shrine entrance) TIRUMALA-RAYA MANTAPA (Pillars on the Western Side) 117 TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Southeastern corner of inner pavilion) TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (Southeastern corner of inner pavilion) 鄉 TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (inner pavilion from the southern sico) TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (inner pavilion southestern corner) 118 The Hill Shrine TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (basement of the inner pavilion, northern side) The Hill Shrine TIRUMALA-RAYA-MANTAPA (pillar-top in the southern corner) 119H Bronze Images of Lala-Khem-ram (Todar-mal) his wife and mother vimana of plaster, according to Paimayishi Account (which calls this the ‘simhasana-mantapa’) between the pillars, making the swinging impossible. Continuous with this inner and earlier mantapa (called in inscriptions Narasimha-raya-mantapa, II, 79) which is rectangular in shape, is another mantapa, lower in level and reached by steps, which faces Dhvaja-stambhamantapa. This latter mantapa is almost square in shape (35’) and at its north-western corner is the platform (13’ long) on which the portrait statues of Töḍar-mal are kept. The distance between this mantapa and the prakārawall by the side of the Inner Gate-way (Naḍimi-padikavali) is 17 feet; and the distance between this mantapa and the Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa is 10 feet. was This mantapa was built by Araviti Tirumala-raya for the performance of the annual Vasantosava. He also arranged for the free distribution of food -offerings (made to god )to the pilgrims; this well-known as ‘Tirumala-rayan pongal’. Latterly, the custom came into vogue of seating the processional image (Malayappa) in this pavilion to hold court on the evening of the flag hoisting ceremony (dhvajarohaṇa), marking the commencement of the grand Brahmotsavam. The location of this mantapa facilitated this practice. This western end of the complex of pavilions is close to the inner prakarawall of Sampangipradakshina (a little more than ten feet in distance) and approaches closely Dhvaja- the 120 The Hill Shrine has the lower legs missing, and that of MatāMohana-pe is devoid of the feet. The three personages are shown in the standing posture in an attitude of devotion, facing the shrine. Bronze images of Lala-Khem-Ram-and others (another view) on their stambha-mantapa in front (leaving of course a gap). In the north-western corner is a small pavilion (originally a brick one with four pillars), now a rectangular platform 13 feet long, containing the bronze cast portraitstatues of Lala Khem-ram (better known as Toḍar-mall), his mother Mata-Mohana and his wife Pita-bibi (the names are inscribed shoulders). Lala-Khem-rām trusted chieftain under the Nawab of Arcot, Sadat-ul-la-Khan around 1714 A.D. and was administering the Karnatik area under this Nawab. It appears he was a resident of Konda-vidu near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Of the three statues the one of Pita-bibi (wife) is complete, that of Lala-Khem-Rām The Hill Shrine was a AINA-MAHAL Among the other structures within the Sampangi-pradakshina is an usual Hall of Mirrors (Aina-mahal, or Addala-mantapam), built on a high basement, to our right as we enter through the Outer Gateway. It faces the Ranga-mantapa on the other side and is about 12 feet away from Pratimamantapa. This is obviously a late addition to the temple-complex. The open front pavilion is square in shape (43’ 13" x 43’ 6") and there are six rows of six pillars in each row. There is an enclosed room of about the same size (41’ 9" x 42’) behind this open pavilion, with its entrance to the east. Inside this room, there is a sanctum-sort of apartment (23’ x 2’ 9") with a pathway alround it. The walls of the room are faced with large mirrors. There is also a railing in the middle of the room. It is not known why or when this room was built. For a long time, the administrative offices of the temple were located here. Now, the laddus are stored in this hall. In effect, the pathway freely available in Sampangi-pradakshina is the open space actually around the outer wall of Vimana-pradakshina. This path- 121 www DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA (View as we enter through the Main Doorway) way is 30’ 7" wide on the southern side, 21 feet behind the shrine. I remember that as an youngster, I would, as would all the other pilgrims, go up to the Dhvaja-stambha-manṭapa and turn left to enter into the Sampangi-pradakshina. The eastern bit of this pathway towards south was very narrow, because of the Tirumala-rayanmantapa coming very close, whereas the other side of the eastern prākāra (towards north) was much far removed. Now, of course, the Sampangi-pradakshina cannot be used by the pilgrims at all. The only pradakshina that is permitted by the TTD authorities at present is the Vimana-pradikshina. 122 DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA (View along with Nadimi-Padikavall and Ananda-nilaya). vimana) DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA The Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa, where the pilgrim would find the Bali-pitha (seat for food offering) and the Dhvaja-stambha (flag-pole), is located physically in the Sampangipradakshina, but technically it is the outer limit of the Vimana-pradakshina. According to the Agama requirements, bali-pitha and dhvaja-stambha must be found in the first enclosure itself (prathamavarana). But to have a pavilion (mantapa) for the Bali-pitha and Dhvaja-stambha is rather unusual. Being a hill-shrine, the uncertainties of the weather conditions probably necessitated a covered mantapa, where the The Hill Shrine DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA (northern side) rituals may be carried out even when it rains, for the very purpose of a dhvaja-stambha and bali-pitha is to facilitate festivals. It is said in Bhṛgu’s Khiladhikara (32, 19) हरेस्तु पुरतो नित्यं बलिपीठं ध्वजस्तथा । नियमेन प्रतिष्ठाप्यौ हीनयोर्नास्त्युत्सवस्तयोः। The relative positions of the two details are in accordance with Agamic prescriptions. The flag-pole must be, according to the texts, between the dvara-gopura (gateway-tower) and the bali-pitha (altar), directly in front of the entrance, and the altar is situated immediately behind it. The huge altar is square in shape, made of cut-stone, rising to a height of five and a half The Hill Shrine DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA (inside) 123 DHVAJA-STAMBHA MANTAPA (during the repairs of 1982) Dhvaja-stambha-Mantapa (The new wooden flagpole being installed in 1982) 124 Dhvaja-stambha-Mantapa (Old Bali-pitham, which was removed during the renovations of 1982) The Hill Shrine DHVAJA STAMBHA MANTAPA (Bali-pitham and adhishthana of Dhvaja-stambha, with gilt coverings) feet. The bali-stone on top of it is one foot in diameter. The entire structure is now covered with gilt sheet-metal. The Dhvaja-stambha is a long circular-shaped wooden pole (danda), now encased in gilt copper sheets. According to Khiladhikara (32, 14), the flag-pole’s height must be the same as the height of the temple, a quarter, or half of it: ध्वजदण्डं ऋजुं कुर्याद्विमानप्रमितोच्छ्रयम्। विमानात्पादहीन वा विमानार्धमथापि वा।। There is an agamic provision for covering it with metal plates (ibid, 17 ‘svarnadi-kosa-samyuktam yathāvibava-vistaram’). The supposition is that the bottom portion of the pole represents Brahma, the middle portion END On Dhvaja-stambha 10 The Hill Shrine 125 -12-0"> ·9'6" ← 12-0"> <911"> <9.6"> SAMPANGI- SILVER DOORWAY PRADAKSHINA DHVAJA 126 BALI ୮ ← 36-0"→→→ 4 DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine :: kiri07; એવા દેશો On Dhvaja-stambha On Dhvaja-stambha 127 and the portion Vishnú (ibid. Śiva adi-madhyanta bhageshu brahmeŝahari-daivatam’) Its base is cut-stone, cubical in shape, also covered by gilt plates. The the flag-pole and altar together measure 15 feet east to west. In the space between the Bali-pitha and the Dhvaja-stambha are kept five small altar-stones; it is on these that the bali (food offerings for the attendant divinities) is actually placed. The pavilion that contains the flagpole and the altar is a structure 36 feet square, and it stands on twenty stone pillars, on which are carved several erotic figures and also some incarnations of Vishnu (like Narasimha, Matsya and Krishna). There is also to be seen the Pandya emblem of a pair of fish (matsya-yugma). The flag-pole and the altar were renewed during the renovations that were carried out in 1982. THE INNER ENTRANCE बलिपीठं पुनर्गत्वा प्रत्यग्द्वारं च चाम्पकम् । बद्धाञ्जलिस्ततः पश्यन् प्रासादान्परमाद्भुतान् ||६८|| the The pilgrim now returns to the Balipitha from where he began his circumambulation along Sampangi-pradakshina. He enters through the gateway that leads him to Vimana-pradakshina. The towered 128 gateway is known as Nadimi-padikavali, or middle main entrance. The temple has only two towered gateways (dvara-gopuras); the outer entrance which admits the pilgrim into the temple -complex (Padi-kavali or Mahadvara) pierced through the outermost enclosure, and the inner entrance, the wooden doors of which are covered by silver plates (hence known as Vendi-Vakili). The distance between the two gateways is about 120 feet, covering an open courtyard. The inner gateway is reached only through the Dhvaja-stambha-mantapa. The two gopuras are similar in design, but the inner one is smaller, its height being nine feet and base 24 feet east to west and 36 feet south to north; and the width of the gateway is 9’ 6". It has three tiers (talas) of plaster work, surmounted by ornamental vases. The enclosure. walls that emanate from the sides of this gateway measure on the outside 235 feet east to west and 160 feet south to north. The walls are faced with dressed cutstones, about three feet thick. There are numerous inscriptions to be found here, the earliest relating to the Pandyan monarch, Jata-varma Sundarapandya, who began his rule in 1251 A.D. This enclosure, thus, was in existence long before the outer enclosure took shape. This gopura like the outer one, was renovated between 1472 and 1482 (cf II 79) and again in 1950 - 53. पायसान्नैर्गुडान्नैश्च शुध्दैरोदनराशिभिः The Hill Shrine दधिक्षीराज्यसम्पन्नैर्मृष्टान्नै र्विविधोदनैः ॥६९॥ अपूपैः स्वादुभिर्हृद्यै: शालिपिष्टोपपादितैः । सुगन्धैर्गौघृतैः पक्कैः प्रभूतगुडसंमितैः 110011 पृथुकैर्गुडसम्मिश्रः सजीरकमरीचकैः । कन्दमूलफलैश्चैव व्यञ्जनैर्विविधैरपि||७१|| सम्पूर्णां पाकशालां च संप्रविश्याथ सन्नतः । श्रियं तत्र स्थितां देवीं श्रीनिवासमन:प्रियाम् ||७२ || प्रणमेयम्……। Pattika 1 Kantha ICICICI Padma-jagati The Hill Shrine Upa-pitha of the Nadimi-padi-kāvali (Inner Entrance) Upana 129130 GARUDA VIMANA - PRADAKSHINAM g-t 12’-0" 12-0"→→→→ Z SILVER DOORWAY Z DHVAJA-STAMBHA-MANTAPA NADIMI-PAÇIKĀVALI The Hill Shrine NADIMI-PADI-KĀVALI (basement on the northern side) NADIMI-PADI-KAVALI (Wall on the western side) NADIMI-PADI-KAVALI (Outside the prokora wall on the northern side) The Hill Shrine 131 VIMĀNA-PRADAKSHINA The pilgrim who passes through the inner gopuram steps into the Vimanapradakshina, which is the circumambulatory pathway round the central shrine in the direct sight of the gilt dome over the sanctum (called Ananda-nilaya-vimāna). The use of this name for the enclosure appears to have begun in 1190 A.D. Besides the open ground for devotees to go round, there are also many apartments which are significant in the history and administration of the temple. Our text deals with only a few of them; it will, therefore, be desirable to give a complete picture of the Vimana-pradakshina as it obtains now. As soon as we enter the Vimanapradakshina, we see the back of the Garudalvar-sannidhi which blocks the main entrance to the open pavilion known as Tirumāmaņi-mantapa. The pavilion is removed from the Inner Gateway by about 30 feet. The space available for circumambulation, or rolling around on ones body in fulfilment of a vow called anga-pradakshina, is 30’ 7" wide on the right side of the main shrine, till we reach the Kalyāṇamaṇṭapa (which intrudes into the passage by about 15’), 15 feet at the back of the shrine, and 21 feet on the left side. The Pradakshina is rectangular in shape, with 235 feet long (east to west) and 160 feet wide (north to south). The expression ‘vimana’ signifies in the Agama texts the main shrine itself or the dome (or (or tower) raised over the sanctum Maya-mata (22,8), Kamikägama (50, 91-93), Agni-purāṇa (104, 14-15), and other texts use the word Vimana in the former sense, which apears to be the earlier usage. In the Vaikhanasa texts also, vimana refers to a temple, as for instance, in the well-known work of Marichi, Vimānarchana-kalpa (7th patala). • Bhrgu’s Khiladhikara deals with the thirty-two kinds of temples under the section ‘vimana-bhedah’ (ch. 6); and uses the expression the vimana sometimes in the sense of a sanctum, as for instance (2, 77), विमानस्यानुरूपं च ध्रुवं निर्णीय पूर्वतः। ध्रुवानुरूपमानेन कौतुकं कारयेद् बुधः । or (20, 3-4), एकस्मिंस्तु विमाने वै बेराणि त्रीणि कल्पयेत् । अशक्तो द्वे तथैकं वा यथाशक्ति प्रकल्पयेत् ।। Kasyapiya Jñana-kaṇḍa Jñana-kanda means by vimāna a temple when it deals with the eighteen kinds of vimana (chap-32, ‘ashtadasa-vimanani devadevasya vishnoh’). In Yajnadhikara (ch. 5, 21) we have the same meaning in another context: शिलाभेद प्रवक्ष्यामि विमानार्थं द्विजोत्तमाः। 132 The Hill Shrine NADIMI-PADI-KĀVALI (Wall on the western side) Likewise, in the puranas, vimāna stands for a temple. In Bhavishyottara, for instance, the prince Samkha is advised by God himself to construct a temple (vimana) for him: विमानं च शिलादारुलोष्टेष्टखचितं कुरु। (3,47) यथा दृष्टं विमानं ते मद्रूपं भरतर्षभ। (3, 49) तेनोक्तमार्गेण विधाय पुण्याम् विमानवर्यं प्रतिमां च पुण्याम् । प्रख्याप्य शंखो नरलोकसंघे The Hill Shrine जगाम विष्णोः पदमव्ययं शुभम् ।। (3, 51) In the Pancharatra reckoning, however, the vimana generally means the superstructure over the sanctum. Naradiya-samhita, for instance, speaks of decorating the vimana (viz. tower) with the figures of ten incarnations of Vishnu (13,307, ‘vimana-sobhartham’), or of different types of such superstructure (14, 111 rectangular, square, circular etc.), or of the rites of propitiations when a vimana gets broken (25, 287, ‘bhagne vimane’). The shrine itself is called in the Pancharatra texts ‘alaya’ or ‘prasada’. 133 134 Adhishthana of the Nadimi-padikavall (Inner entrance) Pattika Kantha Kumuda Jagathi Upana The Hill Shrine The Hill Shrine Entrance to Vimana-pradakshina 135 POTU роти AMMA YAGASALA BANGARU-BAVI VIMANA-PRADAKSHINA VARADARĀJA SANNIDHI < 641-0-> 136 Outer wall of the sanctum in the Kalyana-mantapa in Vimana-pradakshina The Hill Shrine E VYALA PRASTARA UTTARA KAPOTA STAMBHA VEDIKA KAPOTA-PATT PADA-VARGA KUMUDA PADMA JAGATI ADHISHTHANA 00 ←6945"-> 4-61’-6-7 ос MUKKOTIPRADAKSHINA • 10.0 ← 8.3" 10’-d- • 4907 19 år ← 12-18→ GARBHAN 5'9" 412-187 VIMÁNA-PRADAKSHINA BANGARU-BAVI +10.1'7 4967 ← 11-9, +13-67 125 → The Hill Shrine ENTRANCE TO MUKKOTI-PRADAKSHINA 4170"> “416”-3" 10" 13'2" SAYANA 4-18 1 -> 411361→ RAMAR 37 5.9 5'9" -27'6" ←27’ SNA PANA 3.4’ VISHVAXSNA STORE STORE ROOM ROOM TIRU MAMANI - MANTAPA 20’-0" ← 12'2"> ± 13'6 ->" Inside Vimana-pradakshina 4 30’ 0" <92-6-7 EXIT FROM < MUKKOTI- PRADAKSHINA 137 Vimana-pradakshina in a Vaikhānasa shrine (like the hill-shrine) is actually the circumambulatory path that skirts the sanctum along with the pavilion in front of it, which is the main shrine. In this case, this is what is now the covered and narrow pathway called Mukkoti-pradakshina, which goes round the walls of the sanctum (garbha-gṛha) and the present Sayana-mantapa, which in former days was only the mukha-mantapa (or the ’llan-kōyil’). It is not known when the wall that is at present called Vimana-prākāra, and which is also closed for the devotees, was built. This is not mentioned in our text; nor does it suggest the presence of another (inner) pradakshina, besides Vimana-pradakshina. According to the text, the pilgrim goes round the shrine in Vimana-pradakshina and enters the main shrine directly. The text mentions most of the other details in this pradakshina, like the kitchen (paka-sala, pōtu), the sacrificial hall (yaga-salā), the shrine to Ramanuja, the shrine to Narasimha and also the Pushpa-mantapa (the present Tirumamani-mantapa). We have an inscriptional record that the last mentioned mantapa (which our text calls Pushpamantapa, verse 79) was built in 1417 A.D. So, till at least that date, there was no Mukkoti-pradakshina; Vimanapradakshina was a wide pathway, the inner side of which touched the walls of the sanctum and and the present Sayana-manṭapa. The small shrine to Vishvaksena, the existence of which is unknown to most of the pilgrims, but which is mentioned in our text, is situated in the present Mukkoti-pradakshina; and it faces east. There is a Vaikhanasa prescription that a separate shrine must be built for Vishvaksena in the very first enclosure (Khifadhikara 9, 7, 39) इन्द्रादीनां च सर्वेषां विष्वक्सेनेन चैव हि। आलयं संप्रकुर्वीत प्रथमावरणे पि हि ।। and that the snapana-mantapa must be had in the second enclosure (ibid, 7, 64) स्नानालयं प्रकुर्वीत द्वितीयावरणे तथा ।। The present Snapana-mandapa is a large apartment, larger in size than the sanctum, that stands in between the Ramar-Medai and Tirumamani-mantapa. Probably to satisfy the Agamic requirement to keep the snapana-mandapa outside the first enclosure, the inner circuit (Mukkoti-pradakshina) was constructed, including the shrine to Vishvaksena in it, as the Vaikhanasa agama requires. Thus, Mukkoti-pradakshina (more properly to be called Sannidhi-pradakshina) was carved out of the Vimana-pradakshina at some time after 1417 A.D. And because of the projecting shrine to Vishvaksena, on the northern side of the circuit, the width of Mukkoti-pradakshina on this side is almost double of what it is on the southern side. The Hill Shrine 138 VARADARĀJA-SHRINE is the When the pilgrim enters Vimanapradakshina and turns leftward, as is customary in the circumambulatory ritual, he beholds on the eastern side of the Vimana-pradakshina the small but elegant shrine to Varada-raja. This is not mentioned in our text. Varadaraja (Pon-mainda-perumal) presiding god at Kanchipuram (Attigiri), one of the most important places of worship for Sri-vaishnavas. We do not know why, or when, this little shrine to Varada-raja came to be here; there are no inscriptional or literary references to this. There is a conjecture that like the processional deity of Sri-rangam, the processional deity of Kanchipuram also sought and found refuge in the hill-shrine, when the Muslims threatened to attack this holy city. It is hard to ascertain the veracity of this conjecture. It appears that there is an inscription on the slab in front of the Tayar shrine in the Varadaraja temple (at Kanchipuram), according to which, “the Delhi Emperor Aurangazeb fitted out an expedition about 1688 A.D. against the Mahrattas of the South and Conjevaram. The temple authorities of the three premier temples of that city (viz., Varada-raja, Vaikuntha-perumal and Ulagalanḍa-perumal) thereupon apprehending desecration at the profane hands of the invaders, disguised the images of the temple gods as corpses and conveyed them secretly out of the The Hill Shrine in town and found an asylum in the jungles of Uḍayar - palyam Trichinopoly district. But when the danger was past and Conjevaram was considered safe, the local chieftain of Uḍayarpalyam, who was much enraptured at the image of the god, refused to restore it to its original abode at Kanchi with the result that at the special intereession of Attan-Jiyar, his disciple Lala-Toḍarmalla terrorized the chief with a strong contingent of troops at his back and safely brought back in saka 1632 (1710 A.D.) the image and reinstated it in the temple with great pomp and splendour” (MED M-104-105 for 1920-21, cited in P.V. Jagadisa Ayyar South Indian Shrines, Madras 1922, pp 77-78) It becomes evident from this long extract that the hill-shrine is not mentioned here as the place where Varadarāja was hidden, and that Toḍaramalla, who was also a great devotee of the hill-shrine, as already mentioned, was also associated with the Varada-raja temple at Kanchipuram. For that matter, Achyuta-raya, the Vijayanagar king, was also a patron of the temple at Kanchipuram. There seems to have been thus a small shrine in the hill-temple even before 1354-55 A.D., as there is an inscription of this date on the northern wall of this shrine (in the 16th regnal year of Sri-ranga-natha Yadava-rāya). However, that this small shrine was really to Varada-raja does not become evident by any inscriptional or literary 139140 NADIMI PADI-KAVAL VIMĀNA PRADAKSHINA 77Z/PRĀKĀRA-WALL /// W-24-0"> 12197 < «~11:0"> VARADARAJA-SANNIDHI The Hill Shrine | POTU