An inside look at South India's famed Tirupati temple

The temple which attracts 60,000 to 70,000 devotees per day, making it the most visited in the world, opened its door for the first time giving millions a glimpse of what resides inside.

On Tuesday, National Geographic channel presented the story of the Tirumala Triupati temple located in the Seshachalam Hill ranges, 2500 feet above sea level.

Aimed at offering viewers an in-depth tour of the temple through time-laspe and hyper-lapse photography, the channel traced down its history, architecture, traditions, miracles and the smooth functioning of the temple.

The Head Priest Dr Ramana Deekshithulu, PhD in molecular biology explains the concept of the Holy Trinity that of Brahma (creator), Vishnu (protector) and Shiva (destroyer), who are each an attribute of the Supreme Energy. Vishnu is known to have taken forms of humans and animals, one of them being the Sri Venkateswara Swamy, the deity of Tirupati.

Temple design

The style and architecture of the temple dates back to the 7th century with inscriptions from different dynasties like Pallavas, Chollas and the Vijaynagar dynasty.

The main temple stretches to 2.2 acres with the main Gopuram being 50 feet tall. The Gali Gopuram, Ranga mandapam, Aina Mahal etc form the other structures in the temple. The entrance to the temple is at the Vaikuntam Queue Complex, which is a solace for those standing in the long winding queues. The registration for the darshan takes place at the Gali Gopuram through biometric and photo registration.

The Bangaru Vaakili is the narrow passage to the inner sanctum sanctorum signifying the soul's journey into the womb of the Divine. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, governing body at the temple plans with precision to let thousands through the narrow path. A system of three minutes in and four minutes out is followed to accommodate 1,000 people an hour into the sanctum.

Offering for deity

Once inside, one will witness the eight feet tall deity known as the Dhruva Bera of Sri Venkateswara Swami. Here, along with the main deity, stand other deities of the Lord for varying purposes like the Bhoga Srinivasa, Ugra Srinivasa, Koluvu Srinivasa and Sri Malayappa with Bhudevi and Sridevi.

The deities are adorned with jewellery, flowers and the best of fragrances. To all the grace adding to the deities, an integral part of the Tirupati tradition includes adorning the deity with sandalwood from the surrounding jungles in Seshachalam.

The temple also receives flower donations from all over the world, weighing between 100-200 kilos a day to about 35 tonnes on special occasions.

Spiritual caretakers

Touring through 'Veda Paathshala' for priests the show offered an insight into the lives of the 'spiritual guides' at the temple. Here the priesthood spanning over 200 years carries out the temple rituals.

The Venkateswara Veda Vidgyana Peetham at Dharamagiri has been training priests for 134 years. But it is the Jeeyars who hold the keys to the sanctum sanctorum. They are the descendants of Sri Ramanuja, a theologian and philosopher who prescribed the rituals at the temple.

Pilgrimage

The travel to the temple is an exciting journey by itself, meandering through the hills of Seshachalam surrounded by greenery. Though the easiest way of traveling to Tirupati is through the roads of Seshachalam but people often take tough paths by climbing through the 9 kms or 2 kms stretch as an offering to the Lord.

Offerings to the lord

Most people going to Tirupati follow the tradition of tonsuring their heads before the darshan symbolising the effacing of the ego and purging your vanity before presenting yourself to the Lord.

Another indispensible part of the tradition is the prasad from the temple, which has been patented under geographical indication. The laddu made from gram flour, sugar, dry fruits and ghee is a combination of ancient practices with modern mechanised technology.

The testing lab at Tirupati checks the shelf life as well as breaks down the ingredients in the laddu for quality checks. About 3,00,000 laddus are produced daily. The temple also provides anna prasadam (a vegetarian meal) for the devotees made with the donation of coconuts and vegetables. About 70,000 devotees consume anna prasadam at the temple on a daily basis.

Yearly celebrations

The biggest yearly festival at the temple is the 'Brahmotsavam', celebrating the mythological arrival of the Lord to Tirupati. This nine day extravaganza draws a huge crowd as the Lord Malayappa Swami is taken around the town in different chariots (vahanams). The most popular day being the Garudotsavam(chariot in the shape of Garuda).