| Temples & Legends Of Andhra
Pradesh |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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TIRUPATI |
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| In this temple,
unlike other Vishnu temples, we find no minor shrines or idols of Vaishnava saints, viz.,
the Alwars and the Acharyas. In this temple, they exist in their original form, as Nitya
Suris, and hence there is no other shrine for them. There is only a temple for Sri
Ramanuja, the great Vaishnavite saint who is said to have added the Chakra and
Sankha to the Lord. The popular legend is that originally the Sankha and Chakra were not
in the idol, and that when a dispute as to whether the idol was a Vaishnavite or Saivite
one arose, Sri Ramanuja proposed that the Sankha and the Chakra, which are the
emblems of Lord Vishnu should be placed before the deity during night, after worship, and
that the Lord himself might choose between the two, and declare as to what form he has. It is said that Sri Ramanuja, who is considered to be the Avatara of
Adisesha, took the form of a cobra, and went in through the opening intended for the
Abhisheka Tirtha, and prayed to the Lord, whereupon the Lord himself took up the two
emblems of Lord Vishnu. The pathway through which a great Saint like Ramanuja passed, was
then closed and to this day the Abhisheka Tirtha is being taken out only in vessels, |
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