TIRUPATI

PUSHKARINI

Let us now enter the temple and feast our eyes with the sight of Sri Venkateswara the destroyer of sins. Before entering, it is customary to bathe in the Swami Pushkarini reputed to be as sacred as Mandakini. This is lying too. close to the first prakara on the Northern side, and deemed the holiest for several reasons. It is said that its miraculous powers can cure incurable diseases of the bathers, in addition to giving liberation. It has earned a supreme place among the thirthas. It is brought down according to Puranas by Garuda from Vaikunta for Lord's Jalakrida in the beginning, and even now its water is used for the abhishekam of the Lord everyday. Its past and glory too are worthy of mention and a bath in it is a MUST, since it is now fed with the sacred Akasaganga water and making it holier, adding, as it were, fragrance to the dazzle of gold. Two interesting episodes bringing out the efficacy of its water and are recorded in Skanda Purana and Mahabharata. The legend says that a certain king of fame Dharma gupta by name was once hunting in the adjacent forest till late in the night. As ill-luck would have it he was chased by a ferocious hungry lion in the dark. He climbed up a tall tree in a hurry to saving his precious life; and found' o his shock, there was a bear among the branches, who came there under similar circumstances. As their plight being common, and goal the same, they entered in to an agreement that both should guard themselves by keeping awake throughout the night, and if done in turns-one till midnight, and the other from midnight to dawn their safety would be assured.

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