TIRUPATI

ITS SPIRITUAL BACKGROUND

As the seat of Balaji drives away the sins of people, it is called Venkatachala. The word Venkata itself means the destroyer of sins.

Tradition affirms that the supreme spirit makes a manifestation SUO MOTO without any initial invocation, and such image is called Swayamvyakata, or self-manifest God. Sri Venkateswara of Tirumala belongs to this class and this holy SwayamVyakta image was lying in a bush on the bank of Pushkarini for yugas. After installation, this place become Sri Vaikuntham - the abode of Srimannarayana - the Parabrahman. Should not that Parabrahma, though Omnipresent have a seat of his own? This temple became his eternal abode, the centre of centres. Tirumala thus acquired the supreme significance, and with the passage of time it is ascending higher and higher due to the multiplicity of a wide variety of boons, He is showering on the Saranarthis round the clock and throughout the year. The infinite number of beneficiaries are redeeming their indebtedness to the Lord through cash or kind, which is the main source of income to the temple, manning nearly 8000 personnel in all departments of administration, functioning all through the 24 hours, for catering to the needs of ever increasing influx of adorers, crossing a 50,000 - figure a day on an average, coming from four corners of the world, and fetching daily a fabulous income of nearly 30 lakhs on an average, the like of which the world has not produced so far, nor could the past present a parallel to it in glory, or strength of devotees in numbers, or wealth in figures by way of Hundi collections. No wonder the Bhavishyothara Purana eulogized it in such sparkling phrases, such as -"there is no place in the cosmos claiming equality with this sacred kshetra, and no god equal to Him in any point of time - past, present and future.

"How and When" He started playing His sports become expedient now at this stage, which naturally transports us to the dim past.

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