ASTONISHING WONDERS & MIRACLES OF THIRUPATHI (A maiden Transalation attempt of an E Mail write up in Tamil entitled PREMIKKA VAIKKUM THIRUPATHI

ATHISAYANGAL ) We go to the SEVEN HILLS-THIRUPATHI.We bow to the Lord of the Seven Hills Lord Balaji also known as VENKATACHALAPATHI,the owner of the Hills and the presiding deity and feel happy. But there are many a miracles, truths, and practices in vogue of which many of us are unaware of.An attempt has been made to cmpile and present some of these he reunder. BREATH TAKING ASTONISHING WONDERS AND LEGENDARY MIRACLES OF THIRUPATHI Mentioned below are some chilling secrets about the sacred idol of Lord Balaj i of SEVEN HILLS. 1.About one KM distance away from the main temple of Balaji, there are few rare stone structural formations known as SHILA THORANAM (Stone Decorations).This is the only place wherein such stones are seen in this world.The age of these stones is placed around 250 crores of years(2500 million years).The sacred idol of BALAJI too belongs to these types of stone only. 2.PACHCHA KARPOORAM(Literally means Green Camphor)(a soft white crystals, a typ e of salt, of which a pinch is crushed in hand and added for fragrance to the kalasa the erthams as well as sweet preparations like payasam, sakkarai pongal etc, made out of jaggery) is applied on the main stone idol of Lord Balaji daily. This is a chemical it em. A type of acid which may cause itching even. If this chemical item is pasted on any black stones like granite etc would result in cracks developing in the stone. But surprisingly if this is applied on the stone formations found at Thirupathi t hey have no effect on them. Though this is applied on the idol of Lord Balaji on all the 365 days in a year no damage has been done to the idol. 3.In all granite stone idols of gods and godesses one could see the chipping of the stones by the sculptor.Similarly in the case of metallic casting of idols one could detect visible marks of the liquid metal having been poured for the casting of the i dol at place or the other. But in respect of the idol of Lord Balaji no such marking s could be detected at any part of the idol. Normally one can feel the roughness on t he stone

carvings of any stone or granite idol.But in the case of idol of Lord Balaji all intricate carvings/workmanship appear as a smooth finish and do not appear to be manmade. The various decorative ornaments carved on the idol of Lord Balaji, like the CHUTTI on the forehead, the ear rings, the eye brows, the decorative snake formatio ns etcall look bright and spick and span like polished ornaments. 4.The idol of the Balaji always maintains a temperature of around 110*F. The Th irumala Hills is in cold climate at a height of about 3000 feet. ABHISHEGAM(sacred ba th) is done early in the morning around 4.30AM to the idol with Cold Water,Cold Milk as well as other DRAVYAMS. But immediately after the sacred bath fine particles of wa ter, appear on the body of the idol just like sweating.The ARCHAKAS,PUROHITS, gent ly swap the sweatings by pressing a silken cloth on the body of the idol.On all Thursdays, when the ornaments put on the idol of Balaji are removed just befo re the commencement of the sacred bath they are found to be very warm. The Temple, the daily rituals of worship, the income from the HUNDI(Donation Box) Puja(Worship) procedures, the hystoric events --all are unique and wonderful events. 1.The kitchen hall at Tirupathi is very big and spacious.Many variety of items are prepared daily on massive scale. Say for e.g. PONGAL(a white rice preparatio n using lot of Ghee(melted butter) and pepper),CURD RICE,TAMARIND RICE,DIFFERENT TYP ES OF MIXED RICE PREPARATIONS, VADAI,MURUKKU,JEELEBHI,ATHIRASAM,POLI,APPAM, MIL AGU VADAI, LADDU, PAYASAM,DOSAI,RAVA KESARI, BADAM KESARI, CASHEWNUT KESARI etc etc. (These are names of items in TAMIL Language and no attempt made to describe i t in English as it would be futile) 2. The temple authorities buy a mut pot daily in which curd rice is offered to the Lord. Except curd rice, no other cooked or prepared food items will ever cr oss the KULASEKARA STEPS(the name of the steps at the entrance of the sanctum s ancto rium of Lord Balaji) and enter the sanctum sanctorium.DIAMONDS, VAIDOORIUMS , GOLDEN VESSELS etc etc would never ever cross the KULASEKARAN STEPS and ent er the sanctum sanctorium . It is deemed to be a big blessing indeed if any de votee gets the used mud pot and any remnants/left overs of the curd rice offered to Lord Balaji.

3. The length of the Silken saree dress of Lord Balaji is around 21 arm length s(one MUZHAM/ARM Length is roughly one and a half feet) and it weighs around 6 ki lograms. This cannot be bought from any shop. Any devotee who is desirous of offeri ng one such dress has to remit a sum of INR 12.500 (say US$250) at the Devasthanam (Temple Office) towards cost of this dress.(I am not sure of present day cost) The new dress is offered to the Lord only once in a week, that is on Friday s only. Presently (again not sure as at present) the waiting period for offering th e weekly new dress is about three years from date of remittance!!!. 4. One set of ADD ON OUTER GARMENTS(MEL SATHU VASTRAM) costs around INR 20,00 0. Every Friday about 15 such outer garments are accepted for offerings. Prese ntly the weighting period is about 10 years from date of remittance!!! 5. Other than the clothes offered by the devotees, the Andhra Pradesh Governme nt also offers ONE SET of dress twice in a year. 6. The waiting period for individuals desirous of offering for ABHISHEGAM of the LORD is around 3 years(not sure what it is as on date!!!) 7. Many of the items required for the ABHISHEGAM(Sacred Bath) are imported fro m abroad. For e.g. SAFFRON from SPAIN, KASTURI( an excretia from the body of MUSK deers) from NEPAL, PUNUGU(An excretia from the body of civic cats) fro m CHINA, certain Fragrance materials from PARIS.etc. These items are used to mix with sandal paste prepared in a golden plate. 51 small kalasams of milk are offered in the Abhishegam.Then they apply KASTURI and PUNUGU on the ido l. From 4.30AM to 5.30 AM the abhishegam is done. The cost of each ABHISHEGAM is around INR ONE LAKH. 8. Specially packed ROSES are airfreighted from AMSTERDAM by the devotees. Each ROSE costs around INR 80. 9. Many fragrance items are sent from CHINA to BALAJI. These include the Chinese Camphor, AKIL(a scented wood like sandalwood),SANDALWOOD,AMBER THAKKOLAM,ILAVANGAM, KUMKUMUM,THAMALAM,NIRYASAM etc etc (I am sorry I am unable to give the English equivalents) 10. The value of the ornaments of Balaji is around INR 1000 crores.(Not sure about present day value)Since they have no secured place to keep all the ornaments and also they have no time to decorate the idol with all these ornaments, all excess ornaments are auctioned once in a year after open advertisement in the news papers. 11. The SALAGRAMA golden necklace of Lord Balaji weighs around 12 kilograms.Ev en to put it on to the Lord three priests(Archakas)are required. SURYA KADARI weighs 500 Kilogramms,PADA KAVASAM(Leg coverings) weighs 375

Kgs, The single Blue stone that is in pocession of the temple is a unique the like of which is not to be found anywhere in the world.Its value is around INR 100 crores(US$ 20 billion) 12. Great kings like RAJENDRA CHOLA, KRISHNA DEVA RAYAR, ACHCHUTHA RAYAR have all donated many precious items and have also created permanent endowments/TRU STS (ARAKKATTALAI) for the Lord Balaji and have got them engraved in Stones as well as in copper plates as authentic proof of such donations.Even the Chola qu een had visited the Temple and had offered many a gifts/presentations to the L ord. 13. A look alike small silver statue (idol), similar to the tall well built pr ime idol of Lord Balaji inside the sanctum sanctorum,was made and got ready on 8th June in the year 966 AD, for purpose of doing ABHISHEKAM as well as beauti fying with all the jewels and jewelleries. The Pallava dynasty king SAKTHI VIDAN GAN's wife and queen to the throne called KADAVAN PERUM DEVI had donated a lot o f ornaments/jewels to this silver idol of Balaji and had also created endowm ent Trusts for the purpose of conducting regular daily worship.The first KULOT HUNGA CHOLA KING too had rushed to the temple and had offered many a costly pres ents. 14. The paintings/murals at the Tirupathi are over 300 years old. 15. BILWA LEAVES(a must for worship of Lord Shiva )are used during ARCHANA(wor ship by various names of the Lord) of Lord Balaji on all Fridays. Similarly it is also used during Archana in the month of MARGAZHI( 15th Decr to 15 Jany). 16. On SIVA RATRI DAY (MAHASIVARATRI day occurs once in a year and considered sacred for worship of Lord Shiva) a festival called KSHETRA PALIKA is cele brated at Thirupathi. On that day the URCHAVA IDOL(idol meant for going around th e temple streets) is decorated with a flat diamond studded ornament resembling the three streaks of VIBHUTHI (Sacred ash applied on foreheads in three lines by wor shipers Lord Shiva) and taken out in procession on the streets. The devotee poet, known as THALAPPAKKAM ANNAMAYYA , had sung songs in prai se of the Lord Balaji portraying the Lord as PARA BRAHMA, as ESWARA OF SHIVA AMSA (part and parcel of Lord Shiva) and also as SHAKTHI SWAROOPA (the consort of Lord Shiva) and had got these songs engraved in copper plates.

Tamil poet lauratte ARUNAGIRI NATHAR (known gor his devotional songs on Lo rd Karthik/SHANMUGHA/MURUGAN known as THIRUPUGAZH) had also visited Thirupath i. Both Arunagiri Nathar and Annamayya are contemperories. MUTHUSWAMI DIKSHIDHAR, (0ne of the famous music trinitys of Carnatic Music ) was a well known SRIVIDHYA UPASAKAR and was also well versed in MANTRA SAS TRAS. He had sung songs in praise of the hundreds of Hindu deities/gods. In par ticular he had sung a song in the carnatic raga VARAALI in praise of Lord Balaji beginning with the words SESHAACHALA NAMAM. 17. There is also a traditional belief in vogue that Lord Balaji has a third eye which he opens(visible) at the time of ABHISHEGAM. 18.The STHALA VRIKSHAM (the tree for any particular holy place/temple) of Thi rupathi is Tamarind Tree. 19.Normally any Hindu god Idol in SATHVIK AND SHANTHI posture (in a calm and quiet posture) would be depicted with atleast one weapon in one of the hands .B ut in the case Lord Balaji no weapon is held by him in his hands. He is NIRAY UDHA PANI (with no weapons in hands). Thats why in ancient Tamil literatures he has been described as VERUNGAI VEDAN , a hunter without any arms in hands. 20. In the year 1781 AD the British Army had camped at a nearby place known a s THAKKOLAM (a place near Vellore in Tamil Nadu). A British soldeir by the n ame LEVELLIAN belonging to the 33rd regiments was lying mortally injured. He p rayed to Lord BaLAJI to save his life . On being fully recovered he sent through an indian soldeir what ever he had offered/vowed to send to Lord Balaji. 21. Britishers like SIR THOMAS MANROE, Col.GEO STRATTEN were also devotees of Lord Balaji. 22. Respecting the sacred nature of the SEVEN HILLS no Britisher attempted to climb the hills during the period 1759AD to 1874 AD. European Christian Fathers wanted to establish a CROSS at least in one place in the Seven Hi lls. But the British Generals did not give permission for the same. The Britis hers wanted the daily puja rituals aT the seven hills to continue uninterrupt ed . They were anxious and worried that if the puja rituals are not held prope rly it may have an adverse effect in their rule of the country.

23. The inner garments(UL PAVADAI) of the Lord Balajis consort Lordess ALAME LU MANGA , are made of cotton at a place called KATHWAAL. The weavers of th is garment belong to the CHENJU TRIBES and the prepare it with utmost devot ion. Since this inner garments touches the body of the Lordess, the weavers t ake bath thrice daily during the preparations of this dress. They also do no t touch liquors or any non vegetarian foods during this period. The items for Friday Abhishegam are got prepared on Thursday nights at t he PARIMALA ROOM. SAFFRON is also added to the mixture for Abhishegam. Devo tees from abroad continue to despatch various fragrant items to the Lord. Rou ghly materials worth about INR 50,000 are sent every week. 24. The worship of Lord Balaji is done as MOTHER GODESS(AMBAL) for 4 days, a s LORD MAHA VISHNU for 2 days and as LORD SHIVA for one day in a week. 25. The Abhishegam water/liquids are let out through a pipe into the nearby sacred tank of the Temple called PUSHKARANI. Hence the water in the tank is als o considered to be sacred (Even otherwise all temple tanks are considered as sacred waters capable of removing ones sins on taking a dip).After takin g bath in the temple tank the devotees offer ARGYAMS(lift the water in the palms keeping both hands as a pouch) to the Lord but the water is allowed to b e let into the tank itself.This is also considered to be one type of worship. 26. On all Fridays in the early morning, a special worship is performed befo re the commencement of Abhshegam. One psalm in Tamil beginning with the wor ds "VENKATAM YENAP PETRA" and a THANIAN(individual compilation) are sung in the VADAKALAI SAMPRADHAYAM (VADAKALAI and THENKALAI are two sets of Vaishnav a devotees,who wear their white and red symbols on forehead in U and Y for m respectively). During this special worship the Idol is without any dress or flower decorations.(NIRMALYA/VISWAROOOPA DHARSHANAM/DIKAMBARAM). A camph or is lighted and shown to the Lord(KARPOORA ARATHI). Then worship in the THENKALAI SAMPRADHAYAM is done.(THENKALAI devotees sung more of TAMIL songs/Pasurams.).Then NEYVEDHYAM is offered to the Lord.(offering of a fruit etc). Once again a lighted camphor(karpoora arathi)is shown. The idol of Balaji at that time would be shining beautifully and is a treat to the eyes.

27.In the year 1543 AD the then king of Vijayanagar known as ACHCHUTHA RAYAR had built a temple for mother godess PADMAVATHI and also did KUMBHABHISHE GAM (Consecration ceremony). But this temple was razed to the grounds by the invading muslim battalions under the leadership of NIZAM THOULA. The remn ants of these destructions can be seen even today. 28. The flower garland worn by the idol of female devotee known as SRI AAND AAL at SRIVILLIPUTHUR temple of Tamil Nadu is brought daily to the Hills and offered once again to Lord Balaji.SRI AANDAAL worshipped Lord Balaji as her GOD. 29. There are about 1180 stone engravings in the temple at the Seven Hills. Of these 236 belongs to the regime periods of the kings of PALLAVA/CHOLA / PANDIAs, 169 belongs to the CHALUKYA KINGS dynasty, 229 belongs to the period of King KISHNA DEVA RAYAR, 251 belongs to the ACHCHUTHA RAYAR per iod, 147 belongs to the SADASIVA RAYAR, 139 belongs to the period of kings of KONDAI VEEDU. Right from the period of Pallava king NANDIVARMAN that is from the year 830 AD to 1909 AD , these engravings have been made. Of these engarvings only 50 are in the TELUGU/KANNADA languages and the rest 1130 engravings are in Tamil language only. PS. This is my maiden attempt in translation. Beg to be excused for E & OE. TRC (tiruvarur@gmail.com) *******