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Background
History
Mythological Background
Timings
Board/Trustees
Background
of the shrine
Dakshina Seshadri is the abode of
Lord Srinivasa. The holiness and sacredness of this place with
miraculous powers of the reigning deity is well depicted in six chapters
of Srimad Varaha Purana. The Purana Purusha in Varaha Rupam narrated the
essence of the Purana to his life partner, Bhoodevi which was
imparted later by Lord Brahmadeva to Narada Maharshi and subsequently
vedavyasa Maharshi, who in turn, preached Sootha puranikas. Finally
Shoukanadi Maharshi, was blessed with the great Epic.
Dakshina Seshadri nestles between
Swethadri and Kamaladri in a picturesque with the river Kaveri
flowing some miles away. Being called as Seshadri in Kritayuga,
Kanakadri in Tretayuga, Venkatadri in Dwaparayuga and
Vyagradri in the present Kaliyuga besides popularly known as
Huligina Muradi, among the folk of the surroundings, it is the
dwelling place of the LORD on the Peak of Meru mountains. Lord
Narayana, as in vaikunta is worshipped here by immortal divine beings of
Devaloka and mortal beings of Bhooloka alike.
The three water ponds existing on the shrine
are sacred as narrated hereunder:
"Dhanushkoti pond: This pond was
sprung by Lord Ramachandra with bow and arrow while he was on his way to
Sri Lanka, as he wanted to take bath to worship Lord Srinivasa to seek his
blessings to conquer the demon Ravana. A dip in the pond will fulfill
one's desires in life".
"Vedapushkarani pond: This is situated to the north of Dhanushkoti
pond. When rakshasa Somaka stole the Vedas, Paramapurusha killed him
disguised as a fish, collected all the Vedas in the form of Hayagriva and
taught the Vedas to his son Brahma in the form of a swan. The Lord was
very tired and sweat poured out of his body profusely, these droplets
formed the Vedapuskarani pond. It is believed a dip in this pond also
grants favours".
"Viraja pond: This pond is a mile away from Vedapuskarani. Since
this is a creation of the almighty it is also called Vaikunta Thirta. This
pond is most sacred to the pilgrims as it blesses them with favours and
fulfills all their wishes.
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History
Why and how did Lord Srinivasa decide to
reside at Dakshina Sheshadri ? "A maharshi named Mandavya
performed penace at Pushkara to propitiate Lord Narayana but his
wish was not fulfilled. So he left Pushkara and went to Venkatadri, the
present Thirumala and resumed his tapas there. Lord Narayana was immensely
pleased and gave darshan to Mandavya as an old Brahmin and instructed him
to proceed to Huligina Muradi to invoke god's blessings with fervour.
Accordingly Mandavya went to Dakshina Seshadri and once again immersed
himself in severe penace. Lord Narayana blessing him with his divine
darshan, assured him that he would reside there along with Bhoodevi
and Neeladevi and accept worship daily from all devotees.
Mandavya vividly witnessed the occasion of Lord Narayana transforming
himself in to a Vigraha (Statue) in the presence of Lord Brahma and
other divine powers who performed the installation of the Deity".
Devarhis: Lord Rama, Agastya Maharshi
and the Pandavas worshipped Lord Srinivasa and received his blessings from
time to time. When Parvathi and Lord Parameshwara got married on Kailasa
mountain, it was largely attended by Brahma, Narada, hundreds of Rishis
and scores of other divine beings of Devaloka. The congregation on the top
of the mountain was so large and heavy that the earth could not bear the
weight resulting in imbalance between northern and southern hemisphere.
The wedding guests were in panic and the Vishwa Karma, the architect of
the divine kingdom, opened that the great saint, Agastya, who weighed
equal to three fourth of the world, could be sent to the southern part of
the globe which would balance the world to its normal position. Though
Agastya obliged to the request, he was very unhappy as he could not
witness and participate in the wedding festivities, which was his long
cherished dream. Agastya, in disgust pronounced a curse on Vishwakarma
that he should be the lowest among the divines and all his successors in
the world should die of penury however glorious there creations might be.
Vishwakarma, in turn, was also upset and retaliated by spelling a curse on
Agastya, that Dravidian language (Tamil) should be equated to the language
of the evil spirits distorting its grammar and the sage must carry the
king's palanquin with no reward besides being forced to eat the demon's
flesh. Agastya could not refuse the plea of the wedding guests and went to
the southern hemisphere to restore the balance of the globe.
One day, by chance, he came across Dakshina
Seshadri, where, a demon, Vyagrasura, attacked the sage, who cursed him to
become a tiger (Vyagra). Agastya Maharshi, took a dip in the holy Veda
Puskarni pond in order to get rid of Vishwakarma's curse and did a
severe penace. Lord Srinivasa was very much impressed and blessed with his
darshan to Agastya Maharshi and reversed the curse duly granting him a
boon to the effect that his Dravidian language would be equated to the
sacred Sanskrit language. Agastya Maharshi found solace and was happy at
the reassurance given to him by Lord Srinivasa at Dakshina Seshadri and
moved to Malaya mountains.
History has it that when Dharmaraya escaped
from the wax palace with his mother and brothers he heard a voice from
heaven and was advised to go to Dakshina Seshadri to worship Srinivasa and
invoke his blessings. Accordingly they travelled to Dakshina Seshadri,
bathed in Dhannushkoti pond and offered prayers to Srinivasa, who blessed
with Darshan to Dharmaraya and professed that his dark days had come to an
end and he would enjoy peace and prosperity. Dharmaraya's troublesome
period came to an end and he regained his kingdom.
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Mythological
Background
Adishesha is considered to be very powerful
divine being as Sriman Narayana rests on him. Once Adishesha and Vayu got
into a dispute and wanted to demonstrate their powers. Meru mountain was
to be the Arena to exhibit their might. Adishesha went round the mountain
and constricted it tight and defied Vayu to release the mountain from his
grip. When Vayu's efforts to dislodge the mountain from the grip of
Adishesha failed in despair, he broke the tip of the mountain and twirled
it in the sky and smashed it to the ground. The peak broke into halves. A
visibly annoyed Adishesha released his hold on the peak and to his dismay
the broken pieces fell apart, one came to be known as Vrishadri the
present Tirupati and the other acquired the name Dakshina Seshadri the
present Huligina Muradi. Adishesha was unhappy for having lost the
contest and took to an intense penace at Dakshina Seshadri. The Almighty
Srinivasa manifested himself before Adishesha and consoled him that he
would be much more powerful and stronger than Vayu as he would be able to
swallow the wind. He is Anantha, the foremost and held in high esteem by
all the Seshis. Since he encircled a part of Meru mountain it would
henceforth be called Seshadri. Srinivasa would reside there with Bhunila
and Adishesha should also be there in the form of the mountain to be
worshipped by all the devotees of Sri Srinivasa.
Ka means Brahma…………../Na means
prohibit……………………/ Kanaka implies that in the presence of
Srinivasa even Brahma cannot lay claim to greatness. Since all are
powerless before Srinivasa the mountain has been celebrated as Kanakachala.
The mountain also outshines all other mountains in that range and its
luster glitters like gold .Hence it is famous as Kanakachala. It blesses
the devotees of Srinivasa with showers of gold and it being the peak of
the mountain, it is universally known as Kanakachala.
Vem is purity/ Sacred/ Sanctity. Kata
indicates wealth. Since Srinivasa is also well known as Venkataramanaswamy
and this being his dwelling place it is popularly known as Venkatadri. Vem
also means sins and Kata means to burn and Srinivasa known as
Venkataramanaswamy absolves all the sins of his devotees. There by it is
VENKATADRI. Once
Lord Srinivasa went for hunting on a horseback and came across Vyagrasura
trying to devour Mandavya rishi while he was near Vaikunta Theerta.
Petrified Rishi implored Srinivasa to save his life. The Lord appeared in
front of the Rishi and ordered Vyagrasura to release Rishi or face death.
Enraged Rakshasa turned his attention on the Lord's horse and smote the
horse on its head. When he began to bite and chew the animal's flesh,
Srinivasa cut off the demon's head with his sword. As his body fell in to
the pond, Vaikunta Theerta, he was purified of his sins. He raised up in a
different body and stood before the Lord humbly with folded hands.
Srinivasa granted his request that Venkatadri be named as Vyagrachala and
the pond be called Vyaghra Thirtha. Thus the mountain acquired four names.
Any person who climbs the mountain or prostrates before it will be freed
of all his sins. Anyone who worships Srinivasa will have all his wishes
granted. Once king
Jagadwaja was found sweeping the floor of the temple and lighting the lamp
inspite of having a retime of soldiers to help him. A Brahmin Veethohotra
saw this unusual and unbelievable sight and was curious to know why the
king had resorted to that sort of labour work. The king Jagadwaja narrated
the stories of his previous birth. In Kritayuga, he was born in a
brahmin's family and called Raiva. He was well versed in Vedas. Out of
greed for money, material and sensual pleasures he was preoccupied in evil
deeds. He was disowned by his relatives and was doomed to utter poverty
and ill health. He died on the bank of river Narmada. His wife went
astray, as a result he was born out of his wife's womb as Dandakethu. He
continued his immoral habits, hated the Brahmins and forced women to
submit to his lust. He hunted down cows, birds and Brahmins. One day by
chance he came to Dakshina Seshadri and stayed in an abandoned place with
a woman.
When he tried to swab the
floor with a piece of cloth, his sins committed in the earlier births were
absolved by the Lord. When he lit a lamp to be cohabit with a woman all
other sins were burnt out in the flame of the lamp. Just then the priest
who came there mistook him for a thief and killed him. Since he was done
away with by a priest who worshipped and served Srinivasa he was able to
go to Brahmaloka in a plane. Then he was born in Yaduvamsha and acquired a
kingdom. That was humble reason as to why he took to sweep and mop the
floor of the temple despite having many aides waiting to serve him.
Once Devendra was defeated by Bali
Chakravarthi and had lost his kingdom. He met king Sudharma and was
curious to know how he had acquired so much of wealth. Sudharma narrated
that Lord Srinivasa residing at Dakshina Seshadri had enlightened him
about his previous incarnations. In one birth he was an eagle eating flesh
and feaces. One day while he perched on the temple a hunter shot him down
with an arrow. A dog picked up the wounded bird and was chased by other
dogs as it ran around Srinivasa's plane Punyavardhana three times. The
lord was pleased with this gesture and granted both the dog and the bird a
noble life. Indira
worshipped Lord Srinivasa and was blessed to regain his kingdom.
Any person who dedicates his life to serve Srinivasa will find a permanent
place in heaven. In Krithayuga the supreme reigning deity was Varadaraja
of Kanchi, in Tretayuga it was Sriranganatha of Sriranga, in Dwaparayuga
it was ThiruNarayana and now in Kaliyuga it is Venkatesha of Seshadri
Kshetra. Anyone who recites the glory of Venkatesha piously and with
reverance will attain Brahmaloka. It should not be chanted before the
agnostics, the arrogant and those who hate Brahmins.
It should be read in Vishnu temples, in holy
places and in any assembly of devout and ascetic devotees. Anyone who
devotes his entire life in the service of Sri Srinivasa will surely be
blessed with health, wealth and longevity.
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