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Tirupati
Tirupati is one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as
a smart city under Smart Cities Mission by Government of
India. Tirupati is considered one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage
sites because of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. Other
famous ancient temples in the city include Padmavathi Temple
at Tiruchanur, Govindaraja Swamy Temple, and Kapileswara
Temple at Kapila Theertham. Other tourist places in and
around Tirupati include Chandragiri Fort, Sri Venkateswara
Zoological Park, Natural Arch (Tirumala hills), and Regional
Science Centre.
Tirupati, commonly referred to as the “Spiritual Capital of
Andhra Pradesh”, is being developed as the knowledge hub of
the State with the establishment of IISER and IIT in the city.
Apart from these two institutes, Tirupati has several
established educational and research institutions such as The
National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Sri Venkateswara
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University, Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Sri
Venkateswara Medical College, Sri Padmavathi Medical
College for Women, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical
Sciences (SVIMS), Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Sri
Venkateswara Vedic University, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary
University, Sri Venkateswara Agriculture College and Sri
Venkateswara Institute of Traditional Sculpture and
Architecture (SVITSA) .
According to Varaha Purana, during Treta Yuga, Rama resided
here with Sita and Lakshmana on his return from Lankapuri.
As per the Purana, a loan of one crore and 11.4 million gold
coins was sought by Balaji from Kubera for his marriage
with Padmavathi. To pay back the loan, devotees from all over
India visit the temple and donate money.
The Lord Maha Vishnu whose abode is Vaikunta (amidst an ocean of
milk) incarnated on earth as Lord Venkateshwara for the sake of his
devotees. About 17 crore years before, Lord Venkateshwara (also
called Srinivasa) entered Venkatadrinilayam, which is part of divine
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seven hills. After entering Venkatadri, lord Srinivasa asked lord Apara
Bramha and divine architect Viswakarma to build a temple for him on
this hill.
The Viswakarma had built the temple using a thousand pillars and
with wonderful architecture. He built the temple in the place where the
temple resides right now. He built the temple in a very auspicious time
when Lord Surya Bhagavan (Sun) entered Kanya Rasi (Virgo) and
Lord Chandra Bhagavan (moon) entered Sravananakhatram. The
temple was inaugurated with 1000 sunlights shining, while lord
Venkateswara entered into Viswakarma's creation along with his
consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi in a Swarnavimanam (golden airplane).
To grace this wonderful occasion of Lord Venkateswara's entry into
the temple, Lord Bramha came with all 3 crores gods and great saints.
As centuries passed, the temple built by Viswakarma was destroyed
due to natural catastrophic happenings.
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As per the history, 1900
years ago, the present temple at Tirumala was reconstructed by Saint
Bhardwaja. The story goes like this, Lord Venkateswara appeared in
the dreams of two people at the same time one person is a Brahmin
called Gopinath Deekshitulu and other person is a Yadav. In the
dream, the Lord told them to find his statue at the north phase of
Puskarini under a tamarind tree on the Vekatadrihill and asked them
to keep it at the same place. Overwhelmed by the Lord appearing in
their dreams, they started searching for the lord Venkateswara's
statue at the place mentioned by the lord in the dream. Finally, they
discovered the Lord's statue buried in the sand under the tamarind
tree. After pouring sacred cow milk to dissolve the sand covering the
statue, they unearthed the statue of Lord Venkateswara. So, with the
help of great saint Bharadwaja, the temple got reconstructed at the
same place where the temple resides now. Even though thousands of
years passed, there is no deviation of place where Lord Venkateswara
got established. People visiting Tirumala and paying homage to the
presiding God Venkateshwara feel extremely happy and try to visit
again and again.
