Every day after Thomala Seva, the idol of Koluvu Srinivasa Murthy is brought here and placed on the golden throne and his court is held. During this court, almanac is recited; the affairs of the day, the details of income and the expenditure of the previous day are reverentially presented to the Lord. The golden throne that is used during this court is stored in the adjacent grilled chamber.
There are two raised platforms on either side of this passage. Earlier, idols were kept on these platforms. At present these idols are placed inside the room. Yet the name has remained the same.
In this room the offerings are kept in front of the Lord. These offerings are never taken beyond this threshold of the Sanctum. The threshold in front of the Lord is called Kulasekhara Padi. Kulasekhara was a Vaishnava devotee. He had made a humble request to the Lord, to transform him to a stone threshold in front of Lord so that he will have a glimpse of divine beauty every day!
Hence, this threshold was named after him. Earlier there used to be a Pradakshina circumambulation passage around this Ananda Nilayam. A wall was built around this sanctum and the Vimanam in between A. She rejoiced in decorating the idol with many ornaments. That means, Bhoga Srinivasa Murthy acts as presiding deity since the main deity is huge and immovable. Every morning Koluvu Sreenivasa Murthy is seated on the golden throne in Snapana Mandapam and almanac Panchangam is read out to him.
All the details of the day like tithi, nakshatra, yoga and the information about different sevas are given to him.
Then the treasury clerk humbly presents to him, the income and expenditure account of the previous day. This is done is Snapana Mandapam before the dusk and it is done in Ghanta Mandapam after dawn. In the bygone days, the processional deity of Ugra Sreenivasa Murthywas taken out for procession during festivals. When this idol was taken in a procession on a particular day, strange, unusual and alarming incidents took place.
After these incidents, procession with this idol was stalled from A. There is a popular anecdote regarding Malayappa Swami being made a processional deity in place of Ugra Sreenivasa Murthy. The important role played by Sudarshana Bhagavan, in punishing the evil and protecting the devotees of the Lord, is commendable. He takes the responsibility of protecting the devotees coming to Tirumala as well as their safe passage.
As a mark of their visit, their statues are kept in the temple. As they were in exile, their statues reflect their simplicity and are devoid of any ornaments. In the month of Dhanurmasa January while Ekantaseva is performed, Lord Krishna is made to sleep on the silk mattresses in place of Bhoga Srinivasa Murthy. During this month, Suprabhatham is not recited. Salagramas are black spherical stones, usually found in the sacred river Gandaki.
What makes them so sacred is that they have lines ingrained on them, which resemble the shape of Sankhu and Chakra. These are worshipped by Vaishnavites as a form of Vishnu. This kitchen is a very ancient one. All prasadams offered to the Lord are prepared here with pure ghee. It is believed that Vakuladevi, the Foster mother of Lord Srinivasa, supervises the preparation of food relished by her son. To this day, she continues to supervise the preparation of all the prasadams for the Lord.
So a peep hole is made in the wall for her to oversee the preparations in the kitchen. The water from this well is used for Abhishekam, Archana and cooking food for the Lord. The room adjacent to Ankurarpana mandapam is the Yagasala, where all yagas and homams sacrificial fire have been performed since ages. But at present they are performed in the Kalyana mandapam located in Sampangi Pradakshina.
However, during Brahmotsavams these rituals are performed in the Yagasala. This was gradually constructed over a period of time by the representative of Vijayanagara Empire named Chennappa in A. Actually, this was the place where Kalyanotsavams were performed 50 years ago. The present location where the counting process was carried out was earlier used for several purposes.
At present, this mandapam is used for counting currency notes. Transparent glasses are arranged around this place for the pilgrims to witness the process of counting. The sandal paste required for daily usage of the Lord is prepared here.
Large stones are arranged here for making sandal paste from sandal wood. The sandal paste required for various festivals throughout the year is prepared here. The golden abode of the Lord of the universe is Ananda Nilaya. This Golden Gopuram carries 64 images of various deities of Hindu mythology. Lord Sri Venkateswara ingrained on Ananda Nilaya Vimanam is said to be as powerful and sacred as the main deity in the sanctum.
Even if devotees fail to have the darshan of the Lord, they could have a glimpse of Vimana Venkateswara and derive the same benefits usually associated with the darshan of the main deity in the Sanctum. Close to the place from where Vimana Venkateswara is seen, is the record room with a sign board fixed atop. In this room all records and files pertaining to the ornaments of the main and processional deity are kept. All details of the weight and value of the silverware and gold ornaments are recorded in the ledgers.
Beginning from the record room, Veda pundits seated there, melodiously recite the slokas from the Vedas. The golden cot with silk mattress used for the Ekanta Seva of the Lord is also stored here. Adjacent to the Sabha Ara, there is the treasury of Sankeertanas.
There are two statues on either side of this room. One is of the great Saint Poet Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya, who has penned over 32, songs in praise of the Lord Sri Venkateswara, while the other one is of his elder son Tallapaka Peda Tirumalacharyulu, who had also paid literary tribute to Lord Sri Venkateswara.
All these songs were inscribed on copper plates and kept in safe custody in this place. During A. It is said that all hymns originally written were on Palmyra leaves and later on transcribed on copper plates by his son Tirumalacharya. The king of Vijayanagara dynasty, Achyutarayalu, helped in constructing this treasure trove and preserved the great works of Annamayya. Due to his efforts, today nearly eleven thousand Annamacharya Sankeertans have seen the light of day and TTD has been composing the music for these musical notations with eminent musicians and released many CDs and DVDs in the recent times.
There is a granite statue of Sri Ramanuja in this pavilion. Sri Ramanuja in his long life of years — A. In those days, very reluctant to trample the holy hills with his feet, he climbed the seven hills on his knees. In his memory, a temple was constructed here. He has rendered Yeoman service to the Lord at Tirumala. Sri Ramanuja streamlined the rituals of the temple as per Vaikhanasa Agama and handed it over to the posterity.
It is said to have been built between A. Thereupon, Sage Bhrigu concluded was the most supreme of the Trimurti Gods and told the same to the rishis. However, Sri Mahalakshmi was much grieved and angered to see the Lord apologizing to Bhrigu who committed an offense.
In anger and anguish, Sri Mahalakshmi left Vaikuntha and resided in a place called Karavirapur which is now known as Kolhapur. He took refuge in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree on the Venkata Hill.
He lived without food and sleep and meditated for the return of Mahalakshmi. It was the place where the Lord took the form of Varaha to protect Mother Earth from the deep ocean. Both Brahma and Shiva were much grieved to see the plight of Lord Vishnu. They assumed the forms of a cow and its calf to serve him. Now, the cow herder followed the cow secretly and found out that the cow emptied her udder over the ant-hill. The cow returned to the palace with blood stains all over her body. So, he followed her and found the cow herder lying dead on the ground.
Vishnu came out of the ant-hill and cursed the king to become a demon Rakshasa due to the fault of his servant. Vishnu blessed the king and said that he would be born as Akasa Raja and his curse would end when he presents a crown to him at the time of his marriage with Padmavati. He requested Varaha the boar avatar of Vishnu to provide him a site for his stay. Srinivas ordained that a pilgrimage to his shrine should be preceded by a bath in the Pushkarini and the worship of Varaha before him.
Vishnu constructed a hermitage and lived there. He was attended by Vakula Devi who took much care of him like a mother. After some time, a King named Akasa Raja came to rule over Tondamandalam. He was childless. So, he performed a sacrifice for gaining an heir. One day, he was plowing the fields. The plow struck a lotus. It had an infant girl in it.
A divine voice told Akasa Raja that the girl would be a harbinger of good fortune. Akasa Raja adopted the girl and named her as Padmavati. The girl grew up into a beautiful maiden. One day, while Srinivas was hunting, he happened to chase a wild elephant in the forests. He came to a garden where Padmavati and her maids were picking flowers.
The wild elephant frightened the princess. Finding that Lord Vishnu also did not notice him, the sage was infuriated and kicked the Lord on His chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides. At once, Lord Vishnu hastened to apologise to the angry sage and pressed his feet to allay the pain caused to Bhrigu's leg. In doing so the Lord removed the eye in the foot of the sage, stripping of his special powers. Thereupon, the sage concluded that Lord Vishnu was the most supreme of the trimurthis and told the rishis the same.
Sri Mahalakshmi was angered by the action of her Lord in apologising to Bhrigu who committed an offence. Out of anger and anguish she left Vaikuntha and resided in Karavirapur now known as Kolhapur. After the departure of Mahalakshmi, a forlorn Lord Vishnu left Vaikuntam and took abode in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree, beside a pushkarini on the Venkata Hill, meditating for the return of Lakshmi, without food or sleep.
This was the place where Lord took the form of Varaha to rescue Mother Earth form the deep ocean. Taking pity on Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwara decided to assume the forms of a cow and its calf to serve Him.
Surya, the Sun God informed Mahalakshmi of this and requested her to assume the form of a cowherdess and sell the cow and calf to the king of the Chola country. The king of the Chola country bought the cow and its calf and sent them to graze on the Venkata Hill along with his herd of cattle.
Discovering Lord Vishnu on the ant-hill, the cow provided its milk, and thus fed the Lord. Meanwhile, at the palace, the cow was not yielding any milk, for which the Chola Queen chastised the cowherd severely. To find out the cause of lack of milk, the cowherd followed the cow, hid himself behind a bush and discovered the cow emptying her udder over the ant-hill. Incensed over the conduct of the cow, the cowherd aimed a blow with his axe on the head of the cow.
However, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to receive the blow and save the cow. When the cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe, he fell down and died of shock. The cow returned, bellowing in fright and with blood stains all over her body, to the Chola King.
To find out the cause of the cow's terror, the King followed her to the scene of the incident. The King found the cowherd lying dead on the ground near the ant-hill.
While he stood wondering how it had happened, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill and cursed the King saying that he would become an Asura because of the fault of his servant. The King pleaded innocence, and the Lord blessed him by saying that he will be reborn as Akasa Raja and that the curse would end when the Lord will be adorned with a crown presented by Akasa Raja at the time of His marriage with Padmavati.
With these words Lord turned into stone form. His request being readily granted, Srinivasa ordained that a pilgrimage to His shrine would not be complete unless it is preceded by a bath in the Pushkarini and darshan of Sri Varahaswami, and that puja and naivedyam should be offered to Sri Varaha swami first. Vishnu built a hermitage and lived there, attended to by Vakuladevi who looked after him like a mother. However, Yasoda was not blessed to witness the marriage of Sri Krishna with Rukmini and she felt very sad.
Sri Krishna promised to fulfil her desire in her next birth as Vakuladevi in his next incarnation as Srinivasa. Sometime later, a King named Akasa Raja who belonged to the Lunar race was ruling over Thondamandalam. Akasa Raja had no heirs, and therefore, he wanted to perform a sacrifice. As part of the sacrifice, he was ploughing the fields when his plough turned up a lotus in the ground. On examining the lotus, the King found a female child in it. The king was happy to find a child even before he performed a sacrifice and carried it to his place and gave it to his Queen to tend it.
At that time he heard an aerial voice which said "O King, tend it as your child and fortune will befall you". As she was found in a lotus, the king named her Padmavati. Princess Padmavati grew up into a beautiful maiden and was attended by a host of maids.
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