Early medieval · Hindu · India

Sri Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala

తిరుమల శ్రీ వేంకటేశ్వర స్వామి దేవాలయం

Tirumala, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh · 13.6833°, 79.3472°

Venkateswara (Vishnu)VijayanagaraDravidaDivya Desam

Sacred since

300 CE

Inscriptional endowments from at least the Pallava era

Standing structure

attested from early centuries CE; enlarged under Pallava, Chola & Vijayanagara patronage

patron: Pallavas, Cholas, Krishnadevaraya (gold gilding)

History & significance

The most-visited and richest continuously active religious site in the world — 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims a day climb the seven hills of Tirumala for a few seconds before Venkateswara. Krishnadevaraya's donations gilded the Ananda Nilayam vimana; the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (est. 1932) runs vast free-meal, tonsure and laddu-prasadam operations (the laddu holds a GI tag).

Sthala katha — the legend

Venkateswara took a loan from Kubera for his wedding to Padmavati — pilgrims' offerings in the hundi help him repay the interest until the end of the Kali Yuga; the tonsure of one's hair returns the hair the goddess Neela once gave to cover the Lord's wounded scalp.