Tirumala Tirupati Balaji Temple

TTD sets out the day as a sequence of named rituals with darshan running between them. These are the parts of that sequence the public queue moves through.

The Venkateswara temple at Tirumala is traditionally attributed to the Tondaiman rulers, and its Dravidian structure is believed to have developed over a long period beginning around 300 CE. The Tamil epic Cilappatikaram already describes Vishnu standing on the crest of the hill called Venkatam. The walls of the sanctum as they stand today are of cut stone and may date from the 8th or 9th century, and the outer face of the outer wall carries inscriptions dated 966 to 1013.

The first recorded endowment came in 966 CE, when the Pallava queen Samavai gave jewels and two parcels of land and directed that the revenue pay for the temple's major festivals. The Pallavas, Cholas, the Reddi kingdom and Vijayanagara governors all supported the temple, but most of its present wealth and size came under the Vijayanagara Empire. Emperor Krishnadevaraya was a frequent visitor in the 16th century; his gifts of gold and jewels paid for the gilding of the Ananda Nilayam roof, and on 2 January 1517 he installed his own statue in the temple.

Ramanujacharya visited Tirupati three times in the 11th and 12th centuries. He set the rituals according to the Vaikhanasa Agama, introduced the recitation of the Naalayira Divya Prabandham and founded the Tirupati Jeeyar Mutt in 1119, whose Jeeyars still oversee that the rituals are kept.

After Vijayanagara fell, the temple passed to Golconda in 1656, then briefly to the French and to the Nawab of Carnatic until 1801. The East India Company placed it under the Collector of North Arcot in 1817, and in 1843 handed it to the Mahants of Hathiramji Muth, who ran it for six generations. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams was created under the TTD Act of 1933, and a new TTD Act in 1979 set up the board of an Executive Officer, a Chairman and members nominated by the Government of Andhra Pradesh that still administers the temple.

Deity

Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu

First recorded endowment

966 CE, by Pallava queen Samavai

Architecture

Dravidian, gold-plated Ananda Nilayam

Altitude

About 980 m (3,220 ft)

Inscriptions

About 640, in four languages

Pilgrims a year

Around 24 million

Why Tirupati Balaji matters to Hindus

Hindus worship Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu, as the deity who came to earth to save people from the trials of the Kali Yuga. That belief gives the site its names Kaliyuga Vaikuntha and the deity the title Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Daivam. The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams praised by the Alvars and one of the eight Swayambhu Kshetras of Vishnu, where the main image is believed to be self-manifested. The standing image in the sanctum is about 8 feet tall, and tradition holds that no sculptor made it and no one installed it.

Legend links the site to several Puranic stories. In one, Vishnu as Varaha set the Earth goddess down on these hills after rescuing her. In another, Vishnu followed Lakshmi from Vaikuntha after the sage Bhrigu's insult and settled here, later marrying Padmavati. Pilgrims connect the hundi to the legend that Srinivasa borrowed from Kubera to pay for that wedding and that devotees help repay the debt. Many also have their heads tonsured as an offering, and the Tirupati laddu, the temple's prasadam, carries a Geographical Indication tag that only TTD may use.

More facts about Tirupati Balaji

Deity

Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu

Where

Tirumala village, Tirupati Urban Mandal, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh

Hills

Approximately 980 metres (3,220 ft) above sea level

Administered by

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, an autonomous body under the Government of Andhra Pradesh

Daily footfall

Above 60,000 pilgrims on an average day

Peak footfall

Over one lakh during the annual Brahmotsavams, Vaikunta Ekadasi and other festival periods

Annual footfall

Around 24 million pilgrims a year

Main festival

Sri Venkateshwara Brahmotsavams

Also known as

Tirupati temple, Tirumala temple, Tirupati Balaji temple, Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala

TTD names four darshan routes on its pilgrim services page. It does not print the conditions or the fees for each of them there, so neither does this page.

Quoted rather than summarised, because the wording is the rule.

• For men the dress code is dhoti or pyjamas with upper cloth.
• For women the preferred dress code is saree or half-saree with blouse or churidar with pyjama and upper cloth.
• TTD introduced the dress code in 2013 for those taking part in Arjitha Sevas, and has since extended it to VIP darshan and to pilgrims using the Rs.300 and Rs.50 darshan services.

Tirumala has a hot, humid tropical climate. The hottest stretch runs from late March to early June, with May averaging a high of 37 °C. November to January is the coolest period, and December is the coldest month, with an average low of 13 °C. November also brings the heaviest rain, from the northeast monsoon, so the most comfortable weather for a long queue and a hill walk tends to be December and January.

Crowds matter more than weather. Average footfall is above 60,000 a day but crosses one lakh during the Brahmotsavams in September or October, on Vaikunta Ekadasi in the Dhanurmasam period (mid-December to mid-January), and in holiday seasons. If you want a shorter wait, avoid those dates. If you want to see the festival processions, plan around them and expect the largest crowds of the year.

Within the day, the two windows on TTD's day schedule are the times the public queue moves. The ghat roads shut at midnight and the Srivari Mettu footpath closes at 18:00, so leave enough time for the climb or drive before the window you are aiming for.

Tips before you go

• Read TTD's day schedule for your actual travel date; it is republished daily and the windows move.
• Wear the TTD dress code if you are using the Rs.300 or Rs.50 darshan services or an Arjitha Seva: dhoti or pyjamas with upper cloth for men, saree, half-saree or churidar with upper cloth for women.
• Tirumala is strictly vegetarian, and non-vegetarian food, liquor and tobacco are prohibited and punishable by law.
• If you drive, remember both ghat roads close from midnight to 3 a.m.
• Walking up? Alipiri Mettu is open round the clock but Srivari Mettu only from 06:00 to 18:00, and pedestrian pilgrims get a limited number of free tokens for a separate queue, first come, first served.
• By tradition, pilgrims visit the Bhuvaraha Swamy temple on the north bank of Swami Pushkarini before darshan of Venkateswara.

Two more published schedules shape a day at Tirumala, and neither of them is the darshan window.

Anna Prasadam, and when it is served

TTD runs a free meal service through its own trust. It publishes tiffin from 09:00 to 10:30, lunch from 10:30 to 16:00 and dinner from 17:00 to 22:30, at the Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasada Complex at Tirumala and at counters at bus stands, reception offices and hospital complexes.

TTD gives the daily capacity as 1,59,500 on weekdays and 2,05,000 at weekends across all locations, and lists the food as upma, pongal, chakkara pongal, curry, rice, sambar and rasam.

Reaching Tirumala from below

Tirupati Main railway station is 26 km (16 mi) from Tirumala and Tirupati Airport about 15 km (9.3 mi). Two separate tolled ghat roads run from Alipiri, 17.8 km (11.1 mi) going up and 18 km (11 mi) coming down.

Both ghat roads are open 21 hours a day and close from midnight to 3 a.m. Two roofed footpaths are the pedestrian alternative: the Alipiri path at 7.8 km (4.8 mi) and the Srivari path at 2.1 km (1.3 mi).