AT TIRUMALA “SAHASRA KALASHABHISHEKAM” SEVA ….

The Lord of the seven hills is the Lord of the universe. The special significance of Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala lies in the fact that it is the oldest religious institutions in the world where unbroken religious worship is being carried on for over 1,500 years by revered Acharyas and millions of pilgrims  reach the holy abode more than any other temple in the world .The temple is held in high  veneration by many devotees.

There is no place in the entire universe that equals Venkatadri ,

the place where …

Lord resides ……..

.and there is no Lord,

either in the past nor in the future…….                                                           

who  shall equal   our Lord Venkateswara.

The most prized darshan at Tirumala is Abhisheka Seva on Friday to Moola Viraat also glorified as VastraAlankarana Seva ” Thurumanjanam seva . The next seva a devotee wishes is to participate in “Sahasrakalasabhishekam an arjitha seva performed every Wednesday inside the main sanctum of Tirumala temple .

A brief note about the various arjitha sevas performed to utsava murthis in Tirumala is mentioned below

Every day Sri Vari kalyana utsavam, arjitha brahmotsavam, Vasanthotsavam, unjal sevas are performed to our utsava murthi-Sri Malayappa Swami , Sridevi and Bhudevi. Apart from this, on other days, the following sevas are performed.

Monday:- Visesha pooja (Snapana Thirumanjanam) performed to Sri Malayappa Swamy,Sridevi and Bhudevi in Kalyanautsavam mandapam before Kalyana utsavam

Tuesday:- Ashtadala pada padmaradhanamu :- 108 golden lotus flowers placed at Moola Viraat lotus feet (thiruvadi) while reciting Sri Venkateswara Ashotharam and Mahalakshmi Ashtotram

Wednesday :- Sahasrakalasabhishekam to (1) Bhoga Srinvasa murthy, (2) Malayapa Swamy with Sridevi, Bhudevi and (3) Vishwaksenar in Thirumamani mandapam (the hall where Garuda sannidhi is situated )

Thursday:- Thirupaavada seva (huge quantities of tamarind rice preparations , sweets , ) offered to Moolavar in Thirumamani mandapam.

The participating devotees are supposed to report at Vaikuntam Queue complex -I by 5 A.M. After verification of our identity cards, they are allowed to enter the temple through the assigned route.

We were blessed to participate in this seva few years back . Before proceeding further, Adiyen ( Your servant ) wish to share with readers the divine details of deities worshipped in the garbagriham . Apart from the Moola Viraat , we can have darshan of “shat berams” (6 utsava murthis inside the garbagriham .

The Lord of SevenHills-Kaliyuga pratakshaya deivam-Lord Srinivasa (Lord Venkateswara ) Moola Viraat who is Swayambhu (not carved by any sculptor) is the principal diety. Other utsava dieties in the sannidhi are :-

BHOGA SRINIVASA MURTHY:- deity is the exact replica of the Moola Viraat . Bhoga murthy accepts all the upacharams on behalf of moola viraat . Lordships darshan can be had near Moola Viraats ‘s lotus feet and both are connected with a golden chord. Daily abhishekam during Thomala Seva amidst recitation of Thirupalliezhuchi and Thirupaavai is performed to Bhogha murthi only. Moola Viraat is given abhishekam( holy bath) only on Fridays. Other days, thirumanjanam to the lord’s lotus feet along with Bhoga Srinivasar is performed. Likewise, all the food offerings including laddus are offered to Bhogha Srinivasar only. Moolaviraat is offered only butter, big specially made laddus and curd rice.. During Ekantha seva also known as “Pavalimpu seva” when the Lordships are laid to rest,, bhogha murthy relaxes on a silver cradle . This is done for 11 months except Dhanur maasam .

KOLUVU SRINIVASAR:- utsava murthi grace the devotees daily. He takes the throne in a silver chair (koluvu) and in HIS presence, every day Panchangam is read out and the accounts of previous day (hundi collection, expenses etc) are read out. A special offering made up with jaggery and Til is offered to the Lordships

UGRA SRINIVASAR:- diety was the processional diety few hundred years ago . Once during Brahmotsavam, the Lord expressed HIS unwillingness to come out from his divine abode . A divine voice was heard saying that HE would be gracing them through another form along with HIS goddesses and informed about his manifestation with Sridevi and Bhudevi nearby the Seven Hills and declared hence forth they would be the processional diety whom we worship today as Malai kunia nindra perumal which became as Malayappa Swamy. However , Lord Ugra Srinivasar comes out of temple only thrice in a year on Uttana Ekadasi, Kaisika Dwadasi and Dwadasa Aradhana and returns before sunrise.

MALAYAPPA SWAMY WTH SRIDEVI,BHUDEVI:– are main processional deity for whom all the utsavams-Brahmotsavams, nitya kalyana utsava, Sahasradeepalankarana seva, Visesha pooja, arjitha brahomotsavam, vasantothsavam, pakshotsavam, maasa utsavam, teppotsavam, azhwar,acharyar thirunakshatra utsavam, adhyayana utsavam etc, are performed with pomp and show much to the liking of zillions of devotees .

LORD KRISHNA :- as a deity gets Pavlimpu seva (resting the lord) for 30 days in Dhanur maasam. This lord gives darshan to public on every Rohini star during Sahasra deepalankarana seva (oonjhal seva)

SITA LAKSHMANA SAMETHA SRI RAMA:- Lord graces to give darshan on every punarvasu during oonjhal seva.

SAHASRAKALASABHISHEKAM :- ABHISHEKAM WITH 1008 KALASAMS- A BRIEF DESCRIPTION

SAHASRAKALASABHISHEKAM seva is performed on every Wednesday in Thirumamani mandapam (the hall where Garuda shrine is located ) moving further , we have darsan of Jaya and Vijaya-the eternal dwarapalakas on either sides who guard the entrance to the main shrine . All the barricades, the raised wooden pedestal on which we throng which enables us to have darshan of the Supreme Lord right from Garuda sannidhi are removed. The whole place is sanctified . Sarva darsanam for enabling the seva to proceed uninterruptedly

The Lordships arrive into “Bangaru Vakili”(the golden doorway) from the altar and alight over decorated thrones for their majesty to accept the Abhishekam Seva . Bhoga Srinivasa murthy represents Moola Viraat takes the throne in the center and is connected to the Katihastha (lower left hand) of the Main diety with a golden chord thus establishing a relationship between Moolaviraat and Bhogha Sreenivasa On the right side, clad in white silk with golden border, Lord Malayappa Swamy with HIS consorts Sridevi, Bhudevi alight in another well decorated throne facing Garuda in eastern direction. On another smaller pedestal facing south, Viswaksenar the chief commander of the Supreme Lord who oversees all the activiites stands gaurd .

Holy Water from Akasha Ganga is brought by the priests in golden pots for the seva with full temple honours accompanied by mangalavaadyam. Various dhravyams like pachai karpooram, elachi, saffron , sandal etc. are added with Udakashanthi mantraas and the 1008 silver kalasams are filled with this holy water. Apart from this another 8 huge vessels and a big golden pot(kudam) are filled with this holy parimala water . The vessel is kept near the homa kundam. Lucky devotees waiting in the queue get a chance to carry the kalasams for the seva. On the left side, a yaaga kundam is kept ready for performing homam. The seva starts after the second bell.

Once the stage is set , the arjitha seva donors are allowed inside. As mentioned earlier, 6 members are allowed for this seva, out of which the main participant along with his wife is directed towards left side and the remaining four devotees who accompanied are directed towards the right side and are allowed to sit on the right side facing south (towards the place where theertham is given).

The main grahasta along with spouse is asked to sit on the left side where homam is performed. The priest utters sankalpam mantras by mentioning our names, gothram, nakshatram and ties kankanam”(rakshai” – yellow thread) to our wrist thus signifying our participation in this divine seva. WE were fortunate to sit in the first row itself right in front of homa kundam. A team of about 10-15 persons comprising of priests and sevaks were present .

Few priests perform homam by reciting specific mantras offering ghee and samith . After completion of homam, the golden water pot which is now sanctified by vedic mantras is brought to the presence of the Lordships. Pancha suktham and pancha shanthi mantras are rendered during Sahasrakalasabhishekam performed to all the deities simultaneously. We considered ourselves very fortunate for being a recipient of Lord’s abundant mercy and thanked my ancestors and acharyar because of whom we got this opportunity of reciting Pancha suktham along with learned scholars in the presence of my Lord .

Thirumanjanam for all the Perumals started simultaneously .. Snapana Thirumanjanam with milk,curd, honey, coconut water etc. were performed to Perumal’s lotus feet (thiruvadi and sataari ) which was followed by abhishekam with 1008 kalasams. Pancha suktam, Upanishads was being recited during the seva . The emptied kalasams are immediately removed with the help of few TTD employees.

This was followed by Abhishekam from the bigger vessels . The golden pot that was the main vessel amongst the 1008 small silver vessels which was kept near Bhoga Srinivasar was taken around the temple . Amidst chanting of vedic mantraas starting from Dwajasthambam, sembangi pradakshina amidst vedic chanting and mangala vaadhyam. The golden pot was taken inside the main garbagriham and curtain was drawn. A priest who was officiating the homam informed me that this holy water would be sprinkled on Moolavar Lotus feet followed by archana to the Supreme Lord.

Once the curtain was removed, we were allowed to go inside to have darshan of Supreme Lord from close quarters near Kulasekara padi. WE could have darshan of Perumal who was clad in orange and maroon colour silk cloth to our heart’s content . Thanked Perumal for HIS abundant mercy on us and left the sannidhi with a prayer for this memory to remain forever in our hearts.

As part of prasadam, a small upper cloth and a blouse piece along with 6 big laddus, 12 small laddus were collected by us.

Words cannot fill our experiences .

.. Praying Lord on behalf of all my blog readers to be blessed with this splendid darshan

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

videos and pictures courtesy : Thanks to all the advanced devotees who had shared in social media