Acharya Karan V – The power of faith exceeds all the other powers. Faith on the supreme power has driven people to build holy places and it is their undying and never-diminishing faith that has made the places of worships most reputed places in the world. A place that is visited every day by the devotees in the number of a lakh definitely deserves to be given a great amount of respect. Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple is one such place well-revered and venerated by millions of people all over the world.

Located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, the temple is considered to be the most affluent temple in the world owing to the donations by its devotees. The number of followers crossing 5 lakhs during festivals, the temple is also the most visited place of worship in the world. One of the reasons for the temple to be extremely famous is also its location. Nestled on “Venkatadri” – one of the seven hills located on the Tirumala Hill, the temple fascinates its devotees, filling them with awe.

Historically, the temple is dedicated to Lord Venkateswara who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. There have been lots of legends about Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala with one of the popular legends related to Lord’s idol believed to remain at its current location for the entire “Kali Yug”. The reputation of the temple can very well be judged by the kind of donations it receives every year which is estimated to be more than 10 billion rupees every year. The huge donations accumulated are utilized to give life to many charitable trusts being run in the country.

There is a popular ritual of devotees getting their head tonsured, offering their hair to the Lord. The gathered hair is also sold by the temple to the various international cosmetic manufacturers to be used in various cosmetic procedures, earning a huge amount of funds for the temple. The devotees also donate huge sum of money to “Venkateshwara’s Hundi” or pot, which, as per a legend, is used by the Lord to pay Lord Kubera. The donated money in a day is estimated to be more than two crores.

Another popular ritual is “Thulabharam” in which a devotee donates more than his weight of money or goods. There are lots of festivals like “Janamashtmi”, “Ram Navami”, “Vaikuntha Ekadashi”, “Vasanthotsavam”, “Rathasapthami” celebrated in the temple, attracting millions of devotees from all over the world. Titled as a “Swayambhu Shetra”, the temple is revered as a place where Lord Venkateshwara manifested Himself, garnering respect and devotion from all the devotees of the world.