Venkateswara | |
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Devanagari | वेङ्कटेश्वर |
Sanskrit transliteration | Veṅkaṭēśvara |
Telugu | వేంకటేశ్వర |
Affiliation | Form of Vishnu |
Abode | Vaikuntam |
Mantra | Om Namo Venkatesaya, Om Namo Narayana |
Weapon | Shankha, Chakra |
Symbols | Namam |
Mount | Garuda |
Region | South India |
Consorts | Lakshmi & Padmavati |
Venkateswara (IAST: Veṅkaṭēśvara), also known as Śrīnivāsa, Bālājī, Veṅkaṭā,Venkata Ramana and Veṅkaṭācalapati, Govindha is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara's most prominent temple is the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple located in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh in Southern India.
Venkateswara literally means "Lord of Venkata". The word is a combination of the words Venkata (the name of a hill in Andhra Pradesh) and isvara ("Lord").
According to the Brahmanda and Bhavishyottara Puranas, the word "Venkata" means "destroyer of sins", deriving from the Sanskrit words vem (sins) and kata (power of immunity).
Thirumalai finds mention in Sangam literature, where Sangam landscape was classified into five categories, known as thinais, based on the mood, the season and the land. Tolkappiyam, mentions that each of these thinai had an associated deity and mentions Thirumaal as presiding in Mullai region- the forests.
The Tirumala hill is located in the temple town of Tirumala, where Tirumala Venkateswara Temple is located on this hill. The ancient Tamil texts describe its Venkata peak as the northernmost part of Tamilakam.
According to the Tirumala sthala Purana, the legend of Venkateswara is as follows: