Vrindavan 2016.07.13 (Kausalya Sridharan): Braj bhoomi, the holy city of Radha and Krishna, is said to have more than 5,000 temples associated with the pastimes of the Lord. By the mercy of Krishna, almost every deity worshiped in India can be found in Vrindavan, including Tirupati Balaji, a form of Vishnu worshiped in South India.
The littlImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
e known temple, named the “Uttara Tirupati Balaji” is located right on the Parikrama Marg in the Raman Reti area of Vrindavan. The temple is especially famous within the Russian community visiting and living in Vrindavan.
The temple is only a bit more than 10 years old and is built in the architectural style of south Indian temples. The deity also has the exact same for as Balaji in the Tirumala Tipati temple, Andhra Pradesh. But unlike the temple in Tirupati, the one in Vrindavan has all eight forms of Laxmi embedded on his body.
The eight forms of Laxmi are:
- Adi Laxmi (ancient form of Laxmi as daughter of sage Bhrigu),
- Dhan Laxmi (Goddess of wealth),
- Dhanya Laxmi (Goddess of crop),
- Dhariya Laxmi (Goddess of courage),
- Santaan Laxmi (Goddess of heredity),
- Gaja Laxmi (Goddess of animal wealth),
- Vijaya Laxmi (Goddess of victory) and
- Vidya Laxmi (Goddess of knowledge)
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
These representations are embedded on Lord Balaji’s head, sides, shoulders, hands, chest and stomach. Generally they are kept hidden, but devotees can see them during abhishek every Friday morning. The grand abhishek of the Lord Balaji reflects the temple culture of the Ramanuj tradition in South India and is done with milk, curd, honey, fruits, tender coconut, turmeric and sandal.
The temple also has a smaller Utsav Moorti, Sandoori, which is installed in the temple along with the goddesses Sri Devi and Bhu Devi. Other deities on the altar include Lord Sudarshan and Garuda, as well as a number of large Shalagrams from Muktinath.
On the temple parikrama one can find a number of small shrines to the goddess Padmavati, Mahalaxmi, Lord Venugopalan, Andal (a form of Radharani), and of course Lord Ram with Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman.
The temple is run and maintained by the Srirangam Srimath Andavan Ashram, an ashram located in the Srirangam District of Tamil Nadu. The branches of the ashram are spread all across the world to serve the devotees of Lord Balaji.
The present head of the ashram, Ranga Ramanuja Mahadesikan Yathi, who is generally known as Guruji amongst his devotees, is more than 82 years old and has been serving the cause for the past 25 years. He is the 11th Acharya of the ashram, and a master in many branches of the arts and Vedic literature and philosophy.
Clik here to view.
Guruji of the ashram at Srirangam
The post Exploring Braj: The Tirupati Balaji temple in Vrindavan appeared first on Vrindavan Today.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
