Venkateswara (Telugu: వేంకటేశ్వరుడు, Sanskrit: वेङ्कटेश्वरः, romanized: Venkaṭeśvara), also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkata, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a deity, described as a form of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. His consorts, Padmavati and Bhudevi, are avatars of the goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.
Vaishnavism (Sanskrit: वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, romanized: Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu religious traditions, that considers Vishnu as the supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, Mahavishnu. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas (IAST: Vaiṣṇava), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2020 estimate by The World Religion Database (WRD), hosted at Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 399 million Hindus.
The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the Bhagavata cults of Vāsudeva-Krishna and Gopala-Krishna, as well as Narayana, developed in the 7th to 4th century BCE. It was integrated with the Vedic God Vishnu in the early centuries CE, and finalized as Vaishnavism, when it developed the avatar doctrine, wherein the various non-Vedic deities are revered as distinct incarnations of the supreme God Vishnu. Narayana, Hari, Rama, Krishna, Kalki, Perumal, Shrinathji, Vithoba, Venkateswara, Guruvayurappan, Ranganatha, Jagannath, Badrinath and Muktinath are revered as forms or avatars of Vishnu, all seen as different aspects of the same supreme being.
The Venkateswara Temple of Tirumala or Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the hills of Tirumala, Tirupati Urban Mandal in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The temple is dedicated to Venkateswara, a form of god Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared on earth to save mankind from trials and troubles of Kali Yuga. Hence the place is also known by the name Kaliyuga Vaikuntha and the deity here is referred to as Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Daivam. The temple is also known by other names like Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple and Tirupati Balaji Temple. Venkateswara is also known by other names including Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa. The temple is run by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is under control of Andhra Pradesh Government. The head of TTD is appointed by Andhra Pradesh Government.
Tirumala hills are part of Seshachalam Hills range. The hills are 853 metres (2,799 ft) above sea level and comprise seven peaks, representing the seven heads of Adisesha. The temple lies on the seventh peak—Venkatadri, on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank. Hence the temple is also referred to as "Temple of Seven Hills". Tirumala town covers an area of about 10.33 sq mi (26.75 km).
Shravana (Devanagari: श्रवण), also known as Thiruvonam in Tamil and Malayalam (Tamil: திருவோணம், Malayalam: തിരുവോണം), is the 22nd nakshatra or lunar mansion as used in Hindu astronomy, Hindu calendar and Hindu astrology. It belongs to the constellation Makara (Devanagari: मकर), a legendary sea creature resembling a crocodile] or Capricorn. The name alludes to Shravan, a mythological character who attained repute due to his utmost devotion to his aged and blind parents.
Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati and Lord Oppiliappan near Kumbakonam, who married Markandeya Rishi's daughter Bhuvalli, are believed to be born in this Nakshatra in the Bhadrapada maasa. Onam, the biggest festival of Kerala, is celebrated on this Nakshathra in the Malayalam month of Chingam.
Svayambhu (Sanskrit: स्वयम्भू, romanized: Svayambhū, lit. 'self-born') is a Sanskrit word that means "self-born", "self-manifested", "self-existing", or "that that is created by its own accord". Various deities and entities featured in Hindu literature and tradition are regarded to be svayambhu, such as Brahman in the Upanishads, and the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and Manu in the Puranas.
The term svayambhu is also used to describe the belief of a self-manifested image (murti) of a deity present in a temple, which is described to be not of human creation, but of natural or divine origin. Such images are described in some of the regional legends of religious sites called the sthala puranas. Some of the best examples of such images include the twelve Jyotirlinga images of Shiva, and Venkateswara image of Vishnu.