After Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the newly developed Kashi Vishwanath corridor on December 13, calls have been raised about realizing the glory of captured temples, converted to masjids by the Mughal plunderers. When the Mughals came to India, they established dominance by demolishing Hindu temples. Scores of temples were razed to the ground but the Islamic invaders could not lay their hands upon one temple and that is the ‘Tirumala temple’.
The temple town of Tirupati is situated at the foot of Tirumala hills in the Chandragiri Taluka of the Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. The sacred spot on the hill is about 2,800 feet above sea level, and is known as Tirumala, the abode of Bhagwan Venkateswara.
Sage Brighu:
The reason the Islamic marauders could not ransack or raze the Tirumala temple has a deep story behind it and a rather interesting one at it. It all starts with Maharishi Brighu. He was one of the seven great seers (saptarishis) who played an important role in the propagation and popularity of the Vedic Dharma. Brighu Maharishi was an extremely well-learned man but the only drawback was his temper.
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Once, some rishis headed by Kashyapa began to perform a yajna on the banks of Ganga. Narada Muni – the first journalist of the world, visited them and asked them why they were performing the yajna and who would be pleased by it.
Not having the answer at their disposal, Narada suggested that the rishis call upon Brighu Maharishi, who would then decide which one out of the Trimurti (Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh) will be most qualified to receive the offerings and honors in a sacrifice.
Brighu and his interaction with Brahma:
Brighu arrived and agreed to the task. He set sail and first arrived in the Brahmalok to meet Bhagwan Brahma. However, Brahma, attended by Devi Saraswati playing the veena and chanting divine hymns, could not hear Brighu Maharishi.
Enraged that his presence was not even acknowledged, Brighu deemed Bhagwan Brahma unfit for receiving the offering from the rishis and cursed him. Brighu said that no one will worship Brahma on planet Earth and that is possibly the reason why one rarely sees a Brahma temple anywhere around, even today.
Brighu cursing Mahadev Shiva:
Still angry, Brighu left Brahmalok and ventured towards Kailasa – the abode of Mahadev Shiva, where he resides with his wife Devi Parvati. Akin to Brahma, Bhagwan Shiva was busy tending to Parvati Devi, involved in a beautiful nritya, in the Ardhanarishwar form.
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Brighu Maharishi, after failing to grab Mahadev’s attention, cursed Ashutosh Bhagwan Shiva, stating that he will only be worshipped as a lingam. The reader must not conflict the lingam with the male reproductory part, as most left-liberals, Christians and Islamists would like one to believe.
Bhagwan Vishnu and his might:
Afterward, the sage got up and left for Vaikuntam to meet Vishnu, where he saw him sitting on Adisesha with Sri Mahalakshmi by his side. Vishnu was in ‘Yoganindra’ and despite Brighu’s insistence to Lakshmi Devi to wake him up, she did not do the same.
Infuriated that he was being ignored again, Sage Brighu kicked Vishnu square on his chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides. Vishnu woke up, while Laxmi grew angry. Instead of cursing the sage, Vishnu got up and pacified the enraged rishi by making him sit on the Adisesha. He apologized to Bhrigu Maharishi for inadvertently ignoring him, and took the sage’s leg and started to massage it, so as to alleviate his pain.
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In doing so, Vishnu removed the mutant eye in the foot of the sage, which signified his ego, thereby stripping him of his unwarranted temper driven by his ego. After seeing the prowess of Vishnu firsthand, Sage Brighu acknowledged him as the best of the three and the most qualified to receive the offerings and honors of the yajna.
Lakshmi furious with Bhagwan Vishnu:
After asking for forgiveness and receiving one from Bhagwan Vishnu, Sage Brighu departed, having done his job. However, watching the entire incident unfold before her eyes and her resting place on Vishnu’s chest being defiled, Shri Lakshmi became furious and left Vaikuntha for Mrityulok, that is Earth, and resided in the modern-day Kolhapur.
After the departure of Mahalakshmi, a forlorn Bhagwan Vishnu left Vaikuntam and descended to Earth. In his true divine form, he placed his first foot on the Tirumala Hills, took abode in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree, meditating for the return of Lakshmi, without food or sleep.
Worship Bhagwan Varahaswami, take the holy dip and then come to the temple:
In the end, Vishnu returned to Vaikuntam with Devi Laxmi and Padmavati Devi. However, before leaving, Vishnu collected his followers on Earth and informed them that whenever devotees come to worship him on Tirumala Hills, they should first take a bath in the Pushkarni and pay their respects to Bhagwan Varaha Swami – one of Bhagwan Vishnu’s previous reincarnation.
The pooja and naivedyam should be offered to Varaha Swami first and then the devotee can traverse through the dense jungle and stairs, all the way to the hilltop temple.
Bhagwan Vishnu foreshadowed the Islamic invaders who would later descend upon Bharat and Tirupati to plunder the temples. However, passing through the villages, the Islamic invaders asked about the Tirumala temple. When told to perform the ritual and the way to reach the temple, they asked who Varaha Swami was.
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The villagers showed Varaha Swami’s moorti, and the Islamists seeing a boar, immediately threw their hands up in disgust and returned to their burrow holes. That is because in Islam, pigs and boars are considered haram, and Muslims all over the world flinch in disgust just at the sight of the lovely creatures, even today. They vowed to come back but could never complete the conquest of the pious temple compounds. And that is how the Tirumala Temple escaped the clutches of Mughal invaders.
To this date, the devotees first have to pray to Bhagwan Varahaswami before moving towards the main temple. Bhagwan Vishnu, through his reincarnation, ensured that the Hindus managed to preserve their culture and their heritage.
The redevelopment of Kashi Vishwanath has made the Islamists go berserk, imagine if Hindus started to construct Shri Varahaswami across India – the outrage will be immense.