Details of daily worship at Tirumala Temple

The worship in Tirumala temple is done strictly according to the Vaikhanasa Agama. According to the Bhavisthyottara purana, Vaikhanasa Rishi is said to have admired the playful leelas of Lord Krishna in Dwapara Yuga and did Tapascharya to obtain darshan of Lord Krishna. The legend goes that Lord Krishna appeared before him and instructed him to worship the Lord as Srinivasa who manifested himself in a hill on Venkatachala and that one Rangadasa will help him to locate and worship the Lord. Vaikhanasa Rishi then proceeded to Tirumala and is said to have found the Lord with the help of Rangadasa and worshipped him. Thus Vaikhanasa Rishi, according to the legend, is the first person to worship the Lord at Tirumala. Hence in this temple, to this day, worship is conducted according to the Vaikhanasa agama. Having known about the leelas of the Lord let us go in detail about the different prayers offered to the Lord of Tirumala in a day. 

The temple is virtually open throughout the day and in the night with only a gap of an hour or two in the night between the Ekantha seva and the early morning Suprabhatham.

The timings of the various sevas change from day to day depending upon the crowds that throng the temple city. The most common timings are listed below.

Suprabhata Seva: (3am -3.30am)

Early in the morning at a time fixed the previous day itself 'golla' (cowherd) will go to the residence of the arcakas & collect them who have been allotted the duty in the sanctum sanctorum that day. The areaka would have by that time had his morning bath, completed his nitya-karmanusthanas. He will then do pranama to the key of the sanctum & proceed to the temple holding the key on his head, accompanied by paricarakas, temple paraphernalia and music. The 'golla' would be holding a fireband in his hand when the priest has reached the main entrance of the temple. The cowherd would go back and bring the Jiyyangar or his representative, Ekangi to the temple. The Jiyyangar or Ekangi will come carrying on their head a box, which contains one key (duplicate) and seals etc.

Meantime, the temple administration representative would have come there with one key. The system is triplicate lock system with arcaka, Jiyyangar and temple authorities having one key each. The arcaka will first symbolically place his key in the hand of the Dvarapalaka on the right of the Bangaru Vakili. The priest will do pranama to dvarapaladeras near the Bangaru Vakili. Then he will take the key from the dvarapalaka and seal is broken and the doors of golden vakili will be opened uttering suitable mantras. The 'golla', the paricaraka, jeeyar & arcaka will go in and the Bangaru Vakili doors will be closed from inside.

Bangaru Vakili is a telugu word which means 'golden doorway'. Here the two doors are massive and covered with gold plate. One should not miss studying these two doors in detail as they depict religious facts. On one door all the ten avataras (incarnations) of the Lord are depicted. The other door depicts the dradasanama devatas viz. Kesara, Narayana, Madhava. Meantime in the Mukhamantapa the devotees for the Suprabhataseva would have assembled. There will be priests outside who will start reciting suprabhatam, stotra, prapatti. Mangalasasana verses composed by Sri Pratiradibhayankaram Annan. While inside the Bangaru Vakili the antarala the golla with his fireband (torch) would have lighted all the lamps. The ekangin would have lighted the Brahmakhanda and sara lamps.

The next ritual is to remove Bhoga Srinivasa. Who acted as Sayanabera the previous night. When he was ceremonially put to sleep in a cot during Ekantaseva. He will be lifted from that cot and will be taken back to the sanctum to rest near the feet of the Dhruvabera on the left side. That place is known as Tirasthana. The height of the icon gifted by Samarai, the Pallava Princess does not reach even the anklet of the Dhruvabera. But all worship in the sanctum is done to this idol.

The vaikhanasa practice is to establish a connection between the Dhruvabera and the Kantukabera through a sambandhakurca during worship. This sambandhakurca is a bunch of 32 blades of darbha (grass) tied by a knot in a rightward direction. The knot will be about 2 inches (angular) in length and will be in the middle thus having about 4 inches (angular) of darbha (grass) fire in the front. The front portion is set to represent Brahma, the knot Vishnu and rest Rudra. This sambandhakurca is placed in the space between the Dhruvabera and the kantukabera with the front portion of the kurca towards the kantukabera. The belief is that the sanctum is water, while dhruvabera is the earth below and the kantukabera is the flower that is nourished by the earth and water. The sambandhakurca is likened to the stalk of the flower, which is connecting link between earth and flower through water. 

After restoring the kantukabera to Jivasthana, the sayana mantapa is cleared of the cot and other articles used for Ekantaseva the previous night. The doors are open and by that time the reciters outside would have completed the mangalasasana. In the sanctum, the jiyyangar will light the camphor on a plate and give it to areaka who performs arati to the Mula Vigraha. The devotees are then allowed to pass through the Bangaru Vakili and go up to Kulasekhar for the Visvarupa / Suprabhata darshan.

The tradition in Tirumala is that Brahma conducts worship every night for the Lord at Tirumala. Actually every night before closing the doors if the Garbhagruha five gold cups of water with the spices specified for puja as per agamas, added to them along with other puja articles are left at the feet of the Lord so that Brahma may use them for the worship of Lord in the night (Brahmaradhana). The devotees who go for Visvarupadarsana get the Tirtha believed to have been used by Brahma & other Gods for the puja offered in the night. Another important feature is that only during Suprabhata-darshana is the devotee able to have a darshan of Lords sacred feet without any gold kavacha on the fact. It is removed during Ekantaseva when Bhoga Srinivasa is put to bed, a half billa (half a table-like) perfumed sandal paste is placed over his chest, and other billa is placed on the figure of Alamelmanga on the chest if the Mulavigraha, another billa is kept along with puja articles for Brahma to use during his nights worship to the Lord. In addition, another two billas are placed on Lord's feet after removing the gold kavacha. These billas on Lord's feet are placed there, after wiping off the Civet oil with which his feet are anointed before placing the gold kavacha on them. During the Suprabhata-darshan the devotees are given as prasada a bit from these two sandal paste tablets kept on Lord's feet in the night and some will be given the small piece of perfumed cloth with which the Civet oil is wiped off the feet of the Lord, so that they may reverentially press the cloth on their forehead and eyes. The sandal paste is called Sripadachandana and the cloth is called Sripadavastra.

Sudhi : (4.30 am to 5 am)

After the visvaroopa darshanam, sudhi is done in the sanctum sanctorum when the previous day's flower decorations of the Dhruva Murthi are removed and the vessels required for the pooja etc., are all cleaned. Meantime, water for the next pooja comes from Akasa Ganga - the members of the Tirumala Nambi family alone are permitted to bring this water.
Tirumala Nambi was a great devotee of Lord Venkateswara. Everyday he was doing kainkaryam i.e. service of carrying water to be used for performing the thirumanjanam for the Lord. One day while he was carrying the sacred water in a pitcher, the Lord appeared in the guise of a young boy and asked him to give some water to quench his thirst. Tirumala Nambi refused. The boy hit the pot with a small stone. The water drained out without the knowledge of Tirumala Nambi. When Nambi reached the temple, he found the pot empty. He felt sad. Just then he found the boy who had put him into that situation standing and smiling. The boy led him to a mountain range close by and showed him another spring of fresh water. This was Akasa Ganga Theertham. Since then Tirumala Nambi brought water from Akasa Ganga for the Lord's use. Even today, the descendants of Tirumala Nambi family have this privilege. 
It is this Akasa Ganga Theertham, which is used for the pooja in the forenoon, in the evening and also for the Brahma aradhana in the night.

Thomala Seva : (5 am to 6 am): (Arjitham)

Arjitham means darshan or seva to the Lord on a payment of a fee to the temple. Actually during this seva, garlands made of different specified lengths are brought after the recitation of the mantras and ceremonial bath is done for Bhoga Srinivasa. In the ceremonial bath, first is Mantrasana, when the Lord is offered water for Padma Achamana, arghya and mukhavasa. The second step is sravasana. The holy feet of the Lord is anointed with Civet oil, fresh cloth is spread over them and then tulsi is placed on the feet before gold covering is placed. It is a custom that a cloth is spread on the holy feet and only then replaced with the gold covering on feet, perhaps to avoid causing pain to the delicate feet of the Lord.

Koluvu: (6am to 6.30am)

During this Koluvu or darbar the idol of Koluvu of Srinivasa Murthy is brought out and is seated in silver plated chair with a canopy of a gilded umbrella in the Tirumanamantapam. This umbrella is said to be presented by the Maharaja of Mysore. Koluvu Srinivasa Murthy is then offered a mixture of fried gingelley seeds and jaggery. Than the income of the temple for the previous day is read out to the Lord followed by the reading of the almanac or panchangam of the previous day the current day and the next day.

Sahasranamarchana: (6.30 am to 7.30 am)

This is also an arjitha seva. During this archana the holy names of the Lord are recited. It is conducted for the material and spiritual welfare of the individual devotees. The names recited in this archana are appropriate only to Sri Venkatachalapathy, Nakshatri arati and arati are offered and then sathari to the devotees.

Naivedya or the first Bell: (7.30 to 8.00 am)

The first bell announces the offering of food as naivedya to the Lord by ringing the two big bells followed by Sattumurai through the recitation of the prabandham by the Jiyangar or his assistants and vaishnava acharya purushas. The ringing of the bells and the naivedyam is popularly called the first bell of the temple. While the food is offered as naivedya to the Lord only the archakas are present and the Bangaru Vakili doors are closed. During this time the cooked food is brought into the mantapa in large gangalams of exact sizes, called solai or half solai measures. After this sudhi is done.

Sattumurai

After naivedya, Sattumurai is performed. It means recitation of Dravida Vedas (Tamil Prabandham). Now only Sri Vaishnavas are allowed to be present. The Sri Vaishnavas headed by a Jiyar alone go into the garbha griha after the archakas return from the offering of Bali. Later tirtham, chandanam and prasadam are distributed to all present in the order of preference. This may last for ten minutes.

Second archana

Immediately after this a second archana is done wherein 108 names of Lord from the Varahapurana are recited. Naivedya is offered. The second bell is rung to herald this naivedya offering.

Sarvadarsanam: (8am to midnight)

During this time pilgrims are allowed to have darshan of the Lord. Meanwhile murtis will be worshipped as per star constellation. E.g. Rama will be worshipped on Punarvasu star, Krishna on Rohini star and Malayappa swamy on Sravana star day. This particular worship is near Bangaru Vakili where Koluvu takes place in the morning.

Second Tomala seva

The Periya Jiyar will bring Tomala Butta. But this is purely private (priests, jiyar and the deity). Vedas are recited. About 150 pasuras are recited. It is observed with sarvamangala Vadya. Then arati is offered to the deity.

Third Archana

The third archana is also an ekantaarchana, which takes place when the 108 namavali is recited. Now archana is also done for the consort on Lord's chest.

Bell

There will be a bell and Saithyopachara is done to the Lord and pepper, ghee and rice is offered. After nivedana to moolavar, Jiyar swami comes and receives tirtha, sathari etc., and then sarva darsanam resumes.

Ekanta Seva

This last ritual is in the night. This is called ekantha seva. This is also known as Rathri pooja as it is done in the night. This pavalimpu seva is an arjitha seva. It lasts for 45 minutes. During this ritual the garlands adorning the moolavar are removed. 'The gaddam bottu i.e. the 'Sripada renu' on the chin is removed and fresh one put. The gold kavacha for the feet is also removed. The priest performs Sripada seva viz. at the feet of Dhruvabera, two full tablets of sandal paste are taken and after covering the bare feet with a vastra, the two tablets are placed on the two feet over the cloth. A tablet is placed on Alamelmanga on Dhruvabera's chest (Vakshasthala Lakshmi). In the meantime the sayana mantapa is ready for the deity. A silver cot will be brought in and suspended from silver chains from the roof in the sayana mantapa. The floor will be covered with Rangavalli design with rice powder. A velvet bed is laid on the cot. The sanctum is cleaned as the Kantakabera is removed from the Jeevasthana. Now milk is offered to the Kantakabera in a silver pot. The 2 queens of Krishnadevaraya (Chinna devi and Tirumala devi) are gifted each a gold cup (374 tulas) for offering milk during this seva. One another large silver plate with cashewnuts, almonds, dried grapes, clarified butter, fruits, sugar candy & tambula (50 betel leaves, nut, coconut gratings, cloves, cardamom and Japatri) is also offered. Then the Kantakabera is laid on the cot with its head to the south, sayana sukta is recited. Half a tablet of chandana is placed on the chest of the sayanabera. Meantime at the Bangaru Vakili, Mukhaveena will be played. Then a descendant of Tallapaka Annamacharya will sing some songs. Aarti is offered to the Kantakabera with Dasavathara aarti plate i.e. each day the aarti plate will have one avatara of the Lord engraved in it. Simultaneously the puja articles will get ready for Brahmaradhana in the night. Another half tablet of chandana paste will also be kept there and 5 vattils (cups) will be filled with water from Akasaganga and other fragrant articles. Then the priest goes to the sanctum to put out all the lights. Previously the Brahma-akhanda lamp was kept lighted as that light lit by the creator while conservating the shrine. It is said that every day this lamp used to consume not less than 17 kgs of clarified butter. But now-a-days all the lights are put out in order to avoid fire hazard. The Bangaru Vakili is closed and bolted with archakas key followed by Jiyar's and administrator's keys. The temple authorities scale the door lock. On Varalakshmi Vrata day alone after Ekantaseva a few more rituals are observed. Later the archakas go to Potu (kitchen) and Thirumanjanam is done to Potu Thayar. She is adorned with a new vastra and naivedya is offered to her with preparations made out of Bengal gram. With that the curtain is drawn for the day on the daily worship rituals in the temple. Quite often the rush is so much in the temple town that even within 15 minutess of closing the doors and depositing the keys in the matha, steps for opening it for the next day's suprabhata seva start. The deity is not given the luxury and comfort of a long sleep. He is ever at the beck and call of his sincere devotees. 'Edukondalavada', 'Apadbandhava', 'Vaddikasulavada', 'Sankataharaka', 'Venkataramana', 'Narayana', 'Govinda' - the devotees cry & call for his grace.

Vishesha sevas on selected days - Tirumala

Monday - Chatuh Kalasa Visesha Puja

Every Monday after the second bell, the utsava vigraha is brought to the mantapa for what is called 'chaturdasa kalasa visesa puja' (i.e with 14 kalasas). Seven vessels have the following seven materials (dravyas); Gingelly oil milk, curds, ghee, yellow grain (aksata), darbha and panchagavya and the balance of seven vessels contain suddhodaka (i.e pure water) with these 14 kalasas, Abhisheka is performed to the utsavamurthi and the two consorts. 
The ritual goes like this. The archaka seeks the utsavavigrahas anujna i.e., followed by Ankurarpana. This is a very simple ritual of merely putting the grains with palikas. As soon as the palikas are ready, agnihoma is started. Then aavahana is done to the kalasas (i.e., invoking the presence of the deities). The sankalpa to those who are sponsoring a particular arjitha seva is done and the visesha puja starts with rendering upacharas to God, culminating in offering aarti. As panchasuktas are recited thirumanjanam is done to the utsavamurthis starting with milk, water, curds, water, sandal wood paste and water. After the conclusion of abhisheka, aarti is offered and the idol is given a bath with water in the kalasas. Purnahuti is offered so as to herald the conclusion of the homa. Naivedyam is offered to God. The arjitha sevakas are then given vastra bahumanam (A silver laced upper garment) and sathari.
This special puja is done normally on Mondays and will not be observed when special festivals like Brahmotsavam, Pavitrotsava etc., take place.

Tuesday - Ashtadalapada Padmaradhana

It is Ashtadala - Swarna - Padma - Puja. This special puja is celebrated on Tuesdays after the second bell is over and Jiyar swamy with the Sri Vaishnavas comes out. The arjitha sevakas who paid for the seva are allowed to go and sit in the mantapa between Bangaru Vakili and the Kulasekharappadi. Once a Muslim devotee offered 108 golden lotuses each weighing about 23 gms. In this visesha puja, the archaka offered these flowers at the holy feet of the Lord with the uttering of each name, during the recitation of Dvadasanamas of the Lord after offering dhoopa and deepa to the main deity. Later archana is offered to Goddess Lakshmi & Padmavathi. Then ratha aarati is offered first followed by ordinary aarti. Then arjitha sevakas are given vastra (upper cloth) along with sathari.

Wednesday - Sahasrakalasa Abhisheka

This special puja is observed before the second bell is over in the morning i.e., after Sattumurai Bhoga Sreenivasa is brought outside the Bangaru Vakili. The idol is placed facing east. The idol will have sambandha daaramu (telugu word) i.e., a thin rope will be tied connecting it with the Mulavigraha in the sanctum. This rope will be tied round the feet of Bhoga Srinivasa at this end and the other end will be placed near the Kati Hasta of the Mulavigraha, thus symbolically involving the Mulabera with the pooja and making it obvious that Bhoga Srinivasa is only representing the Mulavar. Then the utsavavigraha (Malayappa swamy) is also brought and placed outside the Bangaru Vakili facing south. It is as if the trio is presiding over the special puja to be commenced. 1008 silver vessels filled with Abhisheka teertha are kept along with 8 more parivara kalasas and one gold vessel filled with water. The devotees who have paid for the seva are seated in the mantapa around 1008 kalasas and sankalpa is done. Then the puja starts with the recitation of panchasuktas and pancha-santi-mantras. As these mantras are recited, the archakas do Thirumanjana Abhisheka to the idols viz, Bhoga Srinivasa, Malayapa swami and his two consorts and vishvak sena with water in the 1008 kalasas and the eight pavithra kalasas. Finally the golden vessel with water will be carried by one archaka to the accompaniment of recitation of Vedas and mangala vadya in a pradakshina manner round the ananda vimana prakara (inner prakara), round the dhvajasthambha and then taken to Mulasthana (sanctum). Then at the Mulavarsannidhi ekantha - ashtothra - archana is offered to the main deity. This archana is not open to public but is done behind the curtain drawn at the sanctum. The archakas sprinkle (proksana) the water from the golden vessel (Swarna kalasa) on the feet of the deity then symbolically including the Mulavigraha also in the sahasrakalasa Abhisheka puja. The vigrahas near the Bangaru Vakili will be taken back to the sanctum. The second bell rings. Then in the presence of temple officers, Akshataropana ritual will take place in the sanctum ie., Akshata (holy yellow rice) will be offered at the feet of the main deity. Then the archaka sprinkles some of those grains on his head and then the rest is kept for offering to the temple executives and devotees who take part in the seva. By that time, the curtains will be drawn and the arjitha sponsors have a darshan of the Mulavar. They will be given vastrabahumana, sathari and teertha.

Thursday - Tirupavadai seva and Pulangi seva

Every Thursday after the morning puja, the dhruvamurthi is divested of all ornaments, flowers, etc., He is dressed only in a dhothi and uttariyam. This process is called sadalimpu, which means loosening or removing. The thirumankappu and kasturi are also reduced in width to one thin line, this is the only occasion when one can have 'Netra Darsanam' as otherwise the deity sports a wide namam which almost covers half the eyes. This sadalimpu ritual is therefore a preparatory ritual for the Abhisheka the next day morning as otherwise it would be an onerous and long time task if all the sacred ornaments and clothing were to be removed just before the Abhisheka. Abhisheka itself takes half an hour to one hour roughly and if the entire operation of removing all the ornaments, etc., is also to be done the same day, it will consume more time and will upset the temple timings and schedules too much. Thus this sadalimpu ritual observed in the morning of Thursday is a practical oriented act, but in the process two more rare darshans of the Lord are made possible viz netra darsanam as stated above and the second rare darshan is the Pulangi seva which will be referred to a little later. 
In the meantime, on Thursday morning after netradarsanam, there will be Mahahavirnivedana to the deity. This is referred to as Tiruppavadai, this takes place after sattumarai. This tiruppavadai is also an arjitha seva. This is observed in the mandapa infront of the Bangaru Vakili. A large rectangular tub-like silver vessel is placed in the mandapa and a large quantity of tamarind rice is offered as Naivedya. For this seva the devotees are allowed inside the mandapa. Sankalpa is done. After nivedana they go inside and have darshan of the presiding diety. They receive vastra bahumana, tirtha and sathari. They are all also given a 'Madippu', which is a folded betel leaf like a beeda (pan).
In the evening after suddhi, flowers and flower garlands are brought with mangala-vadya for decorating the mulavar. This decoration, exclusively with flowers is called pulangiseva.
After decorating the deity completely with flowers, dhupa and deepa are offered. Mantrapushpam is recited. An archana reciting the 108 names of the Lord is offered. Naivedyas of pepper-rice, split green gram and panakam are offered. Then Tiruvisam is observed i.e the archaka presses the feet, arms, and body of the Lord as if relaxing him after the strenuous days work. Then the Jiyar swami with a limited few ekangins goes in and Sattumarai is observed. All the rituals mentioned in this para are 'Ekanta' i.e private with only archakas and Jiyar Swami behind the curtain in the sanctum. After that, the curtain is drawn and devotees can have the pulangiseva darshan. This pulangiseva is also an arjithaseva. In the night, during the Ekantaseva this flower decoration is removed so that the Lord is ready for the Friday morning abhishekam.

Friday - Abhishekam for the Mulavigraha

It was during Krishnadevaraya's time i.e., from 1517 AD that the Friday Abhisheka became a weekly ritual. Today this Abhisheka is an arjitha seva. Every Friday, after the suprabhataseva, the usual thomala and archana are done in privacy. Meanwhile everything is getting ready for the abhishekam like powdered pachakarpuram - a wet saffron paste, musk pressed into a paste with a few drops of Civet oil, Sandal Wood paste, etc., All these are kept in silver cup like vessels of different sizes. A few devotees also offer vastra for the Lord and the new vasthras are kept on silver plates and carried on the head with deep devotion by the person who has gifted it. All these cups and plates are taken in a procession with mangalavadya round the vimana i.e. inner prakara and taken to the sanctum. When they reach the Bangaru Vakili the vessels are collected by the archakas. All those will be utilized during the abhishekam of the dhruvamurti. This whole seva takes about an hour or more. 
The mulavigraha is first bathed in water brought from the Akasaganga - tirtha (suddhodakam). The tirtha is poured on the deity through a conch covered with gold. After water, the deity has abhishekam with milk, followed again by water. Then the body of the deity is anointed with a mixture of chandana, saffron and refined camphor known as 'Pulikapu'. It is followed with a bath in water. The washed down saffron Thirumanjana tirtha is collected in a silver vessel for later distribution to devotees. After that the goddess on Lord's chest gets abhishekam. It is this bath with turmeric powder, which people mistake as the mulavigraha getting a bath in turmeric paste and hence draw the obviously wrong conclusion leading to a famous rumour that the image is that of a Goddess and not Narayana! After the 'Tayar's Thirumajjanam' is over, the body of the deity is dried with a cloth and Civet oil is lightly applied from the crown to feet. From here it is ekanta when the deity is adorned with garments and urdhvapundra is put on the forehead. The namam is a mixture of Paccha Karpuram, kasturi musk and sripada renu and some amount of Civet oil. The deity is adorned with ornaments. The vakshasthala Lakshmi i.e., the gold image of Lakshmi hanging on a golden chain on Lord's chest also gets a separate abhishekam with kasturi and turmeric powder to the chanting of Srisuktha. 
Then the curtain is drawn and arati offered so that the devotees see God dressed and decorated to the hilt after having his divine bath.
This ritualistic bath of the mulavigraha therefore consists of four parts - first is the abhishekam of Dhruvamurti, second is the application of 'Punugu' kapu to Dhruvamurti, third is abhishekam for vakshastala Lakshmi and fourth is application of Namam to the Lord along with decoration. As the vigraha is quite tall, the priest stands on a stool. He is assisted by another priest standing behind the murti so as to pour water from crown downwards. An unusually long silk cloth, nearly eighteen metres long, is wound round the image after the bath. Actually, this serves the role of a protective layer between the delicate self-manifested vigraha and the heavy man made golden kavachas for the entire body. A fresh cloth supplied by Sabha - ara is used to cover the crown over which the Vajra Kirita is placed.

Non-Seva Days

All the grihasthas please be informed that there will be no Kalyanotsavams, Vahana Sevas, Unjal Sevas (inside the temple) on the following festival occasions every year: The exact dates in a calendar year can be obtained from the TTD Calender. Archana and Thomala will be performed in Ekantham on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Hence, no sale of these tickets on the above days.

v Anivara Asthanam day - July (In the month of Ashadha) one day. 
v Pushpayagam - October/November - one day
v Vasanthotsavam (Annual) - Three days
v Brahmotsavams (Annual) - September/ October (For 10 days)
v December, 31 to 2nd January due to New Year's Day Darshan (subject to change by the Executive Officer)
v Pavithrotsavam - August - three days
v Ugadi Asthanam
v Makara Sankranthi