Editing Venkateswara (section)

==Legends==
{{Main|Legend of Tirumala}}

===Birth===
Every year, hundreds of thousands of devotees donate a large amount of wealth at the [[Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala|Venkateswara Temple]] at [[Tirupati]], [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Avinash P. Subramanyam |date=31 January 2020 |title=Tirupati Lord Venkateshwara earns Rs 3.18 crore per day |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/310120/tirupati-lord-venkateshwara-earns-rs-318-crore-per-day.html |access-date=19 June 2023 |website=[[Deccan Chronicle]]}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> A legend provides the reason for the tradition of providing donations.

[[Narada]] once observed a few rishis performing a holy [[Yajna|yagna]]. Unable to decide who the yagna should benefit, he recruited sage [[Bhrigu]] to decide after he had met with each of the [[Trimurti]] in their abodes. Bhrigu visited [[Brahma]] in [[Brahmaloka]] and [[Shiva]] in [[Mount Kailash|Kailasha]] and went unnoticed by both of these deities. He finally reached [[Vaikuntha]] and met [[Vishnu]], who was absorbed in meditation with his feet being attended to by his consort, the goddess [[Lakshmi]]. A furious Bhrigu kicked Vishnu's chest (the abode of Lakshmi) and angered Lakshmi. But a calm Vishnu asked for forgiveness of Bhrigu, and served the sage by massaging his legs. During this act, he squashed the extra eye that was present on the sole of Bhrigu's foot, which destroyed the sage's egotism. Lakshmi then departed from [[Vaikuntha]], reached [[Kolhapur]] and performed an intense penance for twelve years, after which she was born as [[Padmavathi]] to Akasha Raja.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (Official Website) |url=https://www.tirumala.org/TempleLegend.aspx |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=www.tirumala.org}}</ref> 

After Lakshmi left, Vishnu went to Venkata Hill, sat in an anthill under a tamarind tree beside a pushkarini (lake), and started chanting the name of his wife, Mahalakshmi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=HS |first=Anusha |title=Stories on Lord Venkateshwara Series - 1: From various sources |publisher=Independently published (April 25, 2020) |year=2020 |isbn=979-8640227642 |pages=1 page}}</ref> He then reincarnated as Srinivasa (or presented himself after penance in the ant-hill) as the son of the elderly woman [[Vakula Devi]], who was the rebirth of [[Yasoda|Yashoda]] the deity [[Lord Krishna|Krishna]]'s foster-mother. Unhappy that she had been unable to attend Krishna's wedding to [[Rukmini]], the deity promised that he would be reborn to her as a son, as Srinivasa.<ref>S Krishnasvami Aiyangar (1940). [[iarchive:historyoftirupat035504mbp|''A History Of Tirupati'']], Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam Committee Madras</ref>

===Marriage to Padmavathi===
{{Main|Kalyana Venkateswara Temple, Narayanavanam}}
[[File:2016 Singapur, Rochor, Świątynia Sri Krishnan (29).jpg|thumb|Venkateswara and Padmavathi at a temple in [[Singapore]]]]

Vakula Devi travelled from her hermitage to approach Akasha Raja with her proposal of marriage between Srinivasa and Padmavathi. In the meantime, the restless deity came to the city in the disguise of a fortune-teller. Princess Padmavathi also fell in love with Srinivasa and fell ill after returning to the palace. Unable to diagnose the cause of her sickness, the maids invited the fortune-teller into the palace to foretell the future of the princess. When the fortune-teller revealed that Padmavathi was born to marry Vishnu in his current avatar as Srinivasa, she recovered. As the king heard this news, Vakula announced herself to the king and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage to her son, Srinivasa. The overjoyed king agreed and his advisor Brihaspati wrote the invitation for the wedding between the two deities.<ref>{{cite book | title = Warp and Weft |first=Vinay |last=Jalla | publisher = Booktango | date = 13 May 2013  | isbn = 9781468930504 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Zb5ynoX1C2EC&dq=venkateswara+padmavathi&pg=PT300 |section=Venkateswara Padmavathi}}</ref> 

Srinivasa asked the gods for consent to his marriage with Padmavathi. The deity also obtained a large loan from [[Kubera]], the god of wealth, towards the expenses for the wedding as well as provide proof of his wealth. According to legends, Venkateswara married Padmavathi at [[Kalyana Venkateswara Temple, Narayanavanam]], after which they moved to Tirumala.<ref>{{cite book | title = Southern India: A Guide to Monuments Sites & Museums| publisher = Roli Books Private Limited | year = 2013  | isbn = 9788174369031 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=GdBbBAAAQBAJ&q=nagalapuram&pg=PT339}}</ref>

===Srinivasa turns into Venkateswara===
About six months after the celestial wedding, Brahma and Shiva explained to Lakshmi her consort Vishnu's desire to be on the seven hills for the emancipation of mankind from the perpetual troubles of [[Kali Yuga]]. Lakshmi as well as her form as Padmavathi also turn into stone idols as an expression of their wish to always be with their deity. Lakshmi stays with him on the left side of his chest while Padmavathi rests on the right side of his chest.<ref>Sri Ramakrishna Dikshitulu and Oppiliappan Koil Sri Varadachari Sathakopan. [http://www.srihayagrivan.org/ebooks/031_sva_v1p1.pdf ''Sri Vaikhasana Bhagavad Sastram (An Introduction)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203070421/http://www.srihayagrivan.org/ebooks/031_sva_v1p1.pdf |date=3 December 2008 }}</ref>