Three temples of Lord Venkateswara near Tirupathi

There are three temples of Lord Venkateswara near Tirupathi. They are

1. Narayanavanam. -----got married in this place
2. Srinivasa Mangapuram------ stayed in this place for 6 months
3. Appalayigunta------ stayed for sometime while going to Triumala


Narayanavanam:

Narayanavanam is located at a distance of 40 kilometres from Tirupathi. This is the oldest place in this region and is also called as Narayanapuram.  The Idol in this temple is of Kalyana VenkateswaraSwamy. The wedding of Lord Venkateswara and Godess Padhvathi was celebrated in this place.

Aakasharaju was the ruler of this town. Padmavathi was born and brought up here. Akasaraju was born in Narayanavanam. For having children he wanted to perform yagna and when he tilled the land he found baby Padmavathi in a lotus.

The story behind this temple history is that Once Brighu Maharshi went to Vaikuntam  and saw Vishnu very happy with Mahalakshmi the sage kicked on the chest of Vishnu where Lakshmi resides. Mahalakshmi got angry and left Vaikuntam. God Vishnu went to Sesha hill to do penance to bring back Godess Lakshmi. An anthill grew around him and he was starving with hunger being in a human form as Srinivasa. Knowing the flame of hunger undergoing by Srinivasa Godess Lakshmi went in disguise of a cowherd to Chola King I Chandragiri and sold a cow and a calf to him which were Brahma and Siva. The cow give more milk and went to ant hill in the forest and let the milk flow to the anthill so that Lord Srinivasa can have it.  Daily the cow goes back home with empty stomach and the King's wife scolded the cowherd. Then the boy threw an axe on the cow. Lord Srinivasa came in rescue to save the cow. He got wounded and with that wound he entered Varaha Kshetra in search of herbs to cure the wound. On meeting Varaha Swamy they both realised that they were born for the same purpose of carrying the duty of Lord Vishnu. Varaha Swamy took Srinivasa to his abode and there he met Vakula Matha (who was Yasodha in Dwaparayuga), she recognised Srinivasa as her own child (Krishna). Lord Srinivasa and Vakula matha took land from Varaha Swamy and built an ashram there, for that they promised Varaha Swamy that he will get first offering, first worship and first Dharshan. Later Srinivasa met Padmavathi in Narayanapura flower garden. Vakula Matha spoke with Aakasaraja for the marriage with Sage Narada's help. Srinivasa took money from Kubera and got married with Padmavathi. As per his promise to Sita as Rama he married Vedavathi who born as Padmavathi.

The marriage of Lord Venkatesa was celebrated here and all the 3 crores dieties came to see the marriage celebrations. There is a big millstone used during this divine wedding. Even though the temple was renovated later this stone left untouched. During the marriage there was scarcity of water and river Anruna was created using a web called Aruni. Later a dam was constructed in the name of Araniyar for irrigation purposes.  Kailasanadha Kona water falls is situated 3 kms from this temple and this water falls come from the central part of Nagarimukku hill.

TTD took over this temple in 1967 and all the festivals and Brahmotsavams are celebrated here.

Srinivasa Mangapuram: It is situated 10kms from Tirupathi and on the banks river Kalyani, a tributary of Swarnamukhi. It is in the straight line to the main Tirumala temple which is on the top of the hill and this is at the foot of the hill.  The Idol here is Kalayana Venkateswara Swamy. The sage Agastya Ashrama was situated here. The newly wed Lord Venkateswara and Godess Padmavathi visited this ashram on the way to hill.But  sage Agastya told that  a newly married couple should not climb the hill until 6 months. So they both remained there for 6 months. After 6 months both of them reached Tirumala through Srivari Mettu which is  the nearest route to reach Tirumala. Lord Srinivasa appeared in the dream of an old brahmin called Sundararaja Swami and asked him to worship  at Srinivasa Mangrapuram. From then on the old brahmin started doing Pooja to Lord Venakteswara. In 1981 TTD took the temple under its administration and began doing all the festivals which will be done in Tirumala temple. Festival of Glorious Manifestation is the main festival celebrated here which is a 3 day festival.    

Appalayigunta: 
It is situated 20kms from Tirupathi which is on Tiruchanur Chennai highway.  The Idol here is God Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy with Godess Padmavthi. The God here is with pleasant countenance with his hand in a gesture of fearlessness (Abhaya Hastham).

Lotus Lake: There is a lake called Anruna Lake also called as Lotus lake. The Lotus flowers from this lake are offered to Godess Padmavathi. The story behind this is once there was a bad debtor who takes money from every person and once a man allegedly said that the person borrowed money from him which he actually did not take. Then the debtor took a stone and wrote that He did not borrow money and threw it in the water. The stone did not sink in the water. From then on it is called as Appulayyagunta and later transformed as Appalayigunta.

Siddeswara Yogi: Lord Venkateswara and Godess Padmavathis got married in Narayanavanam and on their way to Tirupathi they rested in Appalayigunta in turmeric dipped clothes for some time. Then there was a Yogi called Siddeswara Yogi doing meditation in this place. When he opened his eyes he saw Lord Venkateswara and Godess Padmavathi. Overwhelmed with joy he fell on their feet and asked the God to stay there. God then gave his idols and stayed there as Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy.

There is an idol of God Hanuman and it is believed that people with diseases get cured if they come and worship Hanuman here.

TTD took away the administration of this temple in 2006 April 13 and from then on on all the Brahmotsvamas and festivals held in Tirumala are also celebrated 
here.

Three most beautiful temples of Lord Venkateswara to be visited around Tirupathi.

Happy Piligrimage.