Potu Lakshmi / Potu Thayar
The Potu or Main Kitchen of the temple is three feet away from the Sri Varadaraja Sannidhi. It is a rectangular structure, 64 feet long (from East to West) and 30 feet wide (from South to North) with a Western Entrance. Since it stands on a pedestal, the devotee has to climb a few steps to reach it.
Upon turning Left one comes across the serene deity of Paka Lakshmi. [one of the eight deities of Goddess Lakshmi, i.e. prescribed to be placed within a temple according to Vaikhanasa Agama].
Puranas insist that she is none other than Vakula Malika who was sent to take care of Srinivasa and she is an incarnation of Mother Yasoda (The foster mother of Lord Krishna).
The deity of Potu Lakshmi has four arms. She carries lotuses in her upper arms and holds a sheaf of corn/rice in one lower hand and one Varada Mudra. She is seated in a lotus posture upon a raised pedestal.
One can have a glimpse of the sacred kitchen through a small opening in the wall opposite the Potu Thayar (Potu Lakshmi).
Glimpse of Tirupati Balaji
The Devotee enters the Maha-mani-Mandapam through Bangaru Vakili, the Golden entryway beside Garuda Shrine. This porch is a glorious hall whose walls are entirely gold-plated.
The Garuda shrine, the enclosures with Jaya and Vijaya and all the sixteen pillars and pilasters of the great Bell porch are also gold plated on the outside and are covered with intricate iconography. The Mandapa is brightly illuminated with several beautiful chandeliers.
The resulting aura is purely magical and one may often wonder if Heaven would truly look like this.
A glimpse of the ever-smiling face of Lord Venkateswara gives immense bliss and the devotee experiences a small moment of Moksha. So great is the Lord and His benevolent gaze, that the devotee is transfixed and craves more of the Lord’s Darshan. (Clicking this will take you to TTD’s official booking portal)
Hence he keeps coming back for more to be closer to the Omnipresent One. Thus satisfied, looking back at Him again and again, devotees exit the Maha-mani-Mandapam. They pass by the huge temple bells and cross the threshold into the VimanaPrakara.
Vimana Prakara
The first path of circumambulation or Pradakshina that we come across as soon as we step out of Maha-Mani- Mandapam (The porch of great bells), is known as the Vimana Prakara. The foremost structure in the pathway is the shrine of Sri Varadaraja Swami. It is an independent structure very close to the wall of Vimana Prakara.
The dome is essentially in the Vesara style; the inner sanctum has four pilasters and projecting wall columns. These pilasters include a cornice (Kapotha), niche (Nashika) and Simha-Lalata (Lion Face).
It is an exquisite structure similar to a jewel box and is a very unique construction in the entire complex.
The Golden Well / Bangaru Bavi
So rich is the God of seven hills that even a well within the precincts is gold plated. The purpose of a well in the temple is mainly for the usage of its water during daily poojas. Historical evidence shows that it may have been covered with gilted copper plates during the Vijayanagara period.
Presently the Golden well is covered up by a glass enclosure
