Sri Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy Temple, Thondamanadu
The temple of Lord Venkateswara is one of the most renowned temples in Chittoor district. It attributed the greatness, glory and grandeur to the temple of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala. Lord Venkateswara and His two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhudevi, came and resided in the place as per the wish of the emperor Tondaman and the temple is called Sri Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy.
The emperor, a staunch devotee of Lord Venkateswara, shared half of the area of Narayanavanam with King Akasaraju and established his capital. Over time, Tondamanadu became Tondamandalam in the name of the emperor Tondaman.
This place’s popular name was Tondamandalam until the reign of the kings of Vizianagara. This place is approximately thirty kilometres away from Tirupati.
Sri Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy Temple – Click here for Google Maps Location
Thondamanadu- SthalaPurana
There are many legends behind the advent of Lord Venkateswara along with His two consorts to this place. It is said that the emperor Tondaman used to go to Tirumala through a tunnel to do service to the holy feet of Lord Venkateswara and to start his administrative affairs.
To ask help from Lord Venkateswara, Tondaman entered the sanctum sanctorum. On seeing him, the two consorts of the Lord escaped from the inner temple. Sri Devi hid in the chest of the Lord and Bhudevi hid in the Golden Well.
Lord Venkateswara got angry with the emperor and said that he should not come to this place again. He told the emperor that He would come to his place along with the river Viraja. This is one kind of mythological narration.
There is also another version of the incident. The emperor Tondaman requested the Lord to come to his place as he could not come to His place due to his old age. So Lord Venkateswara came to Tondamanadu.
Once a Brahmin was going to Kasi on a pilgrimage. He wanted the emperor to look after his wife and children till he came back. The emperor promised the Brahmin. He put them in a room. Out of forgetfulness, he failed to nourish them with food and water. After some time, the Brahmin came to the emperor and asked him to hand over his wife and children.
Suddenly, the emperor recollected the past. But he told the Brahmin that they would come in the morning as they had gone to Tirumala to have the grand darshan of Lord Venkateswara. The Brahmin kept quiet. The emperor Tondaman came to the Lord and prayed to Him to give them life.
Lord Venkateswara granted the Brahmin’s request by compulsion. It was assumed that Lord Venkateswara stopped talking to the emperor Tondaman from that time onwards. This is another legend. Whatever may be the mythological legends, Lord Venkateswara was receiving offerings from His devotee, Tondaman. Let us know about the details of the emperor Tondaman and his previous birth.
The Previous Birth of Tondaman
In the olden days, there was a Vaikhanasa saint Gopinath who was a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna. To see Lord Krishna directly, he did a rigorous penance by not allowing even food and sleep. Lord Vishnu was gratified. He appeared before him and asked him what type of boon he wanted.
The devotee earnestly requested Lord Vishnu to see the ‘avatar’ of Lord Krishna and give him a chance to perform ‘seva’ to Lord Krishna. Lord Vishnu told him that Lord Krishna was in the anthill in the ‘avatar’ of Lord Venkateswara on the Seshadri Hill and ordered him to worship Lord Krishna and he would be blessed.
Poolabavi
Gopinath went there happily and ordered his servant by the name Ranga Dasu to worship Lord Venkateswara with various flowers as the Lord loves flowers and to develop a flower garden. He dug a well for watering the flower plants. The well is called ‘Poolabavi.’
The servant Ranga Dasu used to bring flowers to the devotee Gopinath for worshipping the Lord. According to reliable sources, Tirumala is called ‘Pushpa Mandapam‘. One day a Gandharva king along with his wives was enjoying ‘jalakreedalu’ in the Swami Pushkarini near the ‘Poolabavi.’ Ranga Dasu witnessed the wonderful and captivating scene and forgot his time to take away the flowers to the Lord for worship in time.
Ranga Dasu being blessed
After some time, he realized his mistake and quickly plucked the flowers and went to his ‘guru’ Gopinath. The saint Gopinath asked Ranga Dasu for his delay in bringing flowers. He told his ‘guru’ all about the incident and begged his pardon. Lord Srinivasa appeared before him and told him. “Don’t worry about it, Ranga Dasu. It is not your mistake. It is due to my ‘Leela.’ I grant you a wonderful boon to serve Me.
You will leave this body and become the son of King Sudharma who is ruling Narayanapuram. Your name will be Tondaman hereafter.’ By saying so, Lord Venkateswara vanished. This Ranga Dasu is Tondaman, the brother of Akasa Raja in his next birth.
The Legend of Tondaman
Near Tirupati, there was a place called Narayanapuram. King Sudharma was ruling it. Akasaraju was his son. King Sudharama went hunting and tired terribly. He took rest at Kapila Theertham. Meanwhile, he saw a beautiful woman belonging to Nagas coming from Kapila Thirtheertham after her bath.
Charmed by her beauty and grace, he married her in Gandhrava mode. Tondaman was born to the couple. Over time, King Sudharma made Akasaraju the caretaker of Tondaman. Later, he died. Dharani Devi is the wife of Akasaraju. The two were ruling the country looking after the welfare of their people.
The Marriage of Goddess Padmavathi and Lord Srinivasa
There were no children to Akasaraju and Dharani Devi for a long time. By God’s grace, they had a female child on earth. They named the baby Padmavathi. After some time, Dharani Devi delivered a male child. His name is Vasudana. After Goddess Lakshmi had left Vaikunta, Lord Vishnu was not happy.
He left Vaikhuntam and searched for Lakshmi in the ‘Bhuloka’. He spent His time in the association of Vakula Mata in the Venkatachala Hills.
Over time, Lord Srinivasa and Goddess Padmavathi loved each other deeply. The royal parents of Padmavathi felt satisfied and happy. They conversed with the Deva guru Bruhaspathi and decided to fix their wedding. They would be an ideal couple. Under the supervision of King Tondaman, their marriage was celebrated on Friday i.e., Vaisakha Sukla Dasami in a grand manner.
According to the rules of marriage, the newly wedded couple should not climb a mountain for six months. They decided to stay in the ‘ashram’ of the saint Agastya.
Once they received a piece of information that King Akasaraju was on his deathbed. They went to Narayanapuram. King Akasaraju said to Lord Srinivasa, “I am blessed because you are my son-in-law. I see you at the last moment of my life. Please protect my brother and my son. They are innocent.” By saying so, he died happily.
Later his wife, Dharani Devi also passed away. Lord Srinivasa and Goddess Padmavathi Devi gave them the kingdom and went to the hermitage of the saint Agastya. After the death of Akasaraju, King Tondaman and Vasudana quarrelled over the kingdom. Both of them went to Lord Srinivasa for help in their battle. Lord Venkateswara gave Tondaman His Conch and Chakra.
He stood on the side of Vasudana and fought in favour of Vasudama. Meanwhile, Goddess Padmavathi came and made a wonderful treaty by sharing the kingdom equally and stopping war between them. Tondaman got Tundimandalam and Vasudana got Narayanapuram.
Vimana Venkateswara Swamy
One day Tondaman came to see Lord Venkateswara. Lord Venkateswara ordered Tondaman to build a temple at Tirumala. Accordingly, King Tondaman built a grand temple shining with gems and other valuable stones. He built three ‘prakaras’ around the temple, ways for pradakshana and built madapas, kitchens and ‘bangaru bavi’in them.
The temple is called ‘Ananda Nilayam’. On the vimana of ‘Ananda Nilayam’, he installed Lord Srinivasa Murthy. He is renowned as “Vimana Venkateswara Swamy’. During the auspicious and grand time, Goddess Padmavathi and Lord Venkateswara entered the ‘Ananda Nilayam’ in the sacred presence of ‘Mukkoti Devatas’.
King Tondaman used to worship Lord Srinivasa with gold lotuses every day. One day there were some flowers made of clay in the presence of the Lord. Tondaman got angry and asked the priests, “Who are offering the clay flowers to the Lord in worship? Lord Venkateswara Himself answered Tondaman that a devotee by the name of Kuravanambi was offering those flowers after his work of pottery was over. He used to prepare the flowers with the remained clay. Tondaman repented and asked him pardon for his foolishness. As said earlier, Lord Venkateswara appeared as a statue along with the river Viraja.
Veetta Pirunda Perumal
Tondaman came out and found the river flowing in front of his house and made its journey towards the tank. Thus his desire was fulfilled. Lord was born in his house. He called the Lord ‘Veetta Pirunda Perumal’ (The Lord who was born in the house). Perumal is along with His two consorts. He is magnificent with His ‘Abhaya hasta’. Tondaman built the temple around them and also built a fort around the temple.
The temple ‘Vimana’ is similar to the ‘Ananda Nilaya Vimana’ of Tirumala. Lord Venkateswara along with His consorts came to His younger uncle Tondaman’s house and received his services.
Architectural Style of the Sri Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy Temple
In Tondamanadu, the statue of Tondaman was seen with folding hands on the gateway in front of the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Perumal. On the other side, there were the statues of Lord Lakshmi Narayana. In ‘Mukha Mandapa’, there were the statues of Sri Bhagavad Ramanuja and Sri Rama.
On the other side, there was the statue of Lord Anjaneya was seen. As there is a similarity in respect of the Vimanas in both the temples at Tondamandu and Tirumala, the sculptor of the two Vimanas was the same.
Tamaragunta
Tondamanudu arranged to bring the water of Akasa Ganga through Kapila Thirtham by digging a well. The tank became famous as ‘Tamaragunta.’This water is used for the ‘Abhishekam’ of the Lord. The idol of Lord Venkateswara is in the sitting posture at ten feet high.
Usual worship and ‘utsavs’ were being celebrated to Lord Venkateswara. Devotees come to the temple in leaps and bounds from different corners of the world and they become elated and blessed. In 2008, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams brought the “Sri Sridevi Bhudevi Sametha Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy” temple under their control to enhance its glory and development.
The temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tondamanadu has its grandeur and has become renowned in the ‘Puranas’.
