Let us know the importance and glory of Seven Hills.
Five Forms
As per our scriptures, Lord Sriman Narayana is worshipped in five forms.
PARARUPA
The form of the Lord with His Divine Consorts in Sri Vaikuntam, being worshipped by the residents there, namely Nityas (Permanent residents) and Muktas (The Liberated Souls);
VYUHA
The form put on by the Lord in Ksheerabdhi- the ocean of Milk, where the demigods like Brahma and other devas can approach Him and get their wishes granted;
VIBHAVA
The form of the Lord while He takes incarnations such as Rama, Krishna etc. He incarnates in the world, to protect the good ones, remove the evil-doers and establish the Sanatana Dharma. This form could be witnessed by those who have the opportunity to live at that time of incarnation.
HARDA-ANTARYAMI
The form with which the Lord dwells in everyone’s heart. Only those practising Yoga can realize Him when blessed.
ARCHA
The form of the Lord is enshrined in temples consecrated by rituals prescribed by our scriptures. Here the Lord dwells with all His powers, which He enjoys in all other forms. Here the Lord is seen with all human eyes and worshipped. This form of Archa is easy to comprehend by anybody and everybody, as it is easily approachable and kept in mind for devotional purposes.
Among the Archa forms, 108 such forms have a special status being graded as Divyadesams, glorified by Alwars, twelve in number, sacred saints who extolled Him and the kshetras, presided by Him.
4 Special DivyaDesams
Among the 108 Divyadesams, four occupy special places, as a part of pilgrimage. They are
- Srirangam,
- Tirumala,
- Kanchipuram and
- Tirunarayanapuram (Melkote- in Karnataka).
As it is glorified “Kalou Venkatanaayaka”, Lord Sri Venkateswara of Tirumala is the much sought-after deity in Kaliyuga.
Every day thousands and thousands of devotees throng Tirumala for His Govinda Darshan and get His blessings. The chanting of “Yedu Kondalavada Venkataramana Govindaa Govinda” reverberates in all places in Tirumala. It even rings in our ears even after we reach our homes at far-off places.
The presiding deity of Tirumala, Lord Sri Venkateswara poses in the standing form, among Seven Hills and gives darshan to devotees night and day without any rest whatsoever. Not only the Lord, but even the Hills situated around can give us Moksha- Salvation to devotees in due course, as per our scriptures.
Seven Hills
The seven hills situated around Tirumala are Vrushabhadri, Anjanadri, Vrushadri, Garudadri, Seshadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri.
VRUSHABHADRI
Once, there lived an Asura called Vrushabasura who lived near Thumburutheertham in Tirumala. He used to do great penance with full austerity. Lord Siva, in due course, appeared before him and directed him to ask any boon. Asura, with his demonic thoughts, wanted that he would like to fight with Lord Siva Himself. Siva obliged him.
There was a fierce battle and the Asura was defeated. However, he requested Lord Siva to name that place after him. Lord Siva blessed him accordingly and that is why, that hill has come to be known as ‘Vrushabhadri‘.
ANJANADRI
Kesari, chieftain of Vanaras and his wife is Anjana Devi. For a long time, they were not blessed with any child. Anjana Devi then went to a sacred place near Akasa Ganga in Tirumala and performed penance. Vayu Bhagavan, the Wind God, appeared before her and presented her with a fruit. Consuming that, Kesari and Anjana Devi were blessed with a son.
That son is the famous Hanuman. He is also known as Anjaneya, the son of Anjana Devi. The place where Anjana Devi did penance came to be known as ‘Anjanadri’.
VRUSHADRI
VRUSHA means Dharma (Righteousness). It is said that Dharma Devata did penance here in Tirumala to attain eternal prosperity. Lord Venkateswara was pleased with his penance and granted wish. The place where Dharma Devata did penance, has come to be known as ‘Vrushadri’. It is also referred ad Dharmadri in some places.
GARUDADRI
GARUDA is the son of Vinata Devi and Sage Kasyapa. He is the Vahana- the divine vehicle of the Lord Vishnu. Kadru is another wife of Kasyapa. She had serpents (snakes) as her children. There was a great enmity between Garuda and Serpents. Garuda used to kill serpents at his will. Because of this, he incurred a lot of sin.
To wash off the sins, Garuda did penance. When the Lord appeared before him, Garuda entreated him to take him back to Sri Vaikuntam. However, the Lord told him that He would be residing in Tirumala- surrounded by Seven Hills and that he could come there for any service. The Lord named the place where Garuda did penance as ‘Garudadri’. It is also known as Garudachalam.
SESHADRI
There are a few different stories for the place to be known as Seshadri. Sesha means Adisesha, the first and foremost faithful servant of the Lord. He acts as the umbrella to protect from Rain and sun beams, the seat where the Lord sits, the Bed when He reclines, the Sacred Sandal (Paduka) when he walks and so on.
It is told that there was a bitter contest between Adisesha and Vayu, the first one protecting the peak of Meru with His hood, while the latter trying to blow off the peak. The contest was going on for a long time. As other gods requested Adisesha to relent and accordingly Adisesha stopped the fight. But the Wind god blew away the peak which fell near the banks of the Swarnamuki River.
When Adisesha was dejected by the act of Vayu, the Gods consoled him and named the hill formed out of Meru peak as ‘Seshadri’, after him. It is also called Seshachalam.
NARAYANADRI
Narayana maharishi wanted to perform penance in praise of Lord Vishnu. So he approached Brahma to show him a place where he could do penance without any outside disturbance. Brahma accordingly showed a place near Tirumala. The Maharishi performed the penance and the Lord appeared before him and blessed him.
The Lord also informed that the place will be called as ‘Narayanadri’ henceforth.
VENKATADRI
This is the central place where the temple of Lord Sri Venkateswara is situated. The Lord chose this place as his permanent residence to bless all the devotees who come to him for any wishes.
Venkatam means that one wipes out all sins and blesses with riches. When the sins are wiped out, you duly get Moksha or Salvation in due course. This is depicted in Nammalwar’s Hymn.
“kundram yendi kulir mazhai kaattavan
andru gnalam alanda piraan
sendru ser thiruvenkatamamalai
ondrume thozha nam vinai oyume”
(Tiruvaimoli-3-3-8)
The Lord protected Gokulam from the torrential rain, ordered by Indra, by holding Govardana Hill for Seven days. Lord measured the universe by His foot during Tiruvikramavataram, and Himself opted to stay in Tiruvenkata Hill. If one prays to the Venkatadri, all his sins will be wiped out and will be blessed with wealth and prosperity.
It is here in Venkatam, Sri Nammalwar surrendered Himself to the presiding Divine Couple, which is depicted in his Tiruvaimoli (6-10-10). Tiruvenkatamudayan, who dwells amongst the holy seven hills, will shower his choicest blessings on us if only we surrender unto him.
