Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple, revered worldwide as Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, is known as India’s richest temple. It is one of the most famous and most visited temples in India. Lakhs of devotees throng to this place to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara, an avatar of Lord Vishnu. The temple trust is all set with plans to have at least one replica of the temple in every state and union territory in India.
Tirupati Trust Plans Temple’s Replicas In Different States
“Brahmaswaroopo udaye madhyahnethu Maheswaraha
Asthakale swayam Vishnu
Trayimoorthi Diwakaraha”Lord Sri Ventateswara abode Sri Surya Prabha vahanam in the auspicious moments of Ratha Saptami.#TTD #RathaSaptami2023 pic.twitter.com/zEEhDlJ094
— Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (@TTDevasthanams) January 28, 2023
Replicas of the Lord Venkateshwara temple are being built across India as per the plans of the Tirupati Temple Trust. The trust plans to come up with replicas in places like Jammu, Chhattisgarh, Navi Mumbai, and Gujarat.
This is part of the ambitious plan of India’s richest temple trust,Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). The plan is to have a pan-India presence of Lord Venkateshwara, also known as Lord Balaji, with the temple’s replica.
TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy explained to TOI that the plan to construct replicas in 28 states and 8 union territories of India is to bring The almighty, Lord Balaji, closer to the devotees. Remote and backward villages in south-India states too will have smaller temples being constructed by TTD as per instructions from Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
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In Talks With Nitish Kumar Government
The annual Teppotsavams of Tirumala concluded on a grand religious note on the fine evening of Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/srBqp5W9Uh
— Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (@TTDevasthanams) March 7, 2023
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust was founded in 1933. Back then, it had only a few temples under it, like the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirumala, the Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple at Tirupati, and the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple at Tiruchanoor.
But today, the temple has about 58 Lord Venkateshwara temples across India. Most of these temples are located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
The first temple built outside the Andhra Pradesh region was the Balaji temple in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, in 1969. The southernmost tip of India, Kanyakumari, too, houses a Lord Venkateswara temple and was built in 2019. Talking about recent builts, on June 8, another temple was opened in Jammu.
Sharing my speech at the Maha Samprokshanam ceremony of Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple of @TTDevasthanams, Jammu.https://t.co/0mVqZxw2Qu pic.twitter.com/yxiKqumw8p
— Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) June 8, 2023
The trust is currently in talks with the Nitish Kumar government for building three more temples in Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Gandhinagar in Gujarat, and Bihar. The foundation of the replica was recently laid in Maharashtra, as the state allocated land worth ₹600 crore in Navi Mumbai.
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Have you ever been to the temple in Andhra Pradesh?
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons