Tirumala Andhra Pradesh India by Kiran Kumar Vemuru

Tirumala is a hill town in Chittoor district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Tirumala. The world famous Lord Venkateswara (also Know as Lord Balaji, Vishnu, Govinda and Srinivasa) temple is here. Tirumala town is 3,200 feet (980 m) above sea level, and is about 27 Sq kM in area. The temple is situated on Venkatadri the seventh peak in the seven hills of Tirumala, and hence is also known as Saptagiri, the Temple of Seven Hills.The seven hills are Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri.The temple is reportedly the richest and the most visited place of worship in the world.On an average 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims visit the temple everyday.30-40 Millon people visit Tirumala annually. On special festive days during annual Brahmotsavams around 400,000 piligrims come over to Tirumala making it the most visited holy place in the world.The Sanctum sanctorum called the Garbha Griha is where the main idol of lord Venkateswara resides. The idol stands majestically to a height of eight feet, in the centre of the sanctum directly beneath a gold guilded dome called the Ananda Nilaya Divay Vimana.Ancient Tamil king Thondaiman, ruler of the ancient Thondaimandalam (present day Kanchipuram) is believed to have first built the temple after visualizing Lord Vishnu in his dream. He built the Gopuram and the Prakhara, and arranged for regular prayers to be conducted in the temple. Later on, the Chola Kings and rulers of Vijayanagar Empire, vastly improved the temple and gave rich endowments.