1. “The Temple of Seven Hills”
The Tirumala hill shrine comprises of seven hills named as Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri, and Venkatadri.
2. Stick at the right side of main entrance
At the main entrance of Tirupati Balaji Temple, there is a stick to the right side which was used by Ananthaalvar to hit Venkateswara Swamy when he was a small boy and once his chin was hurt by that stick and since then the tradition and practice of applying Sandalwood powder on Swamy’s chin started.
3. Ritual of hair sacrifice, Mokku or Kaanikai
There’s a small old story related to this hair sacrifice ritual .
Story - Once Balaji lost some of his hair after getting hit by a shepherd, Neela Devi who was a Gandharva princess. After realizing this, Neela Devi cut a small portion of her hair to implant it on Balaji’s head and Lord Balaji promised her that all his devotees who will ever come to his shrine and render their hair to him will ultimately be received by her. And since then many devotees render their hair to the Lord later they are auctioned at the time of dense gathering due to special occasions.
4. A secret village is the source of flowers, milk and butter
The villagers are the only people who are allowed to that village which is 22 km away from the temple. Not only flowers, other items like ghee, butter, milk, bilva leaves, banana leaves are also provided by that secret village.
5. Rama and Sita have visited Thirupathi
According to Varaha Purana, during Treta Yugam, Lord Sri Rama resided here along with Sita Devi and Lakshmana on his return from Lankapuri.
6. 2nd largest zoo in Asia.
Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park covers an area of 5,532 acres (22 square kilometers). It is said to have been built on the concepts of the Hindu Mythology, and is home to some of the animals that exist in ancient texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
7. The richest temple in the world
The major source of its income is Kanuka or Hundi offerings.
Besides this, the sale of prasadam, darshan tickets, sale of seva tickets, sale of human hair, and receipts from choultries (places of accommodation) are the other significant sources of income.
The gross income of TTD for the year 2014-15 is estimated to be Rs.2359.2 crores($385.33 mn). So, that is about Rs.6.34 crores($1.036 mn) per day. Whoooaaaa!
8. Thirupathi Ladoo
It got the patent rights under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act; to counter the black market that was developing.
Around 150,000 laddus are made daily. Each laddu weighs around 100gms, and is said to be made by a group of priests called “Archakas” in a special temple kitchen called “poku”.
Not to forget the Annadhanam served to nearly 1 lakh people everyday.
Engapa Ladoo/Elli Ladoo/Ekada Ladoo/Evide Ladoo
9. Most visited holy place on earth
Visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily; while on special occasions and festivals like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000 and more, making it the most-visited holy place in the world.
10. Lighted lamps and real hair
Needless to mention, the lights lit in front of the Swamy are said to be lit since thousands of years.
Also, it remains a miracle that there is real hair on the main idol of Venkateswara Swamy. The authorities say that this hair never tangles and is silky smooth always.
Govinda. Govinda. Govindaa.!