Tirupati temple feeds 100,000 devotees each day for free.
The Tirupati Venkateshwara Temple at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is one of the most famous pilgrimage in India. The Tirupati temple kitchen serves annadanam meals to all devotees for free every day. More than 100,000 devotees visit the temple on daily basis. The temple kitchen is run based on vedic principles and believes that serving hungry food without any expectation is the biggest form of worship and service to the ‘Bhagwan’.
Lord Sri Venkateswara, also known as Srinivasa, Balaji, and Veṅkaṭachalapati, made Tirumala his abode five thousand years ago. Even before him, it was Lord Varahaswami who had made Tirumala his abode. Since then, many devotees have continued to construct grand entrances on the ramparts of the temple over generations. The temple complex is spread over 16.2 acres of land.
In Tirumala, the East facing Sri Varahaswami temple is located in the North West corner of the temple tank – Swami Pushkarini. As per the temple legend, Lord Srinivasa sought a gift of land from Sri Varahaswami, which he readily granted.
In return, Srinivasa provided him with an agreement deed assuring that he would be paid the first darshan, worship and offerings by all the devotees visiting the temple. This tradition is in practise to this day at Tirumala and Lord Varahaswami continues to receive the age old traditional worship. Even today, all offerings are first made to Lord Varahaswami and then to Lord Sri Venkateswara.
Source: BBC Hindi
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