Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala – Tiruppavada Seva

Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala – Tiruppavada Seva

This is performed every Thursday Morning starting around 5:30 a.m. Here is the background. Starting every early morning of Thursday, the standard famous huge, wide "Namam" (a decoration with perfumed camphor paste across the forehead for all forms of Vishnu, The Vaishnavite Hindu God) adorns Sri Venkateshwara’s forehead covering all but part of his eyes. Removing this Namam and bathing the Lord (Abhishekam) and again adorning him with a new wide Namam on the same day (Friday) was considered too time consuming, given the rush of pilgrims and the time constraint for a Seva.

Therefore, the TTD introduced a new Seva every Thursday morning by the name of "Tiruppavada" (translated, means a divine skirt, or loosely, a veil). A huge mound of cooked Tamarind spiced rice (Pulithora) is poured on a silver tray (Size about 6 ft X 4 ft) and placed directly in front of the Lord such that it is about a couple of feet in front of his steed, Sri Garudalvar, in the foyer area of the temple's sanctum.

Amidst chanting of Mantras, the previous wide Namam is peeled off and a thin Namam is adorned on his forehead just to cover the space between his eyebrows. When this happens, it is believed that the Lord's first gaze after "opening" his eyes (because they were covered by the Namam) should not fall on mortals, because it has lot of power. Instead, it is made to fall on the mound of "Pulithora" directly in front of him, thereby sanctifying it and reducing the intensity of his gaze.

The "Pulithora" therefore acts like a veil ("Paavada" in Telugu/Tamil) protecting devotees from his powerful gaze. This new thin Namam then stays for the entire Thursday, and finally peeled off completely in the early hours of the next morning (Friday) before Abhishekam. One ticket for the Tiruppavada Seva allows 1 person to participate and begets a full basket of sacred food cooked inside the temple - "Prasadam" - 1 Big Laddu, 1/4Kilo of Pulithora, 1 humongous Jalebi (only cooked for this Seva), 1 Dosa, and 1 big Vada and 1 Jalebi Vada.