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RE: Name the Lord!

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Mohan Sagar • September 20, 1997 


My thanks to Sri Sundara Rajan for clarifying the issues surrounding the
name bAlAji.  Although I very much enjoy reading sthala purAnAs of various
temples, when it comes to "malai koil" in particular, I must concur that:

>There is little historic content,  poetic beauty, elevating philosophy ,
>or devotional inspiration in   'sthala-purANam' [SP] as a genre, which
>is being sustained through the oral tradition of 'archaka'/gurukkaL  in
>the various temples. 

Often times, I find a number of the popular stories about the Lord's temple
on the hill and its associated temples in Tirupati difficult to accept,
particulary from a SriVaishnava perspective.   One such story is the history
behind Sri Govindaraja Perumal Temple in Tirupati.  The popular notion is
that the Deity in the Temple is Srinivasar's older brother, and that he
counts the money that is being collected to remit to Kuberan.  And because
of the burden of responsibility associated with the huge sums of money that
are pouring in, he reclines on adisEshan.  But, what does not make sense to
me is that He is known as Govindararaja, is worshipped and adored in the
same manner as Perumal would be, and His Consort is Andal.  My understanding
from speaking with people who live around the temple is that, popular views
aside, the temple was built by EmperumAnAr himself, and is dedicated to the
same Lord as the one residing in Chidambaram.  I would appreciate some
clarification on this from Sri Sundara Rajan or others.

adiyEn,

Mohan 
msagar@worldnet.att.net
mohan.sagar@dot.state.co.us