Sri Govindaraja Swamy Temple

Sri Govindaraja Swamy Temple - Tirupati

May 07, 2023

Sri Govinda Raja Swamy temple is located in Tirupati, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. This Temple is one of the substantial sub-temples associated with the Sri Venkateswara swami temple. Sri Govinda Raja swami is the elder brother of Venkateswara swami.

Sri Govindaraja Swamy is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Lord is seen reclining on his serpent bed with Sridevi and Bhudevi, four-faced Brahma appearing on the lotus rising from the navel, bearing the weapons Shanka, Chakra, and others in his four arms.

Goddess Andal is seated on a lotus in her Four-armed form, holding a lotus in each of her upper hands, while two other hands are in the poses of Abhaya(fearlessness) and Varada (benediction).

This temple has two shrines the north is Sri Govinda Raja Swamy and the South is Sri Parthasarathi.

The idols of Rukmini and Satyabhama are also here. The original temple had Sri Parthasarathi on the main Altar, Sri Ramanuja added the Sri Govindaraja deity around 1130 AD.

The Sri Govindarajaswamy Temple is a huge compound that has numerous other small shrines. Among the sub-shrines, Parthasarathy Temple and Kalyana Venkateswara Temple are more significant. Additionally, there are shrines for Saint Ramanuja, Lakshmi Narayana Swamy, Anjaneya, Tirumala Nambi, Pundarikavalli, Andal, Chakratalwar, and Bhashyakarla Swamy.

Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple is facing East direction, with a Dravidian Style of Architecture. In this temple, Lord Vishnu is incarnated as Sri Govindaraja Swami. The Lord is seen as reclining on his serpent bed with his head towards the south and feet to the north. In the 14th - 15th century, a gopuram of Seven stories was built by Vijayanagara kings with 11 Kalasas. Adding on to the beauty of Gopuram is the handwork recreating various scenes of Hindu epics like Ramayana, and Bhagavata along with instances from the life of Sri Venkateswara Swamy.

Govindaraja Swamy temple is built with Gray Green Granite stone., the inner walls of the temple are carved with the holy verses in Sanskrit and Dravidian language. A large number of inscriptions found in this temple and in the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala help us to trace its history.

The earliest of the records belong to the year 1235 A.D when the Chola King, Raja Raja III was ruling the place. In the year 1239 A.D., the queen of Viranarasinga of Yadavaraya made a gift for the decoration of the chariot and carrying necessary repairs. The temple came for greater importance in 1506 A.D. during the rule of the Saluva dynasty of Vijayanagar and from then onwards different rulers in a different way developed the temple. The sprawling tank with beautifully well-laid steps on four sides and an artistically built stone mandapam in the middle of the tank.

The legend goes back to the time of Islamic reign in South India. When the Southern parts of India, witnessed the Muslim invasion, to maintain its safety, a statue of Lord Govindaraja Swamy, the deity of Chidambaram was brought to Tirupati, which was later brought back once the situation returned to its normalcy. However, revered Saint Sri Ramanujacharya had a dream where Lord Govindaraja Swamy informed him about his wishes to reside in Tirupati. Owing to this when he visited the place he saw in his dream, he found the statue of Lord Govindaraja Swamy there. It was then, he advised the king to build a temple in the same place.

Temple Timings: 5am – 9pm.

Pooja Schedule :

5.00 am to 5.30 am – Suprabatha Seva

5.30 am to 6.30 am – Viswaroopa Darshan

6.30 am to 7.30 am – Thomala Seva

7.30 am to 8.00 am – Sahasra Namarachana

8.00 am to 8.45 am – Darshan

8.45 am to 9.30 am – Naivedyam Break

9.45 am to 12.30 pm – Sarva Darshan

12.30 pm to 1.15 pm – Naivedyam Break

1.30 pm to 4.45 pm – Sarva Darshan

5.00 pm to 6.00 pm – Naivedyam Break