Chika Tirupathi (E)

Fire God Agni began searching for Lord Vishnu and heard that he was resting somewhere in the Kandava forest in Karnataka and therefore rushed there to pray and invoke his blessings to get the curse freed. The Kandava forest then was spread in an huge area, thickly vegetated with several caves and pits inhabited in it. Since the forest was dense and spread out to several acres of area fire God Agni could not trace Lord Vishnu who actually played hide and seek game to tire him out and test his patience. Dejected fire God Agni therefore sat in the same place where the present temple exist and performed penance seeking grace of Lord Vishnu to redeem his lost powers. Pleased with the arduous tapas and penance of fire God Agni, Lord Vishnu who was none else but Lord Krishna himself who advised fire God Agni to visit Kandava forest, appeared before him to grant him the boon he desired. In fact Lord Krishna had a hidden agenda behind the entire episode.

Several centuries prior to this episode once the serpent King Daksha sought a boon from Lord Vishnu that since a majority of his clan lived in Kandava forest that (now Chikka Tirumala) they expressed their desire to worship Lord Vishnu in the form of Tirumala Venkateswara without the fear of being killed by humans on way to Tirumala and therefore Lord Vishnu should also manifest in Kandava forest as Tirumala Venkateswara to enable his clan worship him without fear. Reacting positively to the request of the Serpent King, Lord Vishnu assured him that he would certainly manifest in Kandava forest as Tirumala Venkateswara and settle there in a temple where those affiliated with Naga Dosha (sin of killing snakes or curse of snakes) could come, worship him and get rid of their sins. The temple shall also be then called mini Tirumala. Further Lord Vishnu proclaimed that those who cannot afford to visit Tirumala for any reason, if they visit the temple in Chikka Tirupathi and worship him as Tirumala Venkateswara, their wishes would be fulfilled in the same manner as they were blessed in Tirumala. 

One clarification needs to be mentioned here. When this episode occurred, neither the Tirumala temple nor Chikka Tirupathi were established then, but Lord Vishnu aware of what the future held for his incarnations, while assuring the Serpent King that he would manifest in Kandava forest, he was well aware that a smaller shrine for the benefit of the clan of the King of serpent shall first come up in Kandava forest which shall be the mini shrine of a bigger shrine to come up few kilometers away from there for the benefit of larger human kind. However both the shrines shall have the same powers as he shall be the prime deity holding same powers in both the places but in different forms. Therefore one need not get confused when the names of Chikka Tirupathi, Tirumala and Venkateswara are mentioned in the course of the story narrated above.

At Chikka Tirupathi the lord is standing with his consort Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi, and there is no separate sanctum for Goddess Padmavathi. Chikka Tirumala has the same sort of rituals carried out as in Tirumala. The lord here is called as ‘Prasanna Venkateswara’. All the functions that are held at Tirumala are also held here. Those who are affiliated with Naga Dosha (sin of killing snakes or curse of snakes) come here to worship the Lord to get rid of their sins. The interesting feature in this temple has been that the right hand of the lord Venkateswara is in upwards position showing Abhayahastha mudran (expressing—Fear not, I am here to protect you), where as in Tirumala Tirupathi his right hand is facing downwards showing Varada mudran (expressing –I will give you the boons for your material enjoyment).

It is not known when the temple has been established, but since it was reportedly established by Lord Agni, it could be a dateless temple established in the dense forest in open space as place of worship and later converted into a temple during Chola period.