Sacred of Theerthams in Tirumala

Sacred epics say that every stone, tree, sand particle, air, birds, animals dwelling in the sacred Seshachala ranges that house the world famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara is manifested with divinity.

According to Brahma Purana and Skanda Purana there are about 66 crores of holy theerthams in the green cover of seshachala ranges. From the epic ages till today the holy theerthams of Tirumala are famous for their sacredness and divinity. Almost all the sacred water bodes hold fantastic legends and stories of salvation. In fact these legends are the driving force that led lakhs of pilgrims to this temple town each day even today since ages.

However these sacred theerthams are classified as Dharmaratiprada theerthams, Gnanaprada theerthams, Bhaktivairagyaprada theerthams and Muktiprada theerthams.

Dharmarathipradha Theerthams

The holy dip in these theerthams will transform the person to lead a  moral life combined with spiritual discipline which is the very foundation to get salvation. As per  puranas there are about 1008 holy torrents in the first category of theerthams.

Gnanapradha Theerthams

Man is on the quest to get the best for himself. Jnana is the path of knowledge, wisdom, introspection and contemplation. It involves deep exploration of the nature of our being by systematically exploring and setting aside false identities.A dip in the Gnanaprada teerthams is believed to gift this path of wisdom to pilgrims. These re 108 in number. They are: Manu, Indra, Vasu, Rudra(11 in number), Aditya(12 in number), Prajapati(9 in number), Aswini, Sukra, Varuna, Jahnavi, Kapeya, Kanwa, Agneya, Narada, Soma, Bhargava, Dharma, Yagna, Pasu, Ganeshwara, Bhaumaswa, Paribhadra, Jagajadyahara, Viswakallola, Yama, Baraspatya, Kamaharsha, Ajamoda, Janeshwara, Instasiddhi, Karmasiddhi, Vata, Jedumbara, Karthikeya, Kubja, Prachetasa(10 in number), Garuda, Sesha, Vasuki, Vishnuvardhana, Karmakanda, Punyavriddhi, Runavimochana,

Parjanya, Megha, Sankarshana, Vasudeva, Narayana, Deva, Yaksha, Kala, Gomukha, Pradymna, Aniruddha, Pitru, Arsheya, Vaishwadeva, Swadha, Swaha, Asti, Anjaneya, Suddhodaka, Astha Bhairava(8 in number). All put together 108 theerthams.

Bhakthi Vairagya Pradha Theerthams

Puranas state that these are more sacred than the Gnanaprada theerthams. A dip in these theerthams will provide renunciation from the materialistic way of life and leads to bhakti yoga. These are 68 in number. They are: Chaklra, Vajra, Vishwaksena, Panchayudha, Halayuda, Narasimha, Kasyapa, Manmadha, Brahma, Agni, Gautami, Daiva, Devam, Viswamitra, Bhargava, Astavakra, Durarohana, Bhairava, Meha, Pandava, Vayu, Asti, Markandeya, Jabali, Valabhilya, Jwarahara, Vishahara, Lakshmi, Rushi, Shatananda, Suteekshaka, Vaibhandaka, Bilwa, Vishnu, Salva, Sarabha, Brahma, Indra, Bharadwaja, Akasaganga, Prachetana, Papavinasana, Saraswatha, Kumaradhara, Gaja, Rushyasringa, Tumburu, Dasavatara(10 in number by the name of different avataras of Lord Vishnu), Halayudi, Saptarshi(7 in number after the name of saptarshi), Gajakona, viswaksena, Yudhasarasti.

Mukthipradha Theerthams

Mukthi means liberation of the senses from the clutches of the mind. It is enlightenment or a state of self-realization of the soul through Bhakthi. A bath in the muktipradha theerthams will gives us salvation. They are seven in number and considered to be the holiest among all the 66crore teerthams.

They are

Swamy Pushkarini Tirumala

As per the temple legend Swami Pushkarini was originally in Vaikuntam and belonged to Sri Maha Vishnu. It was set on Earth by Garuda, for the sport of Sri Venkateswara. It is adjacent to the Sri Venkateswara temple. As the 66crore teerthams these teerthams are not identified it is believed that one holy dip in Swamy Pushkarini teertham which is adjacent to hill shrine of Tirumala temple is equal to having taken bath in all these teerthams.

Festivals are being carried out every year for these teerthams on the auspicious time as decided in the shastras.

For this sacred theertham of Swamy Pushkarini, Mukkoti Dwadasi, the twelfth fortnight of Dhanurmasa is considered to be auspicious.

Gogarbham Theertham or Pandava Theertham

Suddha Dwadasi Sunday in Vrishabha month or Bahula Dwadasi day falling on Tuesday is considered auspicious.

Papavinasanam Tirumala

Sunday with Sapthami tidhi in Aswayuja Month or Dwadasi day in unison with the star Uttarabhadra

Akasaganga Theertham

Fullmoon day in the month of Mesha in unison with Chitra Nakshatra

Tumburu Theertham

Fullmoon day in the month of Meena(Pisces) with Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra is considered to be auspicious

Kumara Dhara Theertham

Magha Pornami in The month of Kumbha is considered to be auspicious to take bath in this theertham.

Ramakrishna Theertham

Full moon day in the month of Makara(capricorn) is considered to be divine for holy dip.

Pilgrims visiting Tirumala makes it a practice of taking their bath in these sacred torrents on the belief that it would wipe out all their sinful deeds.

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