Vakula Devi is the foster mother of Lord

Venkateswara Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Etymology Venkates ...

. Vakula Matha Temple is situated in Peruru(patakaluva) located in

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

city, Andhra Pradesh. As per the

legend of Tirumala For one of the major Hindu denominations, the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is the most famous Vaishnavite temple in the world. The presiding deity of Vishnu here is referred to as Venkateswa ...

, it dates back to Dvapara Yuga when

Yasoda Yashoda ( sa, यशोदा, translit=Yaśodā) is the foster-mother of Krishna and the wife of Nanda. She is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the wife of Nanda, the chieftain of Gokulam, and the sister of Rohini. According to the ...

, the foster mother of

Lord Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one of ...

(avatar of

Lord Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

) complains to him that she could not witness any of his marriages. To this, Lord Krishna replies he would ensure she would get such opportunity later in Kali Yuga. In Kali Yuga, Lord Vishnu adorns the world as Lord Venkateswara and Yasoda is reborn as Vakula Devi, foster mother of Lord Venkateswara, to arrange his wedding with Padmavati the daughter of King Akasa Raja. Thus Vakula Devi fulfills her wish to witness the ''kalyanam'' (wedding) of Lord Venkateswara.

Emergence of Temple

Since Vakula Devi, as a loving influence in the life of Lord

best exemplifies the mother-son relationship, a Temple in her name was built about 300 years ago on Perurubanda hillock, around the scenic Perur village. More than 50 acres of land is devoted to the temple, located within 10 kilometers of Tirumala hills. As per the wishes of Vakula ''maata'' (mother), this temple was constructed in such a way that visage of ''maata'' faces the Seven Hills, where her son Lord Venkateswara resides. The love and affection between mother-son is so evident that ''naivedyam'' ('bhogh' in Hindi) is first offered to mother and only later, to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. The Priests ring the large bells at Vakula ''maata'' temple to indicate ''naivedyam'' offered to the mother, and later the priests at Tirumala submit offerings to Lord Venkateswara. Such was the tradition followed in earlier days until the temple was destroyed, and lost its glory.

Destruction and negligence

Post Independence, the temple has been the object of neglect by the

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cen ...

(TTD), its lackadaisical attitude best reflected in its E.O.'s statement, "The basic reason for exclusion of the temple by TTD lies in G.O. (Government order) of 1987 which has not listed Vakula ''maata'' temple among those that TTD shall look after". It is a subject of concern for many that TTD ignores the mother of Lord Venkateswara while it spends millions over renovation of temples located elsewhere. As a result, the Vakula ''maata'' temple remains in dilapidated condition and in dire need of renovation.

Illegal mining

Activists and local people of Tirupati claim it is politics, corruption, careless attitude of those in power resulted in poor maintenance of the temple. The hillock on which the temple is situated known for best rock quality, being mined illegally to be used in construction industry. These illegal miners are closely related to politicians of the district, hence the Administration and Police seem helpless. In the meanwhile, illegal quarrying started slowly stripping away the hill from all sides. It appears that as much as 80 percent of the hill was flattened. It is possible that the Temple may even collapse since the foundation has become weak. Members of the archaeology group too have expressed concern over this poor attitude towards preserving the centuries-old temple. "No official is bothered to preserve this ancient heritage structure. We cannot allow the temple to fall in the hands of land sharks," an archaeologist associated with Tirumala temple affairs said.

Public outrage and protests

A number of organizations, Hindu religious heads and leaders of various political parties expressed anguish over the pathetic condition of the temple, and have approached TTD over the years to restore the Vakula ''maata'' Temple. Many

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

saints and seers have also made representations to the government regarding the need to renovate the temple and ban the

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses, and exploration or mineral transportation permits. Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the ca ...

in the area. Swami Paripoornananda Saraswati of Sreepeetham, as well as activists from the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation performed a ''Padayatra'' to Perurbanda hillock and protested against the inaction of TTD and the government of the day. Swami Paripoornananda Saraswati threatened to stay on ''Deeksha'' (fasting) at the site if TTD did not respond in time. The

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

has protested several times in the past and submitted a memorandum to TTD Chairman and Governor of the state for the cause of renovation of the temple. The party even issued a legal notice requesting the Courts to intervene, and direct TTD for renovation of the temple. In response to the demands of various organizations, TTD responded with a plan to renovate Vakula ''maata'' Temple with an outlay of Rs. 2 crore including Rs. 15 lakh to be spent on fencing the premises on the hillock. However, local mining companies approached the Courts and got a stay order in 2010 preventing TTD from taking up renovation of the Temple. However, subsequently in the year 2012,

High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad The Telangana High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Telangana. Founded by the 7th Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, initially, it was set up as High Court of Hyderabad for the then Princely State of Hyderabad Deccan and later renamed ...

vacated the stay and ordered the TTD to renovate and restore the temple back to its pristine glory.{{cite web , url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ttd-to-renovate-vakula-matha-temple/296545-60-114.html , title=TTD to renovate Vakula Matha temple - IBNLive , website=ibnlive.in.com , access-date=17 January 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915082406/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ttd-to-renovate-vakula-matha-temple/296545-60-114.html , archive-date=15 September 2014 , url-status=dead TTD assured the Court it would comply with the order, but so far not a brick has been laid at the temple site, thereby allowing illegal mining to thrive. It is now hoped that the matter will be escalated so that the State and Central governments would take necessary action to suspend illegal mining in the area and exhort TTD board to renovate the Temple.

References

External links

Tirumala Global Hindu Heritage Foundation
Hindu goddesses Tirupati Buildings and structures in Tirupati Hindu temples in Tirupati district Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams