Beautiful bond between King Thondaman and Lord Venkateshwara

Lord of the universe (Brahmanda nayaka) whose Leela’s (sportive actions) are impossible to understand by humans. However, one can get god’s attention and even attain his love though pure bhakti. One must always strive for such kind of devotion. One such devotee’s story King Thondaman is described in this article. A king who was able to receive the blessing of Lord of the Universe in his past life and he even asked Lord to stay in his palace along with his consorts. He finally attains moksha.

Thondaman Chakravarthy and Lord Venkateswara Story

A King who built the world-renowned temple for Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala with two Gopurams, Ananda Nilayam, the place where Lord resides to bless his devotees which is equal to Vaikunta(Lord’s abode). Along with that he built Yagashala, a kitchen for Nivedya preparation (food offering for Lord and devotees) and Goshala.

Rangadasa story

Once upon time in chola kingdom there lived a Brahmana by name Gopinatha, who was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. After serving Lord for years, he requested Lord to provide him path for salvation.

As instructed by God, Gopinatha sets for the divine abode, Seshadri hills. There he meets Rangadasa and along with him they proceeded to the hill. There they happen to see Lord’s idol in the ‘ant’ hill. They fetched the idol of lord and consecrated it there and made a small temple with stones and started worshipping lord.

Every day, Rangadasa used to fetch flowers and make a beautiful garland for Lord Venkateswara whereas Gopinatha used to pray to the Lord. One day Rangadasa happen to see Gandhrava couple in their private time, which spoiled his mind, and he forgot the time as well. After recovering from that he felt ashamed of his actions, he once again took bath and prepared the garland for Lord.

By the time he reached the temple it was late. He got chiding from Gopinatha. Unable to explain his actions, he remains silent at the same time felt sad for his misconduct. The very moment a divine voice told him, in next life you will be born as king you will enjoy all materialistic things, and you will build a temple for me and attain moksha.

Thondaman Chakravarthy and Lord Venkateswara bond

In next life he was born as a king Thondaman who ruled his kingdom in righteousness way, from very young age he developed an immense devotion towards Lord Venkateswara. He used to visit Lord Venkateswara every single day. As per Lords instruction he constructed a beautiful temple for Lord to stay along with his consorts.

He is also a half-brother of Akasha Raja, father of Padmavathi Devi. As he became old, he was not able to visit the temple daily. King Thondaman was feeling bad for that. However, he made a temple inside his palace and used to pray to the god. As the King was unable to visit the temple, the Lord himself goes to the King’s palace and takes the offering.

As per the request of his devotee, he stayed there along with his wives and receives prayer offering from King Thondaman. It is the only temple where you can see Lord Venkateswara in sitting posture along with his consorts.

King’s devotion is so immense, and God’s love for his devotees has no boundaries. Once King Thondaman was attacked by his enemies. As he was not able to defeat the enemy. Lord gave his weapons namely conch and disc to the king to defeat his enemy.

This divine story of King Thondaman and Lord Venkateswara brings great joy and show us the great bond between devotee and Lord Venkateswara.

Disclaimer:

Whoever is planning to visit the divine temple Tirumala, also plan a visit to Thondamanadu, the place where Lord resides as per the request of his dear devotee. It is located in Chittor District; and takes around 38 kms from Tirupathi.

|| Om Namo Venkateshaya ||

Tirupati Travel Guide 2022 | Tirumala Travel Blog by Shravya (travelescape.in)

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