There were many great saints and
devotees of Lord Venkateswara who remained in the darkness. One such great
devotee of Lord Venkateswara is Bhavaji. He was popularly known as Hathiram Baba. He was an ardent devotee of Lord
Venkateswara. I personally feel nothing much is written about this great
devotee over internet world. I searched all over the internet for information
on Hathiram Baba. Unfortunately, no substantial manuscript is available on this
great devotee of Lord Balaji. I found only a few sites describing the story of
Hathiram Baba. Unfortunately, the information provided in the site was really
pathetic and funny. It starts like this. A saint from North India had visited Tirumala and
settled there. He used to call himself Hathi Ram because he was fat like Hathi
(an Elephant) and no one knows his real name. Isn’t it funny? I logged out of
the site immediately after reading two lines. I don’t blame the publisher
totally for that, because we hardly have any information on the life story of
Hathiram Baba. The story of Hathiram Baba is only confined to a few books in
the libraries and to the stories of our Grand Parents. If you have observed,
Hathiram Baba Mutt still exists in Tirumala. It is constructed at the Main
entrance of Tirumala Temple. I feel TTD must take up initiatives
to let people know these great devotees of Lord Balaji. The glory of Lord
Balaji will increase by making people aware of these small stories associated
with the Lord and his ardent devotees. They inspire more people to worship the
Lord.
Here is my little effort to have some
focus on this great devotee of the Lord Venkateswara to the best of my
information and knowledge gathered through Books, Television, Internet and all
possible sources within my reach. Hope you will find it instructive and
informative.