On the fourth day of the Srivari Brahmotsavam Lord
Venkateswara in the avatar of Malayalappaswami presents himself as the king of
kings to his devotees who throng Tirumala on the Sarva bhupala Vahanam .
Sarva bhupala meaning
the God in charge of the earth, water and air become the pall bearers
of his vehicle . Along with the
Sarva Bhupalas, the Dikpala’s of
East-West and South-North etc
also join in the entourage of Lord Venkateswara in the
procession on the holy Mada streets .
“The objective
is to display that all the Dikpalas of the universe were not just under the
control of Lord venkateswara but also that there was no
chance for misuse of office by them under his
diligent vigilance and directions
“ says Dr.A.V.Ramana Dikshitulu , chief
priest of Tirumala Temple .
They are listed in the legends of Tirumala
as – Indra ( East ), Agni (
south-east) , Yama ( god of death on the South ), Niruti ( North –East) ,
Varuna on ( West), Vayu ( south-west)
and Kubera ( god of wealth on North ) and Parameswara on ( North-west) . They are termed as Asta Dikpala’s who all are
all in the service of Lord
Venkateswara and work under his command.
The message that
comes out of this event of
Sarva Bhupala Vahanam - is to
indicate that Lord Venkateswara
controlled the entire universe , the Dikpala’ and also Sarva Bhupala
were managed by him to
ensure that the people benefited
and prospered with timely rains
and course of the activities by all the elements
that encompassed the universe.
Special light arrangements besides, public toilets, drinking water,
First Aid and Ambulance are made around
the holy four Mada streets to provide a total eyeful view of the
procession of Vahanam . Cultural
troupes comprising of dancers from all regions etc pre4cede the Vahanam
procession of Lord Venkateswara.
The TTD has organized special seating arrangements
along the four mada streets with fully protected railings
for galleries to enable thousands
of people to sit and witness the celestial procession which lasted three to four hours in the mornings and evenings of Brahmotsavam every
day at Tirumala .
The event is broadcast by the Sri Venkateswara Bhakti
channel which has set up live coverage of the event with its state of art
equipment to give a glimpse of the Brahmotsvam event to lakhs of devotees all over
the world. The SVBC also offered free signal to all electronic channels of not
only the Vahanam procession but also
all events in the Temple shrine
during the nine day BRAHMOTSAVAM.