Venkateswara means “Lord of Venkata Hill” and refers to the location of the temple near Tirupati in the southeastern Indian state Andhra Pradesh. The name Venkata is taken to mean “burning away sin.” Venkateswara is an emanation of the god Vishnu. According to one of his main legends as Venkateswara, Vishnu followed his wife Lakshmi from heaven to earth but could not locate her, so he resided in a termite mound on Tirumala hill. He incarnated as Srinivasa and fell in love with the princess Padmavati and married her, for which he took out a loan from Kubera, the god of wealth. Venkateswara’s iconography is similar to Vishnu’s although his skin is painted a deep black color.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style