Padmavathi
| Padmavathi | |
|---|---|
 Goddess Padmavathi | |
| Other names | Alamelu Manga Alarmel Mangai |
| Devanagari | पद्मावती |
| Affiliation | |
| Abode | |
| Animals | Elephant |
| Symbol | Lotus |
| Texts |
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| Gender | Female |
| Festivals |
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| Genealogy | |
| Avatar birth | Alamelu Mangapuram |
| Avatar end | Tirumala |
| Parents | Akasha Raja (father) Dharani Devi (mother) |
| Consort | Venkateswara |
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| Vaishnavism |
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Padmavathi (Sanskrit: पद्मावती, Telugu: పద్మావతి), also known as Alamelu Manga and Alarmel Mangai,[2] is a Hindu goddess and the consort of Venkateswara, an avatar of Vishnu. She is described as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi.[3] Padmavathi is the presiding deity at the Padmavathi Temple, Tiruchanur.[4]
Etymology
[edit]Padmavathi literally means she of the lotus. She was named so after King Akasha Raja found her in Padmasarovaram in a golden Lotus. She is also known as Alamelu Manga or Alarmel Mangai.[5]
Legends
[edit]Birth
[edit]Narada once observed a few rishis performing a holy yagna. Unable to decide who the yagna should benefit, he recruited sage Bhrigu to decide after he had met with each of the Trimurti in their abodes. Bhrigu visited Brahma in Brahmaloka and Shiva in Kailasha and went unnoticed by both of these deities. He finally reached Vaikuntha and met Vishnu, who was absorbed in meditation with his feet being attended to by his consort, the goddess Lakshmi. A furious Bhrigu kicked Vishnu's chest (the abode of Lakshmi) and infuriated Lakshmi. But a calm Vishnu asked for forgiveness to Bhrigu, and served the sage by massaging his legs. During this act, he squashed the extra eye that was present on the sole of Bhrigu's foot, which destroyed the sage's egotism.[6]
Lakshmi was outraged by the sage's misdemeanour and Vishnu's silence at the act. She then departed from Vaikuntha, arriving on earth. According to tradition, she arrived at the region of Varaha Kshetra and performed an intense penance for twelve years. The gods, terrified by her penance, mollified her into returning to Vaikuntha with the promise that she would be incarnated on the site of her penance as Padmavathi, during the rule of the king named Akasha Raja. Meanwhile, Vishnu arrived at Tirumala Hills as Venkateswara, and meditated upon Lakshmi. Akasha Raja ruled the region near Tiruchanur. He and his wife Dharani Devi had no children born to them. When he conducted yajna and was tilling the ground, he found a baby in a lotus flower, named her Padmavati and later adopted her as his daughter.[7]
Marriage to Venkateswara
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Vishnu reincarnated as Srinivasa (or presented himself after penance in the ant-hill) as the son of the elderly woman Vakula Devi. Vakula Devi travelled from her hermitage to approach Akasha Raja with her proposal of marriage between Srinivasa and Padmavathi. In the meantime, the restless deity came to the city in the disguise of a fortune-teller. Princess Padmavati also fell in love with Srinivasa and fell ill after returning to the palace. Unable to diagnose the cause of her sickness, the maids invited the fortune-teller into the palace to foretell the future of the princess. When the fortune-teller revealed that Padmavathi was born to marry Vishnu in his current avatar as Srinivasa, she recovered. As the king heard of this news, Vakula announced herself to the king and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage to her son, Srinivasa. The overjoyed king agreed and his advisor Brihaspati wrote the invitation for the wedding between the two deities.[8]
Srinivasa called a conference of the gods to gain their consent for his marriage with Padmavathi. The deity also obtained a large loan from Kubera, the god of wealth, towards the expenses for the wedding as well as provide proof of his wealth. According to legends, Venkateswara married Padmavathi at Kalyana Venkateswara Temple, Narayanavanam, after which they moved to Tirumala.[9]
Literature and iconography
[edit]
Padmavathi finds her mention in the Puranas, mainly in Padma Purana and Skanda Purana (as a form of Lakshmi).[10][11] Skanda Purana contains her conversation with sage-divinity Narada, who describes her beauty and termed her as the goddess of forest.[12] She is also mentioned in Shri Venkatachala Mahatmyam (as the consort of Venkateswara).[13][14]
Padmavati is portrayed with four hands. She is also shown carrying flowers (lotuses or vaijayanti) in her upper hands and has the lower right in 'abhaya' and lower left in 'varada' pose.[15] Padmavathi's icon is seen as seated in padmasana.[16]
Worship and festivals
[edit]Padmavathi is a major deity in Hinduism and is worshipped as an aspect of the goddess Lakshmi and her second aspect, Bhumi.[4] It is believed that her intercession is indispensable to gaining the favour of the lord, it is also believed that Lakshmi is omnipresent, illimitable, and the bestower of moksham along with Vishnu in Sri Vaishnavism.[17] She is also the primary diety of Yenadis tribe, who worship her as Chenchamma.[18]
Festivals
[edit]Padmavathi Brahmotsavams
[edit]
On the last day of Annual Padmavathi Brahmotsavams (Panchami Teertham), Chakra Snanam is held in Padmasarovaram, with lakhs of devotees taking a dip in the holy waters.[19][20]
Padmavathi Parinayotsavam
[edit]This festival is celebrated in the month of May. The artistically decked Parinayotsavam Mandapam in the Narayanagiri gardens is the venue of the celestial wedding of Srinivasa and Goddess Padmavathi. This three day annual festival is performed in the evening under the moonlight.[21][22]
Karthika Brahmotsavams
[edit]During the Karthika Brahmotsavams, an annual festival at the temple, Padmavathi is carried on the ‘Suryaprabha Vahanam’ during the procession on the seventh day of the festival.[23]
Temples
[edit]
The most prominent shrine of Padmavathi is Padmavathi Ammavari Temple situated at Tiruchanur, a suburb of Tirupati. Tradition dictates that every pilgrim to Tirupati must offer obeisance at this temple before visiting the Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, the central temple of her consort.[1][24] She is also a secondary deity at the Venkateswara Temple, Dwaraka Tirumala.[25]
See also
[edit]- Padmavathi Temple, Tiruchanur
- Tiruchanur
- Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, a university named after Padmavati
References
[edit]- ^ a b "श्री पद्मावती अम्मावरी ने कैसे दिया भक्तों को दर्शन? तिरुपति में चले रहे कार्तिक ब्रह्मोत्सव की मनमोहक तस्वीर देखिए". Navbharat Times. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ South India handbook: the travel guide by Robert Bradnock, Roma Bradnock.
- ^ Pattanaik, D. (1999). Vishnu: an introduction. Mumbai: Vakils, Feffer and Simons. p. 69.
- ^ a b Dalal, Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. New Delhi: Penguin Books India. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
- ^ Gangashetty, Ramesh (30 October 2019). "Padmavathi". THIRTHA YATRA. Notion Press. ISBN 9781684661343.
She is known as Alarmelmangai, which means mother seated on lotus flower.
- ^ "Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (Official Website)". www.tirumala.org. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ S Krishnasvami Aiyangar (1940). A History Of Tirupati, Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam Committee Madras
- ^ Jalla, Vinay (13 May 2013). "Venkateswara Padmavathi". Warp and Weft. Booktango. ISBN 9781468930504.
- ^ Southern India: A Guide to Monuments Sites & Museums. Roli Books Private Limited. 2013. ISBN 9788174369031.
- ^ Rocher, Ludo (1986). The Puranas. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-02522-5. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ Dimmitt, Cornelia; van Buitenen, J. A. B. (2012). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas. Temple University Press (1st Edition: 1977). ISBN 978-1-4399-0464-0.
- ^ G. V. Tagare (1950). "Skanda Purana [Venkaṭācala-māhātmya: Nārada approaches Padmāvatī]". Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House.
- ^ "Shri Venkatachala Mahatmyam". Varaha Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. p. 176-179.
- ^ Sri Ramakrishna Dikshitulu and Oppiliappan Koil Sri Varadachari Sathakopan. Sri Vaikhasana Bhagavad Sastram (An Introduction) Archived 3 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (16 August 2023). 7 Secrets Of The Goddess. Westland. ISBN 9789395073073.
- ^ Gangashetty, Ramesh (30 October 2019). THIRTHA YATRA. Notion Press. ISBN 9781684661343.
Her vighraham is shown as seated in padmasana.
- ^ Nair, Shantha (27 January 2015). "Sri Padmavathi Temple". Sri Venkateswara. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 9788184954456.
- ^ Rao, N. Sudhakar (2002). Ethnography of a Nomadic Tribe: A Study of Yanadi. Concept Publishing Company. p. 64. ISBN 9788170229315.
- ^ "2 Lakh Take Holy Dip on 'Panchami Theertham'". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ^ "Grand finale to Tirumala Brahmotsavam". The Hindu. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ "Padmavati Parinayotsavam begins in Tirumala". The Hindu. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ "Pavitrotsavams: Purification ritual commences at Sri Padmavati Ammavari temple". Deccan Chronicle. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "Goddess Padmavathi rides 'Suryaprabha Vahanam'". The Hindu. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Tirumala News: Varalakshmi Vratam fete at Padmavathi temple in Tiruchanoor". Telangana Today. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "Dwaraka Tirumala to get a facelift". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
External links
[edit]- The Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam website
- Sri Venkatdhvari Kavi's Sri Lakshmi Saharam Praising Alarmelmanga Thayar Archived 2 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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