The glittering gold plated gopuram

Gopuram

A Gopuram or Gopura, is a monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of any temple, especially in Southern India. This forms a prominent feature of Koils, Hindu temples of the Dravidian style. They are topped by the kalasam, a bulbous stone finial...

of the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....

 is called Ananda Nilayam (abode of Happiness). According to Vaishnava philosophy, gopurams of the sanctum sanctorum are named:

• Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala: Ananda Nilayam
• Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (Srirangam), Srirangam
  Srirangam
  Srirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
  
  : "Pranavaakaara Vimanam
  Vimanam
  The word Vimanam can refer to any of the following:#Sikhara — the rising roof of a Hindu temple in North India.#vimanam is the tower that crowns the innermost sanctum of a South Indian temple ....
  
  " (after its shape like "pranava" - The Sacred "OM")
• Varadharaja Perumal Temple
  Varadharaja Perumal Temple
  Varadharaja Perumal Temple or Hastagiri or Attiyuran is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in the holy city of Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, India...
  
  , Kanchipuram
  Kanchipuram
  Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...
  
  : Punyakoti Vimanam

Architecture

"Vimana" is the style of architecture that Hindu temples followed. The Ananda Nilaya Vimanam is a three tiered canopy.

Initial construction

The first mention of Vimana is during the renovation work of the temple between the 12th and 13th century A.D. when a second wall was constructed around the sanctum sanctorum enclosing the first wall to support the weight of the vimana. The Pandyan king Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan

Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan

Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan...

 gold plated the roof and gifted the gold gilted Kalasam. Viranarasingaraya, a Pallava allied king performed thulabhara (weighing oneself) against gold and the same was used for making the gold plated copper sheets to cover the Vimana. This phase of construction is usually agreed as the fourth phase of Tirumala temple construction out of seven.

1950s and 1960s renovotion

In the 1950s, it was discovered that the Gold was getting old and besides, parts of the roof inside was caving into the Sanctum Sanctorum. The TTD decided to replace the aging metal and fix the roof also. All the gold was removed and painstakingly, the damaged levels of the roof below were fixed with cement and extra strength metal grouting reinforcement. During this period in mid-1960s, no worship could be performed in the Sanctum Sanctorum and so the "power" of the chief deity was shifted into a temporary idol carved and placed elsewhere in the temple. All the worship was performed in this new "Bala Aalaya" (Child Temple). It took 5 years for the carpenters and builders to get dies of the nooks and crannies of the Roof and finally copper plates were cast into those shapes. Long nails of the 10th century AD were removed and replaced with solid cement and metal grouting using 20th century construction techniques. The copper plates were then installed and fixed in place. Fine "Aparanji" (the best quality) gold was chiseled into plates and riveted onto the copper plates.

A grand ceremony of sanctifying the new grand, golden Ananda Nilaya Vimanam took place in 1964 with "Ashta Bandhana Maha Samprokshanam". The ceremony has been repeated ever since once every 12 years to undertake repairs in the temple.

Recent activities

In 2004, there were discussions of replacing the gold plated copper sheets with sheets of gold itself. No work is known to have started on the reconstruction. In 2006, the sheets were given new polish as part of the Ashta Bandhana Maha Samprokshanam ceremony along with repairs to other sub-temples in the complex.

Vimana Venkateswara

Saint Vyasa Teertha, who lived here in 16th century, was said to have attained moksha

Moksha

Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...

by steadfastly worshipping and meditating on the little image of Lord Venkateswara on the North-Eastern corner of the Ananda Nilaya Vimanam. That is why special significance is given to the "Vimana Venkateswara". The Vimana Venkateswara now is bedecked in special silver and Gold over the Vimanam. Hundreds of Devotees are always seen praying to the Vimana Venkateswara daily inside the Temple.