Vrishabhadri Hills

The sixth is known as Vrishabhachalam or Vrishabhadri hills. There is a wonderful story behind it.

A demon called Vrishabhasura, He was a great devotee of Lord Siva. But he was equaily cruel and wicked. At the instance of devotees, Sri Hari assumed the form of a hunter. There was a fierce fight between them. At last, Srinivasa released his sudarshana disc. Realising the inevitability of his death, Vrishabha prostrated before the lotus feet of the Lord and sought his refuge. “Oh, Lord Srinivasa! Please forgive me. I feel it my past good fortune to be killed by your great disc. I seek a favour from you and I am sure you are kind enough to concede the same. That is, this hilly area of mine should assume my name and be known as Vrishabhachala. I also implore upon you to stay put here as Vrishabhadripathi, the Lord of Vrishabhadri and save the devotees.” Granting his prayers Srinivasa said, put an end to the demon. Thus, the hill came to be known as Vrishabhachala.

Read More Seven Hills of Tirumala

There is also another story of a different period in the myth and history of the place. In the holy spring of Tumbura on this hill, there used to be a demon known as Vrishabhasura. He was, nevertheless, a great devotee of Lord Narasimha Swamy. He was also very cruel. He used to hound the saints, yogis, and others out, and torture them to death. Unable to bear his torture, all the people went to Lord Srinivasa and prayed to save them from his cruelty.

See also Pandava Theertham - Tirumala

Ironically Vrishabhasura, though cruel, used to be quite soft at the time of worship. He used to perform daily a yaga for the sake of Lord Narasimha and offer his head at the end in the sacrificial fire of purnahuthi. Miraculously, the head used to re-appear on his neck. There was no end to his yagas and torture.

At the instance of devotees, Srinivasa once appeared before Vrishabhasura all of a sudden. Overwhelmed by the sight, he bowed to him and foolishly pleaded with the Lord to fight with him. He considered it a boon to be fulfilled by the Lord who is very compassionate. There was a fierce fight between them. As usual, Srinivasa released his chakra at last to cut his head off his neck. Just at that moment, Vrishabhasura prayed to God: “Oh Lord! Please grant me this last request of mine. Let this hill and thou assume my name!” and he became a prey to the chakra.

Thus, this hill came to be known as Vrishabhachala or Vrishabhadri. From that day onwards, Sri Venkateshwara has been regarded as Vrishabhachalapathi or Vrishabhadreeshwara, the Lord of the hill for ages now in order to save the devotees.

For Venkateswara Suprabatham Click here