TONSURE at TIRUMALA

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

According to some information, TONSURE (giving away hair) at Tirumala, Tirupati

has three-four purposes:-

 

 

At the time of marriage of Sri Venkateswara with Princess Padmavathi Devi,

the Lord was in need of large amounts of money so that he can be at par with the

Princess' wealth. Srinivasa (Venkatesha) approached Kubera, the Hindu God for

Wealth, to fund/sponsor his wedding expenses. Kubera, who had no doubt about

Lord's repayment capacity but only wanted 'something extra' in return, asked the

Lord how he could repay his loan. Lord Venkateswara proposed that he is going

to incarnate on the Seshashaila (the mountain on which the Lord rests now in

Tirumala), one of the seven hills, and the devotees coming there to have his

darshan during Kali yuga would offer him their gold, money, etc. in the undiyal

(Hundi). Lord Venkateswara told Kubera that this offering in the undiyal to the

Lord would serve as INTEREST on the loan and he need not worry about principal

loan. But Kubera, having not satisfied, asked something more! The Lord said

that his devotees would also offer their 'neelaalu'

(hair by complete tonsure) which could also be part of 'interest'. Kubera was

then satisfied. Each year, lakhs of devotees to Tirumala offer their hair to the

Lord through their 'wish'.

Another story is like this: Lord Venkateswara had some empty space on his

head (without hair there). He was asked by somebody (probably Padmavathi Devi)

to grow hair, to fill that empty space with hair. Some devotees immediately came

forward to supply their hair for the Lord. It is also believed that Lord

Venkateswara told that their devotees would offer him their hair to fill that

space. So, it is said, tonsure is an offering to the Lord himself and thus it

has become a custom !!

It is a feeling among Maharashtrians that Lord Venkateswara asks his devotees

an offering of 'hair' by tonsure. They call the Lord as Lord of 'Bal Lao Jee'

(Please bring hair), which later transformed to Balaji. [However, the genesis of

this feeling among them is not known to me.]

In the service of HisLotusFeet!!

[vvtt9911 1]

Reason for tonsure or shaving head in Tirumala(tirupathi) as per Puranas(Ancient sacred books):

When Supreme Lord Sri Venkatesha(MahaVishnu/Balaji) was inside the snake-antHill on tirumala, one sacred cow is to come and give milk to the Lord daily(Brahma deva took the form as sacred cow), When a cow-herd man at once saw the sacred-cow pouring milk in the snake-antHill, he became angry and without understanding the truth, the Cow-herd man took the axe and has hit the cow on the cow’s head with the axe. The Supreme Lord Sri Venkatesha(Vishnu) who was present inside the snake-antHill received the hurt of the axe on his head from the cow-herd man instead of Cow getting hurt. When Lord received the hurt of the Axe on his head, portion of his hair on his head disappeared due to hurt by axe. When mother Neela Devi saw Lord being hurt on his head, she immediately removed the hair from her head and placed on the Lord’s head in the portion where lord was hurt. Immediately Lord became well and Lord’s hair reappeared as beautiful as before he was hurt. Lord Venkatesha(Vishnu) knowing that hair is one of the beautiful features of women, Lord Sri venkatesha promised that his devotees will shave Hair of their head (tonsure) and dedicate their hair to her. Neela Devi accepts the hair sacrificed by Devotees of Lord Venkatesha(Vishnu) and Lord blesses his devotees who sacrifice their hair for the sake of the Lord. This is the reason why Devotees tonsure or shave their head in Tirumala(tirupathi).

There are also Spiritual reasons: Tonsure or Saving hair as offering for Lord represents a real sacrifice of material beauty and giving up false-ego in the way of shaving their hair as sacrifice to please Supreme Lord.