Chilkuru Sri Venkateswara Swamy(Chilkur Balaji)

Chilkur Balaji

Hitherto, a sleepy village, Chilkur has come up as a very important pilgrim centre in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (India). The Lord here is Sri Venkateswara Swamy in a standing posture, beside whom is Goddess Sridevi and Goddess Bhudevi. It is said that the Lord bears an injury on his chest which is believed to have been made during digging out of the Idol !


History of Chilkur

It is believed that an old man (may be in his 70s-80s), who used to visit Tirumala every year to have darshan of Sri Venkateswara Swamy at Tirumala, once desired to go to Tirumala, Tirupati but could not, because of his old age/some illness. He was very sad for his inability to go to Tirumala because it was also harsher and tiresome those days to travel to Tirumala. The Lord wanted to give him his Darshan and came down to Chilkur. The Lord appeared in the devotee's dream and told him that he is lying underground in a forest nearby and asked him to excavate his idol so that he may have a bountiful Darshan. The Lord was excavated, along with his consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi and were installed at the place now called Chilkur.

It is also prevalent among devotees who believe that during the digging out of the Lord, the digging tools hit the Lord's idol on his chin and on the chest. Suddenly, blood started oozing out of the injuries. The devotees, in a state of shock, heard some voice in the air which asked them to flow cow milk on the injuries. Immediately, the idol of Swamy along with Sridevi and Bhudevi appeared which were later installed in the now-temple premises, after performance of due rites and rituals.


Dakshinas and Pradakshinas

One important feature of this Temple is that there is no Hundi. (Maybe, they come up later on). The Lord asks His devotees to give him Dakshinas (fees) in shape of Pradakshinas (taking rounds of the temple) only and nothing else! It is widely prevalent among devotees that 'Chilkuru Balaji' is 'Visa Venkanna' for He is the giver of visa, a passport to go abroad. That is the reason why you will find many youngsters and youth making rounds and rounds the temple all along, all through the week.

The procedure is like this:
Whoever wants to go abroad for higher studies, employment, etc. has to first go to Chilkur and pay obeissance to the Lord and take a vow to pay His dakshina. Then take eleven (11) pradakshinas round the temple and put forth the desire to go abroad. The Lord is prayed during pradakshinas to grant the devotee with a Visa. The devotees, during eleven pradakshinas, vow to take 108 pradakshinas once the Visa is granted. When the Visa paving way to fly abroad is received, the devotee pays his obeissance with the vowed 108 pradakshinas.

Differences between Tirupati Balaji & Chilkur Balaji

* The Lord at Tirumala has His consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi on His bosom (chest) whereas at Chilkur, they stand alongside the Lord.

* At Tirumala, you may pay your Dakshinas to the Lord in Hundi or Undiyal whereas Chilkur Balaji is happy with the Devotees' 108 Pradakshinas.


How to reach Chilkur

Chilkuru is around 30 k.m. away from Hyderabad and it takes about one hour to reach the temple. When one comes to Hyderabad/Secunderabad, quite a large number of buses, taxies, auto-three-wheelers, etc. are available from any place. Chilkuru (or Chilkur) is the name of the tiny village where the temple is located. The nearest places from where one can find buses, taxies etc. in the city leading to Chilkur is MEHDIPATNAM or LANGAR HOUSE. Shared three-wheeler/auto charges are somewhere around Rs. 10-12 per person, one way. Bus charges are also in the range of Rs. 9 or so, one way. Travelling from Mehdipatnam takes about 50-60 minutes. Since the village is very nearby to Hyderabad city, coming back to the city by night is recommended for outstation pilgrims.
Places worth visit nearby: Golconda Fort. While going to Chilkuru, one can have a glimpse of the Golconda Fort from a distance.

May the Lord bless you with a Happy Darshan!
and a VISA too!!