Tirumala Venkateswara Temple also known as Tirupati Venkateswara Temple is a famous Hindu Temple of Lord Venkateswara located in the hill town Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh. The temple is located on the Venkatachalam hill that forms part of the seven hills of Tirumala, and hence the temple is also known as the Temple of Seven Hills (Saptagiri in Sanskrit, Edukondalu in Telugu and Ezhumalai in Tamil). The presiding deity of the temple, Lord Venkateswara, is also known by other names - Balaji or Srinivasa or Perumal.
The temple is the richest and the most visited place of worship in the world.The temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily, while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000, making it one of the most visited holy place in the world.
According to the legend, the temple has a self-manifested idol murti of Lord Vishnu, with the Lord believed to have resided here for the entire Kali Yuga. In Sri Vaishnava tradition, the temple is considered one of the 108 Divya Desam sites.


The Temple
The Tirumala hills comprising of the seven hills of Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri are the abode of the Tirumala Venkateswara temple.[3] The hill town (Tirumala) and the temple (Venkateswara Temple) are located on the Seshadri or Seshachalam hill. The temple complex comprises a smaller traditional temple building along with a number of modern queue and pilgrim lodging sites.

The varied names ascribed to the main deity are Balaji, Srinivasa, Perumal, Venkateswara and Venkatachalapathy. The goddess Sri or Lakshmi (Vishnu's consort) resides on the chest of Venkateswara, and thus he is also known by the epithet Srinivasa (the one in whom Sri resides). Godess Lakshmi and Godess Padmavathi reside on his either chests. The deity is considered the Kali yuga varada, that is 'the boon-granting Lord of Kali yuga' (the fourth and final age of the Hindu cycle of ages). The temple is held in particular reverence by the Vaishnava sect of southern India, known as the Sri Vaishnava.
For worshippers, the deity Venkateswara symbolises goodness. When people travel to Tirupati, they chant "Yedu Kondala Vada Venkataramana Govinda Govindaa" (in Telugu), "Yezhu Malaiyaane Govinda" (in Tamil) or "Tirupati Thimmappana Padakke Govinda" (in Kannada).
With his conch he creates the cosmic sound that destroys ignorance and with his disc he destroys evil. Venkateswara is believed by followers to be a very merciful deity form of Vishnu, being the fulfiller of every wish made to him by the devotees.

The Holy mantra chanted is Om Namo Venkateshaya. "The Venkateswara Suprabhatam", the morning recital of prayers and songs of awakening, is written by Prativadi Bhayankara Annan. Several composers composed beautiful kirtans about Venkateswara, the most notable amongst them being Tyagaraja and Annamacharya. Annamacharya is a legendary devotee of Venkateswara and composed songs almost exclusively about the deity.



Tirumala Map

Legend
Sri Venkatachala Mahatyam is the most accepted legend with respect to Tirumala and provides the history of the temple across the various yugas. Of the other legends, the following are most known:
Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam (the main deity) is believed to have manifested on its own without any human endeavour (Swayambhu)
Discovery of the Venkateswara deity is described as an act of divine providence: there was a huge anthill at Tirupati, and one day a local farmer heard a voice from the heavens asking him to feed the ants. By chance the local king heard the voice and began supplying milk for the ants himself. His compassion resulted in the liquid uncovering the magnificent deity form of Venkateswara hidden beneath the anthill.


Prasadam
Laddu is the most famous prasadam given at Tirumala Temple. Many other delicious prasadams are also available including curd rice, tamarind rice, vada and sweet pongal. Free meals are given daily to the pilgrims, and on Thursdays, the Tirupavadai seva occurs, where food items are kept for naivedya to Lord Srinivasa. Devestanam is trying to get patent for Tirumala Laddu. Also efforts are on for geotag to counter fraud.

Hair Tonsuring
Many devotees also have their head tonsured as an offer. The daily amount of hair collected is over a ton. The hair thus gathered is sold by the temple organization a few times a year by public auction to international buyers for use as hair extensions and in cosmetics, bringing over $6 mln to the temple's treasury.


Arjitha Seva (Paid Services)
Main article: Seva in Tirumala
Pilgrims can view and participate (in a limited fashion) in the various sevas performed to Dhruva bera (main idol), Bhoga Srinivasa, Sri Malayappa swami and other idols in the temple.

When pilgrims purchase arjitha seva tickets, they get the opportunity to see a seva performed to the Lord, obtain prasadam in the form of vastram (clothes), akshantalu (sacred and blessed rice) and food articles (laddus, vadas, dosas, pongal, rice items) and a darshan of the utsava murti.


Festivals
The town celebrates most Vaishnava festivals including Vaikunta Ekadasi, Rama Navami and Janmashtami with great splendor, while the Brahmotsavam celebrated every year during September is the most important festivals in Tirumala, when it receives millions of devotees over a short span of a week. Other major festivals include Vasanthotsavam (spring festival) conducted during March-April and Rathasapthami (Magha Shuddha Saptami) is another festival, celebrated during February, when Venkateswara's deity is taken on procession around the temple chariots.

Related Temples
Tirupati is one of the 108 holy temples in Vaishnavite system and is related to a number of other temples, including the ones in Uppiliappan temple, near Kumbakonam and Varagur temple, near Trichi are considered to be the "divine brothers" of Lord Venkateswara.

This temple was built by Thondaiman, a Tamil King. Ancient Hindu kings were extremely devout and patronised the arts. This temple at Thirupathi was part of a big plan. The ancient vaishnavaites did not want their religion to fade out with time. They built many temples across south India, mostly in ancient Tamil kingdoms. These temples collectively became known as the Divyadesams. These temples are acclaimed for their historical and architectural significance. Encouraged by the Vaishnavaite saints and scholars, ancient kings built, maintained and donated large sums of money for the upkeep of these temples.
Traditionally Kurubas build temples on top of the mountains and worshiped the Almighty. Venkateswara has strong following from the Backward Castes, who are traditionally Shiva worshipers in south India. Venkateswara has a significant Dalit following also.is a Govindaraya Vishnu temple in the Tirupati town down below the hills with Vishnu in Yoga Nidra with Sridevi and Bhumidevi next to him.
Most of these temples that are related to Tirupathi are found in and around the post-independence state of Tamil Nadu (and a few in Kerala, Karanataka and North India/Nepal as well). If you are in Chennai, the related temples that you can visit in a matter of two - three days would be:

Veera Raghava Swamy temple - Thiruvallur - About 30 minutes from Chennai.
Bhakta Vatsala Perumal Temple - Thiruninravur - About 30 Minutes from Chennai.
ThirupputKuzhi - Midway from Chennai to Vellore, this temple can be seen by the side of the highway. It is the site where Lord Rama finds dying Jetaayu, after it's battle with Ravana to rescue Sita.
Neervanna Perumal temple - Thiruneermalai village, near Pallavaram, in Chennai.

Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple - Thiru-ida-venthai (Thiruvidandai) - Kovalam, 10 minutes from Chennai.
Thiruvallikeni (Parthasarathy Temple) - "Triplicane" - located in the city of Chennai.
Thirukadalmallai - Sthalasayana Perumal Temple, Mahabalipuram, about 25 minutes from Chennai.
Thirukkadigai - Sholingur, near Arakkonam, about an hour and a half from both Chennai and Tirupati.
In the Divyadesams page is a detailed list of these 106 temples.