Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai headed for Tirupati soon after their marriage fulfilling a popular Hindu practice. This post recounts the legend behind the practice.
Yesterday India was witness to the celebrity wedding of leading movie stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. Abhishek is the son of legendary Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya is a former Miss World. Today the two went to the temple of Tirupati with family and friends to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara, the deity of the temple and incarnation of Vishnu.
Today many Hindu couples visit Tirupati immediately after the wedding and there seems to be reason for it. Legend has it that this temple was established for a very special wedding.
In his avatar as Krishna, Yashoda was his foster mother. Unfortunately Yashoda was not witness to the marriage of Krishna and this was a major disappointment in her life. Krishna promised her that in a subsequent life Yashoda would be present at his wedding in another avatar.
Accordingly Yashoda was reborn as Vakula and was living in the region of the seven holy hills that is now known as Tirumala. Vishnu’s consort Lakshmi had got upset and left her abode at Vaikuntha. Vishnu reached Tirumala searching for her. There he was cared for like a son by Vakula who named him Srinivasa. On Narada’s suggestion, Vakula approached King Akasa Raju for his daughter Padmavati’s hand in marriage for Srinivasa. The king agreed and a grand wedding was organized for Srinivasa and Padmavati. Meanwhile Lakshmi came to know that Vishnu had married again and she entered Srinivasa’s house when he was alone with his wife. It is said that he was so embarrassed that he turned to stone. Then Shiva and Brahma appeared and explained to all concerned the sequence of events. Both Padmavati and Lakshmi decided to stay with Vishnu and also turn to stone. Vakula is delighted the desire she had as Yashoda was ultimately fulfilled.
