The Temple of Tirupati:

The Temple of Tirupati:

The town of Tirupati came into existence only about the middle of the twelfth century, with the foundation of the Govindarajaswami temple. Before this time there was a small village, named Kottur, to the north-east of Kapilatirtham, situated about two miles to the north of the modern town. On the spot where the Govindarajaswami temple stands there was a small shrine dedicated to Krishna. The famous Vaishnava teacher, Ramanuja founded the Govindaraja temple and started a small settlement round it named Ramanujapuram, confined to the four Mada streets round the temple. This small colony was expanded later on, particularly in Vijayanagara Times. An Achyutarayapuram came into existence to the northeast. An Srinivasapuram came to be formed to the west. The main bazaar was formed and a fairly big township

grew up. Several other shrines were also founded like the Rama or aghunatha temple, the Periya-alvar shrine, the Achyutaraya temple, the Mammalwar shrine, the Kapileshwara shrine and the Narasimha shrine. Near the foot of the hills a Lakshminarasimha temple and an Alvar shrine came to be built.

The Govindarajaswami Temple:

This temple is the main attraction for the pilgrims at Tirupati and the biggest temple in town.