SPL STORY ON SABERA -LORDS ROOM FOR PERSONAL BELONGINGS

Tirumala 10 October 2010:  As thousands of devotees throng the Srivari Temple for the divine darshan of Lord Venkateswara, the temple authorities particularly the Archakas take care in decorations and beautification of the environment around the Mula  Virat ( divine idol ) of  Lord  Venkateswara and also the Utsava Idols.

All the belongings of the Lord, ornaments, daily use vessels ( a silver ) and several god utensils besides the  Lord’s clothings , perfumes  and also his golden bed , cot  etc are all stored in a  spacious room called  SABERA.

SABERA  in a bi-lingual word meaning  Sab- Ara (  an area to keep all things ) . The room is located within the ancient Sampangi Prakaram ( inner prakaram ) of the Srivari Temple and is said to be about a 100×200 sft room. It is adjascent to the Ananathaawar  Bhandagaram opposite to the  Srivari Hundi.

A spokesman of the TTD  Archakas said that the responsibility of the Main Viral idol and its beautification always wrested on them. “ We have to ensure that the Lords’ beauty was eternal and out of which the divine charm of the deity is resplendent every day as it received thousands of devotees every day and gave them satisfactory darshan and sent them away with contentment “, he said.

The silk robes are used for Lord’s dressing are only once. After one use they are sent to the record room and are disposed of in auctions twice or thrice in a year .” Lord’s robes are sought after by big and mighty with heavy competitions “ said one of the Archakas.

The duty of preparing the Lord – dressing and decorating for darshan, for rituals and also for Ekanta Seva i.e. for rest and sleep at midnight is the responsibility of a team of seven archakas of the Srivari Temple.

The  Shuddi ( purification )  of the Lord is always done with  Pacha-karpooram,  Kumkuma Puvvu and Sandal paste. These items are kept in abundance in the Sabera. As much as  40 kgs of sandal paste is used in a month at the Srivari Temple it is said.

“ We use abundant flowers of popular varieties of  Jaji, malle, rose and lotus which are regularly used to keep cool environs around the Lord who has give darshan for almost  19 hours a day to his waiting devotees”, a spokesman said.

Besides the  Main idol, the team of archakas also are responsible for up  keep of the Utasava idos – which are made of pure gold and also the  Ornaments. the Utsava Idos are kept in safe custody in the Ranganayukula Mantapam which is guarded throughout the year by armed security personnel on a 24×7 basis.

Sabera also is a store for all the other vastram which are offered as blessings of Lord   VIPs and also the material which are used in the preparation of the Thirtham .” Five items are normally used in Lords thirtham- Yelakkai, Lavagam, Jajipuvvu and Jajikai are powdered and kept ready “ the archakas said.

When asked whether we could describe the SABERA as the wardrobe or the personal store of the Lord Venkateswara, the priests said  “ we do not call anything like that as the entire Tirumala temple complex and the Hill shrine is the personal property of the Lord and as such how come only a small room becomes his personal room “.

Adjacent to sabera is another air conditioned room where the garlands, flowers and other items perishable items like gannera,Tulasi Netc are stored on a regular basis for use in Lord  /Venkateswara’s service. Nearly   25 women labourers are engaged in making the garlands every day from around  200 kgs of flowers of which  50 to 100 kgs are offered in a donation by devotees. “Ony 50 kgs of flowers,  Tulasi and ganners ( mostly ornamental flowers  ) are grown in the gardens of TTD ” said Srinivasulu, the gardens in charge of the TTD.

ISSUED BY THE  PRO, TTD, TIRUPATI