Sampangi Pradakshinam Tirumala Temple

Sampangi Pradakshinam Tirumala Temple Details

From the Mahadwara, one enters the courtyard of the Temple. Cheek by Jowl with the Gopuram, there is a small mandapam with two wings on their side and a pathway in the middle. This is the Sampangi Pradakshinam, that forms the outer Prakaram inside the temple complex. The Mandapam measures 11 mt square. Sampangi Pradakshinam Tirumala Temple Stands on 16 pillars. The open space here is about 3.6 mt wide but on the other sides it is hardly 1.5 mt wide. There are several structures in Sampangi Pradakshinam Tirumala Temple.

The Bali Peetam and Dwajasthambam are located here. The sampangi Paradakshinam has a small mandapam in each of its four corners. These were constructed by Saluva Narasimha around 1470. The mandapams have four pillars measuring about 3 mt sq. During Vasanthotsavam, the processional diety is seated here.

The sampangi Prakaram, that is the pathway for circumambulating the temple, lies between the first and the third Prakarams. The Sampangi Prakaram Contains Prathima Mandapam, Ranga Mandapam, Tirumalaraya Mandapam, Saluva Narasimha Mandapam, Aina Mahal and the Dwajasthamba Mandapam.

Previously, the south, west and north facing prakarams of the Sampangi Pradakshinam were mere open spaces. In due course, corridors of the mandapam type were constructed touching the walls on one side and with pillars at the other end. On the south side the corridor is about 6 mt wide, leaving an open space 9 mt wide for Pradakshinam.