Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam


Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam is 1960 Telugu mythological film, based on Lord Venkateswara Avatar at Tirumala, produced by V. Venkateswarlu under the Padmasri Pictures banner and directed by P. Pullaiah. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, S. Varalakshmi, and Savitri in the lead roles and music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. The film was dubbed into Tamil and released as Srinivasa Kalyanam.

Plot

The film begins with the advent of Kaliyuga, the earth faces threats of all sorts. To reduce its burden, Saptharishis, helmed by Kasyapa Muni perform a Yagna, Narada Maharshi arrives there and asks who the patron deity of the sacrifice is. Unable to answer, the sages send Bhrigu Maharshi to test Trimurthi's. After testing Lord Siva & Brahma, he reaches Vaikuntha when the Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi are in a playful mood and ignore Bhrigu. Angered by this, Bhrigu kicks Vishnu on the chest. To pacify the sage, Vishnu held his legs and pressed the eye in his foot the symbol of his egotism, when the sage realizes his folly and apologize to Vishnu. But Lakshmi gets upset and in anger, leaves to the earth. Vishnu also follows her and settles in an anthill without food & water. Taking pity, Brahma & Shiva assumed the forms of a cow & calf to serve him. Lakshmi in guise sells them to the king. Discovering Vishnu on the ant-hill, the cow thus fed him. Meanwhile, at the palace, the cow does not yield any milk, for which the queen chastised the royal cow herder Sarabha severely. To find out the cause, Sarabha follows the cow secretly and discovers it's deed. Angered Sarabha flung his ax but Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to receive the blow then he curses Sarabha to roam as a ghost until he forms as a deity at that place.
After that, Vishnu reaches to his ardent devotee Vakulamatha’s ashram, she names him as Srinivasa and he starts staying with her. Once Srinivasa on a hunt chases a wild elephant. In its pursuit, he was led into a garden, where he meets Padmavati, daughter of Aakasa Raju and both of them fall in love. After initial hesitation, Aakasa Raju and his wife Dharani Devi agrees to their marriage. For the marriage expenses, Srinivasa takes debt from Kubera and promises to repay the loan with interest till the end of Kaliyuga. After the marriage, Sage Narada informed Lakshmi about the wedding, then fuming, Lakshmi confronts Vishnu. The clash between his two consorts leads Srinivasa, to turn himself into stone form. Padmavathi & Lakshmi also become stone on his either side and Vakula Devi as a garland. Everyone feels happy that the deity is revealed to protect the earth. Generations pass by, Once a devotee called Bhavaji arrives and starts calling the deity as Balaji. But he is not been allowed to watch the Lord. There onwards, every night the Lord himself visits to spend time with him by playing dice. One day, Lord Balaji loses his ornament in the bet. Next day, when the temple doors are opened, people observe the ornament is missing. The King arrives to conduct an interrogation and Bhavaji explains the truth. But no one believes it, so the King conducts a test to prove his innocence, keeps him in a prison, full of sugar cane inside, and asks him to eat every bit of it before dawn. Lord Venkateswara arrives in the form of an elephant and finishes it within moments. In the morning, the people are surprised to see the miracle. Thereafter, Bhavaji is called by the name Hathiram Bhavaji and the king endorse the temple authority to him. At last, generations go on passing and the number of devotees increases to the temple. Finally, the movie ends by showing the Srivari Brahmotsavam.

Cast

Music composed by Pendyala Nageshwara Rao. Music released by Audio Company.
S.NoSong TitleLyricsSingerslength
1Jaya Jaya JaganayakaMalladi Ramakrishna SastryChorus6:51
2SrideviniAarudhraS. Varalakshmi3:17
3PavanambayyaNarapa ReddyGhantsala0:44
4KannulaNarapa ReddyMadhavapeddi Satyam0:40
5Namo NarayanayaNarapa ReddyMadhavapeddi Satyam0:23
6Chilipi ChestalaNarapa ReddyGhantasala0:45
7AnyuledutanuNarapa ReddyP. Suri Babu0:39
8Ee NeradaranaNarapa ReddyS. Varalakshmi0:47
9Varala BeramayyaAcharya AtreyaS. Varalakshmi3:02
10Chilako ChikkaveAcharya AtreyaPithapuram, Swarnalatha2:09
11Gopaala Nandha GopaalaAcharya AtreyaP. Santha Kumari3:49
12OntivaaduNarapa ReddyGhantasala0:40
13Naa KutiramanduNarapa ReddyP. Santha Kumari0:52
14GiliginthaluAcharya AtreyaP. Susheela, S. Janaki, Vaidehi5:24
15Evaro AtadevaroAcharya AtreyaGhantasala, P. Susheela4:14
16Chiru Chiru NagavulaAcharya AtreyaP. Santha Kumari, Swarnalatha3:21
17Chinnari O ChilukaAcharya AtreyaP. Susheela3:13
18Kalyana VaibhavamAcharya AtreyaP. Leela, Jikki5:27
19Sakala KalyanabhushaNarapa ReddyMadhavapeddi Satyam0:37
20Velliraa MaathalliAcharya AtreyaP. Leela, Vaidehi5:10
21Kalaga KammanikalagaAcharya AtreyaGhantasala, P. Susheela3:25
22KalayoNarapa ReddyP. Susheela0:39
23Ee SrinivasuduNarapa ReddyP. Suri Babu1:46
24Lakshmi NivasaSuprabhatamGhantasala0:49
25Vega RaavaAcharya AtreyaMadhavapeddi Satyam2:44
26PahihareAcharya AtreyaMadhavapeddi Satyam1:21
27Padave Podamu GouriAcharya AtreyaMadhavapeddi Satyam1:34
28Sesha Saila VaasaAcharya AtreyaGhantasala3:03

Box office and Impact

It released with 20 prints and had a 100-day run in 16 centers and 175 days in Hyderabad and Vijayawada centers.
The deification of Rama Rao began and his residence in Madras became a shrine for pilgrims, who would visit him after a trip to Tirupati. NTR fans used to wait in long queues outside his house for a darshan of their `living-god'. They used to apprise him of their problems back home in their villages and he listened to them patiently before rushing to the studio in the morning.

1939 film

Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam, titled as Balaji, was first made by P. Pullaiah under the Famous Films banner in 1939. C. S. R. Anjaneyulu acted as Balaji and Santha Kumari as Padmavathi in the lead roles. The movie was among the successes of the early days of Pullaiah and Shanthakumari's married life.