Tirupati, the abode of the God of the Seven Hills, is the most frequented holy place in the world. This 2000-year-old pilgrimage center is arguably the holiest place in India because the God here, Vishnu, is said to be sure to fulfill your wishes.

Tirumala is one of the 108 sacred shrines of the Sri Vaishanava tradition.According to the Puranas, Lord Vishnu stayed on the earth for some time in the Avatar of Swetha Varaham and rose out of pushkarini as Swayambhuva.

The town owes its existence to the sacred temple situated on the Tirumala Hills. Tirumala is the abode of Lord Venkateshwara, one of the Avatars of Lord Vishnu, located atop Seshachala hills often called as "Yaedu Kondalu" (seven hills).The temple of Lord Venkateshwara was built by Telugu Kings representing the rich Telugu culture and it is the richest Hindu temple and the most visited religious center in the world followed by the Vatican. The town is also home to Sri Venkateswara University, one of the three major universities in Andhra Pradesh. Although, Tirupati has been a city for many years, the Andhra Pradesh state government had not recognized it officially until recently. Effective from March 2, 2007, the city is a municipal corporation not a municipality.

The equivalent word for SRI in Telugu and Sanskrit is TIRU in Tamil. In Telugu SRI means Lakshmi. In Telugu PATHI means husband. Lord Venkateswara is husband of Laksmi and therefore the word SRIPATHI has become TIRUPATHI. About 50 years back even Tamilians used to call as SRIPATHI or THIRUPATHI.

It is believed that it was "Aadi Varaha Kshetra" (the ancient site of Varaha) mentioned in Indian literature dating during the Mauryan and Gupta regimes. The identity of the deity is still disputed . Though many believe it is Vishnu but several facts point out the possibility of Murugan being the deity. This is felt because of few reasons. Firstly, the temple is on a hill adjoining Tamil Nadu and belongs to the early AD period. Most hill temples of India in that period belonged to Lord Murugan. The word ThiruVenkatachalpathy is formed of few sub-words Thiru Vel irrukkum eedum or Thiruvenkadam and thalapthy. In other words, the place of the lord holding the sacred vel. The left hand of the deity is in a position as if holding something which Murugan has. The deity marries two wives in the daily rituals which Murugan has and not Vishnu. The deity has a chubby face something only Murugan in his child avatar has. K. Jamandas argues that the site was originally a Buddhist shrine, though this remains a minority view.

Lord Venkateswara is referred in Vedas, ancient Telugu Literature although the place happend to be in the border of present Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Many of the 100 million Telugu people normally, have their names Venkateswara and Venkateswara Rao. This proves that the Lord is known to Telugu people from Mahabharatha times and Tirupathi is considered as Kaliyuga Vaikuntha.

The site was an established center by the 5th century A.D, and the Alvars (Vaishnava saints) belonging to the Bhakti movement in Dravidian land sung in praise of Venketeswara. Its significance in Southern Vaishnava tradition was at the time next only to Srirangam. The temple was richly endowed by the kings of various dynasties thus adding to its current reputation as the richest and most opulent temple in the world. It was supported by Cholas, later by Hoysalas, the Vijayanagaras. Krishna Deva Raya of Vijayanagara led the temple to great popularity by donating gold and other ornaments for the temple and constructing extended shrines. The place of Chandragiri, presently a village near Tirupati, was used as the secondary capital of Vijayanagara kings.

Tirupati survived the Muslim invasions of South India, unlike other temples such as the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. It is believed that during the invasions the deity of Sriranganatha from Srirangam was brought to Tirupati for safekeeping. To commemorate this event, a hall in Tirupati is still known as the Ranganatha