Hathiram Baba Math

The crowd at Venkateswara Temple is so massive that we scarcely have time to look around. However, just outside the temple entrance is an ancient ashram and a shrine, which is interesting not just for the deity inside but also for the saint who consecrated it.
The story of Hathiram Baba goes centuries back. No one knows his real name but he came from Nagaur in Rajasthan. Legend has it that he was such a great devotee of the Lord that the Lord himself came to play dice with him each night. One night, they were so engrossed in the game that it was almost dawn when the Lord realized he had to leave. He rushed back to the temple and somehow one of his necklaces fell down in the house. At the temple, the priests opened the shrine and realised that a necklace was missing, and instituted a search. Meanwhile, the saint realised that the necklace had fallen, and he rushed to the temple intending to return it. He was apprehended at the gate and was thought to be the thief, no matter how much he protested. The saint was confined to house arrest while the matter was referred to the king.

The king was in a quandary, and he set forth a challenge. A massive load of sugarcane was placed in the saint’s house, and it was deemed that the saint finishes it before nightfall. If he didn’t, he would be executed at dawn. There was no way the saint could fulfill the demand, so he did what he always did, prayed to the Lord. Suddenly, a white elephant appeared in the room, and in a matter of minutes, finished off the sugarcane! And then trumpeted loudly and rushed out of the room, right in front of the amazed king, priests and all the other officers! It was indeed a miracle, the way the elephant had appeared in the small room, and the saint was vindicated. Since then, he came to be known as Hathiramji―Hathi for elephant, and Ram for the name he always chanted. Seeking to make amends, the priests then handed over the duty of keeping the temple accounts, since he had been a merchant by trade before arriving at Tirumala.
This story might seem mythical but it is indeed a fact that the mahants belonging to the Hathiram Baba Math were responsible for the management of the temple from 1843 to 1933. The administration was handed over when TTD was formed. The ashram still stands where it was, right outside the temple entrance. If you stand facing the temple, on the left side, you will see some old houses. Besides an ashram, there is a small shrine, a dharamshala (dormitory) for pilgrims from Rajasthan and a marriage hall. The shrine itself has one of the best collections of Saligramams―sacred stones from the Gandaki river believed to be forms of Lord Vishnu. There are over a thousand of these stones, each one unique! The next time you visit Tirupati, set aside a few moments for this interesting place!