Town · The Chola empire of Kulottunga III · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Tirupati and Tirumala

The Venkateswara temple on the Tirumala hills with its town of Tirupati below, a pilgrimage centre of the southern Andhra edge.

Tradition says Ramanuja founded the Jeeyar matha (1119) and consecrated the Govindaraja temple at Tirupati; the English Wikipedia names the Reddi kingdom of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as devotees and records a Pandya gold-plated vimana of about 1262 (later). The secular lord of the hill in 1200 is not given in the pages we read: the Telugu Chodas, the Pallava chiefs and the Yadavarayas are all candidates.

Who holds it

Name
The temple managers (Sri Vaishnava trust) under the Telugu Choda and Pallava chiefs of the Chola dependency: the secular lord is not pinned
Title
see the lord or tenant line below
Born
not known
Confidence
low

Lord in 1200

The temple managers (Sri Vaishnava trust) under the Telugu Choda and Pallava chiefs of the Chola dependency: the secular lord is not pinned

How things stand that morning

A temple trust under a local chief; no event dated.

Where the sources disagree

  • No board place for Tirupati or Tirumala in the sit file; the assignment asks for both. The secular lord is not pinned.

Evidence: Temple history is known; the lordship of the hill in 1200 is not.

Primary sources for Chola empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

4 more in the sources library for Southern India and Sri Lanka.

Sources and studies

  1. Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, English Wikipedia
  2. Tirupati, English Wikipedia

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.