WHY IS GREEN CAMPHOR APPLIED TO CHIN OF SRI VENKATESWARA: STORY
Although called Green Camphor, it is actually white (Pachcha Karpooram).
This is applied daily to Sri Venkateswara’s chin.
Sri Ramanujacharya once asked a Bhakta Ananthalwar to build a flower garden on Tirumala.
As this was a divine task assigned to him by Acharya,Anantalwar decided on not seeking the services of any outsider except his wife who was pregnant at that time.
His wife started carrying soil from one place to another everyday but used to get exhausted soon.
Sri Venkateswara took the form of a 12-year old boy and started assisting Ananthalwar’s wife.
One day, Ananthalwar saw the boy and could not control his anger. He threw his crowbar at the boy which hit him on the chin.
The boy disappeared and Ananthalwar realised his mistake.
He ran to the mandir and saw Sri Venkateswara with a bleeding chin.
Ananthalwar immediately applied green camphor to Sri Hari’s chin and begged to be forgiven.
The kind Prabhu forgave him and asked him to ensure that the cooling camphor was applied to his chin daily.
So the practice continues till today.
The flower garden built by Ananthalwar is on the right side of the Mandir.
The crowbar with which Ananthalwar had hit Sri Venkateswara’s chin hangs to the right side of the main entrance to the Garbha Griha of the Tirumala Mandir.