What is the purpose of Lord Balaji's incarnation?

Answer 1

Tirupati Balaji is a re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the Kali Yuga.

Sage Bhrugu, who according to Vedas is believed to have an extra eye in the sole of his foot, once visited Vishnu. At that time, Vishnu was in a private meeting with his consort, goddess Lakshmi, and failed to immediately receive and honour the sage. The sage felt humiliated and angry, and kicked Lord Vishnu in the chest. Vishnu did not react and remained silent. Lord Vishnu's chest is believed to be the abode of Goddess Lakshmi. The Goddess felt highly insulted at the sage's misdemeanour and Lord Vishnu's silence at the act. She left Vaikunta, the heavenly abode of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

Lord Vishnu, in an attempt to pacify the sage, got hold of legs of the sage and started to press them gently in a way that was comforting to the sage. During this act, he squished the extra eye that was present in the sole of Bhrugu's foot. The extra eye is believed to represent the sage's egotism. The sage then realised his grave mistake and apologized to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu had then incarnated Himself as Venkateshwara and came to earth in search of Lakshmi, who had taken birth as Princess Alamelu (Padmavati) in the household of Akasa Rajan. The princess's father agreed to give his daughter's hand in marriage to Venkateshwara if he provided proof of his wealth. Towards this end, Venkateshwara obtained a heavy loan from Kubera, a god (yaksha) who is considered, accordingly to Hindu mythology, as the treasurer of the virtuous wealth in the Universe. Princess Padmavati and Lord Venkateshwara were then wed.

Lord Vishnu, in the form of Venkateshwara, and his consort are believed to have enshrined themselves at Tirumala Tirupati for the benefit of mankind. This phenomenon is called swayambhu loosely translated to mean "self-existent and established on earth of one's own accord, without any external cause".

Lord Venkateshwara's temple is at the top of the seven hills in the place called Tirumala. The temple of the Lakshmi, in the form of Princess Padmavati, is located at the foot of the seven hills at Tirupati, in a town called Tiruchanur. Another legend that goes by is that of a boy called Bala. This boy was a helper boy, who was one day wrongly accused as a thief. He ran for his life when he was chased by people. He was hit on the head by the mob and his head was bleeding profusely. He ran to the Tirupathi temple of Lord Vishnu and ran to the main door where GOD is placed. When the people entered the temple they couldn't find the boy but saw the head of God's idol bleeding.It was considered that the boy was sheltered and protected by God himself and the priests put cloth on the idol's head to stop the bleeding. So we see white covering on the God's idol and the presiding God is called BALAJI.

His Avatara is all about the peace and loka kalyana in the kali Yuga. His Abhaya Hasta(Auspicious Hand Reassures the Devotees ) makes you get rid of all pains,agony and worries. His darshan in the sanctum sanctorum considered to be a life's inner meaning would show the eternal bliss peace and solitude.

Venkatadri Samam sthanam Bramhande nasti kinchana.

Venkatesa samo devo na bhootho na bhavishyati...

"There is no place as mighty as Tirumala/venkatadri in the whole world, and there is no God equal to Venkateshwara(Balaji) either in the past or future."

My understanding as per Annamacharya keertans is that Lord Balaji imbibed His divine power in the learned scholar and poet Shri Annamacharya to inculcate devotion and wipe out the caste differences prevalent in the midieval times. This has been portrayed quite aptly in the Telugu movie "Annamayya". Annamacharya contributed to nearly 32000 Kirtanas (poems/lyrics) that are still been practiced and sung in Tirumala temple and most parts of South India.