The word Tirupati means the Lord of Lakshmi and the word Tirumalai means Mountain of Highness in Tamil. Tirumalai is called as Tirumala in Telugu.
Tirumala hill is 3200 ft above sea level. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Vedadri, Garudadri, Anjandri, Vrishabhadri, Narayandri and Venkatadri (Adri in sanskrit means Hill).
Epic Importance of Tirumala Hills (The Seven Sacred Hills)
Lord Venkateswara is referred in Vedas, Tirupati is considered as Kaliyuga Vaikuntha (Heaven on the earth). The Tirumala hills are the world's second oldest rock mountains.
The venkatam hill is believed to be a part of the celestial mount meru brought to the earth from vaikuntam by Garuda (Lord's vehicle), say the puranas. The Hills are said to be a manifestation of Adi Sesha (the cosmic serpent). The Seven hills of the Tirumala are the said to represent the seven hoods of Adi Sesha.
The sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatdri and there are several legends associated with the manifestation of the lord in Tirumala. The shrine of the lord is very ancient and there are ample references to it in the early inscriptions belonging to the Chola and Pallava periods as well in the Sangam literature.
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 mandapa.