Little did he know that the small boy was Lord Venkateswara Himself and hence asked Him to go out. Lord Venkateswara appeared in the form of a small boy and disturbed Hathiram from meditating. On reaching Tirumala hills, Hathiram Baba was determined to see the live form of Lord Venkateswara and hence sat under the shade of a tree in the hills and was deeply engrossed in meditation. From then onwards, Lord Venkateswara is called Balaji by the North Indians. Because the small boy was Lord Venkateswara Himself, the address 'Bala' is suffixed with 'ji' ('ji' is the Hindi word that marks respect). The Hindi word 'bal' / 'balak' means small boy.
He thus called Lord Venkateswara as Balaji. When Hathiram Baba came to know that the small boy was none other than Lord Venkateswara, his joy knew no bounds. He was then stopped to do so by a small boy. The disappointed Baba wanted to commit suicide by jumping from the top of the hill. When Hathiram Baba arrived at the temple gates of Tirumala, it was closing time and hence was not allowed to go inside the temple. Here again there are two different versions. In view of seeing Lord Venkateswara in live form, the Baba came all the way from Rajasthan (North India) to Tirumala. He came to know that Lord Vishnu has incarnated as Lord Venkateswara and is presided in Tirumala. He had a strong desire to see Lord Vishnu. Hathiram Baba was an ardent devotee of Sri Maha Vishnu from his childhood. The popular one is Hathiram Baba to whom Lord Venkateswara first appeared in the form of a small boy and this he called Lord Venkateswara as Balaji.
There are 2-3 different versions / stories on this. People from the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and other northern states call Lord Venkateswara as Balaji. But interestingly He became popular with the name 'Balaji' in the Northern and Western India. Lord Venkateswara Swamy is known by different names like Govinda, Srinivasa, Venkataramana and many more.
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