When I received this book, I was quite surprised -an entire book about just a prayer? I wondered if it was philosophy that made it so long. But I was wrong.
More than the shlokas themselves, the book is more of an encyclopedia of Vaishnavite and Vedic pantheon, Hindu traditions and not to mention the grand history of the temple of Tirupati.
Earlier this month when I visited Kolar, breaking my one-year self-imposed covid-home-imprisonment, the numerous temples of the Gangas and Cholas made me realize a very important point — Hindu temples mean much much more than just places of worship. Even the tiniest of them, regardless of the fact that it is nearly abandoned, stands as a testimony of timeless marvel and divinity. The magnificent architecture and the very deliberate craftsmanship serve as a reminiscence of the artists’ prowess and finesse. Inscriptions etched in every corner of the temple speak the lore of those kings who not only invigorated the national identity but also whose magnanimity ensured that Indic traditions thrived. Tirupati, which is the foremost of the pilgrimage spots, not to mention the Kuladevta of lakhs holds a very special spot whose story can still be repeated several times and this book by Venkatesh Parthasarathy is also one such very good part.
Beneath each shloka/verse, Parthasarathy, after giving its meaning proceeds to squeeze every opportunity to go into the minutest of detail. A mere mention of the Saptarishi in the verse and there are five pages narrating their stories. The comprehensive and detailed way in which the author explains makes the book perfect for even a layman or probably like a sort of encyclopedia
Another very beautiful aspect of the book is how every shloka not only has one part about the puranic stories and describing traditions but also a second part which traces the entire history of Tirupati right from the very beginning to the 21st century.
However, as the author tries to use the traditional Suprabhatam style of dividing the work into four parts, it makes it very laborious for the readers to read the book. Devoid of any practical or logical breaks and alternate trajectories, the book feels very heavy. Also, the use of illustrations (Maps, timelines, tables and pictures) would have made the book much more reader-friendly.
