Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala – Sankeerthana Bhandara

Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala – Sankeerthana Bhandara

Sankeerthana Bhandara, also called as Talapakamara, is a small room situated adjoining the porch of Bhashyakara Sannidhi on its western side. It was constructed to preserve the collection of Sankeerthanas composed by the Talapaka poets (Talapaka Annamacharya, his son Pedda Tirumalacharya and grandson Chinna Tirumalacharya), who were minstrels attached to the hill shrine.

Annamacharya, the greatest of the three poets, came to the hill shrine in 1424 AD and served the Lord by rendering songs that he had composed, during some sequences of worship. He was a senior contemporary of Purandara Dasa, and his songs mark a significant stage in the evolution of South Indian music. His songs can be classified into three groups – Adhyatama Sankeertanam, Sringara Sankeertanam and Srungara Manjari.

The songs were preserved in the Talapakamara for more than four hundred years, before they were transferred to the TTD office in Tirupati for the preparation of transcripts for publication during the days of the last Mahant, Prayaga Das, at the instance of the TTD epigraphist, Sri Sadhu Subramania Sastry.