Venkateswara, also known as Venkatachalapati, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. His consorts, Padmavathi and Bhudevi, are avatars of the goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.
Vedanta Desika (1268–1369), also rendered Vedanta Desikan, Swami Vedanta Desika, and Thoopul Nigamantha Desikan, was an Indian polymath who wrote philosophical as well as religious and poetical works in several languages, including Sanskrit, Manipravaḷam, Tamil and Prakrit. He was an Indian philosopher, Sri Vaishnava guru, and one of the most brilliant stalwarts of Sri Vaishnavism in the post-Ramanuja period. He was a Hindu devotee, poet, Master of Acharyas (desikan) and a logician and mathematician. He was the disciple of Kidambi Appullar, also known as Athreya Ramanujachariar, who himself was of a master-disciple lineage that began with Ramanuja. Vedanta Desika is considered to be avatar (incarnation) of the divine bell of Venkateshvara of Tirumala by the Vadakalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism. Vedanta Desika belongs to Vishvamitra/Kaushika gotra.
Tirupati is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to the renowned Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, a major Hindu pilgrimage site, as well as other historic temples. The temple is one of the eight Svayam Vyakta Kshetras dedicated to the deity Vishnu. Tirupati is situated 150 km from Chennai, 250 km from Bangalore, and 406 km from Amaravati.
Kāvya refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Indian court poets flourishing between c.200 BCE and 1200 CE.
Varadharaja Perumal Temple, also called Hastagiri, Attiyuran,Attigiri, Kanchi koil, Thirukatchi, or Perumal koil is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu located in the city of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu believed to have been visited by the 12 poet saints, or the Alvars. It is located in a suburb of Kanchipuram known as the Vishnu Kanchi that is a home for many famous Vishnu temples. One of the greatest Hindu scholars of Vaishnava Vishishtadvaita philosophy, Ramanuja, is believed to have resided in this temple.
Sri Vaishnavism is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, predominantly practiced in South India. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi, as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who are together revered in this tradition.
Katha is an Indian style of religious storytelling, performances of which are a ritual event in Hinduism. It often involves priest-narrators who recite stories from Hindu religious texts, such as the Puranas, the Ramayana or Bhagavata Purana, followed by a commentary (Pravachan). Kathas sometimes take place in households, involving smaller stories related to the Vrat Katha genre. The didactic Satyanarayan and Ramayana kathas instill moral values by revealing the consequences of human action (karma).
The Deepaprakasa Perumal Temple, also referred to as Tiruththanka, Desikar Avatara Sthalam, and Tooppul, is located in Kanchipuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Deepaprakasar, and his consort Lakshmi as Maragathavalli. This is the 3rd largest temple in southern Kanchipuram.
Rama is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man, Rama is the male protagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana. His birth is celebrated every year on Rama Navami, which falls on the ninth day of the bright half of the lunar cycle of Chaitra (March–April), the first month in the Hindu calendar.
Vishakha Hari is a tamil Brahmin Carnatic music vocalist and proponent of Harikatha, a form of Hindu storytelling. She is a mentor dedicated to instilling art and creativity within the education of children, who she believes are the torchbearer of culture.
The Hamsa Sandesha or "The message of the Swan" is a Sanskrit love poem written by Vedanta Desika in the 13th century CE. A short lyric poem of 110 verses, it describes how Rama, hero of the Ramayana epic, sends a message via a swan to his beloved wife, Sita, who has been abducted by the demon king Ravana. The poem belongs to the sandeśa kāvya "messenger poem" genre and is very closely modeled upon the Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. It has particular significance for Sri Vaishnavas, whose god, Vishnu, it celebrates.
Malladi Chandrasekhara Sastry was an Indian scholar and television personality who specialized in the Vedas and Puranas texts in the Telugu and Sanskrit languages. His works have included commentaries on All India Radio during Bhadrachalam's Sitarama Kalyanam and Brahmotsavam festivals. For Ugadi day, he recited the Panchanga Sravanam. On television he hosted a show Dharma Sandehalu and Dharma Sukshmalu where he answered questions regarding the Purana and various aspects of Hinduism. The show is telecast on the Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel and formerly on the Doordarshan Saptagiri Channel. He was the principal of a college run by the trust named Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams where they do pravachan (lectures) on the Puranas. He received the Raja-Lakshmi Award in 2005, and has also been conferred the title of Purana Vachaspati.
Prathivadhi Bhayankaram Aṇṇan was a Sri Vaishnava acharya, Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, and the composer of the popular Venkateswara Suprabhatam. Born Hasthigirinathar Aṇṇan in the year 1361, he was one of the prominent disciples of Kumara Nayanacharyas, belonged to a distinguished line of "Acharya Puruṣas", amassing followers. Aṇṇan composed many hymns, of which the popular Venkateshwara Suprabhatham, Venkateṣa Stotram, Venkateṣa Prapatti and Venkateṣa Mangaļāṣāsanam are recited daily at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at the wee-hours of the day to ritually rouse Venkateshvara. The rendition of the hymns by the singer M S Subbulakshmi is played everyday in millions of households in India and abroad.
Lakshmi Kumara Tatacharya, (1571–1643) was a prominent saint and guru of the Sri Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. He served as the rajaguru for a ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, Venkatapati Raya. He was also the overseer of a number of sacred temples known as the Divya Desams, including Srirangam, Kanchipuram, Tirumala, Melkote, and Srivilliputtur.
Sri Satyatma Tirtha, is an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru, scholar, spiritual leader, saint and the present pontiff of Uttaradi Math. He is the 42nd pontiff of Uttaradi Math since Madhvacharya, the chief proponent and the one who rejuvenated the Dvaita philosophy (Tattvavada). Satyatma Tirtha founded Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat, a non-profit, religious and social organization in 1998.
Mahamahopadhyaya is an honorific title given to prestigious scholars by the Government of India. Prior to 1947, the title was bestowed by the British Raj, and before them, by the kings of ancient India. In ancient India, a scholar that wrote works based on topics related to the shastras was granted the title Mahopadhyaya. The title Mahamahopadhyaya was bestowed on the best amongst the Mahopadhyaya scholars.
Muktha S. Sundar is an Indian film director and cinematographer who has worked on Tamil language films. Being the son of film maker Muktha Srinivasan, he made his directorial debut with Kodai Mazhai (1986), before making the films, Chinna Chinna Aasaigal (1989), Ethir Kaatru (1990) and Now Vedanta desika ha in sanskrit.
Sakuntalaṃ is a Sanskrit language historical film directed by Dushyanth Sridhar, a renowned speaker, writer and researcher on Indian scriptures. It is an adaptation of Kalidasa's work Abhijnana Shakuntalam. The film is produced by Dushyanth Sridhar and Srinivas Kannaa under Desika Daya Productions. The movie stars debutants Shubham Sahrawat and Payal Shetty in the leading roles. The movie was released on 12-Aug 2022 in BookMyShow Stream OTT platform commemorating the World Sanskrit Day.
The Dayashataka is a Sanskrit hymn composed by the Hindu philosopher Vedanta Desika. Comprising one hundred verses in ten decads, the hymn was written in praise of Venkateshvara, a form of Vishnu who is the principal deity of the Venkateshvara Temple, Tirupati.
