From the ancient landmarks of Tirupati to the vanishing monuments, the age-old practices to the now-disappeared water bodies and from the famous festivals to the legends associated with folk deities, here’s a man who has documented most of them in the form of historical, mythological and folklore references, of course, lacing some of them with fiction.
Peta Srinivasulu Reddy, a professor of Telugu at Sri Venkateswara University, is known to be an authentic source of folklore pertaining to Tirumala-Tirupati. He has authored 16 books, including Janapada Gayalalo Venkateswarudu , Rayalaseema Janapada Kalalu , and Boothu Acharalu , which involved a lot of research and documentation. He is also considered an authority on Thathayagunta Gangamma, the folk deity of Tirupati considered the younger sister of Lord Venkateswara.
More than his serious works based on well-documented facts, what made him famous was his series of fictional stories under the title Tirupati Kathalu . He has made an unbelievable 80 such stories, each of them revolving around a famous landmark or an ancient practice of Tirupati.
“The landmarks have played major roles in each of my stories,” says Dr. Reddy in an interview to The Hindu . His Chithanuru Panchami is about the famed annual festival at Tiruchanur, where thousands of devotees take a dip in the temple tank on this auspicious day. He deliberately used Chithanuru instead of Tiruchanur, as per the local slang and for giving a ‘native touch’.
Similarly, the old burial ground on Akkarampalle Road in the heart of the city plays the protagonist in the story Tirupati Smasanamlo Oka Ratri . Other famed local landmarks such as Srinivasa Mangapuram, Talakona, Nadaka Darulu (trekking route), Alipiri, Ananda Nilayam and Thumburu Theertham have become enchanting lead characters in other stories.
Some stories also revolve around the Tirumala Laddu, Gundu (tonsuring practice), Mataalu (Mutts) etc. that highlight their role.
Dr. Reddy was recently awarded a Keerthi Puraskar by P.S. Telugu University at Hyderabad under the ‘spiritual literature’ category. Having finished around 80 such fictional stories, which have appeared in leading Telugu newspapers, he aims to write 20 more and offer them to Lord Venkateswara as “a garland of hundred literary flowers”.
