Tirumala Tirupati, like you’ve never seen before

By Anushree Madhavan | Express News Service

Last Updated: 28th March 2017 09:25 AM



An inside view of the Tirumala Temple; (below) young boys undergoing training at the veda patashala in Dharmagiri; Rajendra Srivathsa Kondapalli

CHENNAI: A year-and-a-half ago documentary filmmaker Rajendra Srivathsa Kondapalli was working on a show, India’s Mega Kitchens for National Geography India, where he was to shoot the making of prasadam at the kitchens of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).

It was then that he realised that there was much more to TTD than just the darshanam and the ladoos. Also, this temple was always an idea for a documentary for Rajendra since he came across an article in 2008. “As a devotee, I have been there many times, but it was only in 2008 when I read an article about Tirupati that I wanted to make a full-fledged documentary about TTD,” says the filmmaker who has more than 20 years of experience in the field. 

His documentary, Inside Tirumala Tirupati, was televised worldwide on Monday and he was ecstatic as it was the first time in the history of Nat Geo that a TV show got so many likes on FB. “The promos were out a few days ago and it received more than 12,000 views.

This means two things — one that this is the first documentary shot inside the temple and, two, there are so many devotees of lord Venkateshwara,” he smiles.

As in most temples across the country, photography and videography is prohibited inside TTD and to get permission to shoot and gain access to the higher authorities as well as inside the temple was indeed a herculean task for Rajendra and his team of six.

“Tirupati is one of the most visited places on Earth and nobody has ever done something like this. All shooting is done by their TV channel SVBC, and it was hard for us to make them agree. I met with many authorities and explained what my idea was,” he says.