Shri Venkateshwara : Tirupathi

Dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara, an incarnation of Vishnu, the temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala at Tirupati is perhaps the most famousand the richesttemple in the world. It is believed that Lord Vishnu appeared here to save mankind from the trials of the Kali Yuga. Lakhs of people visit it every day, with the kitchen serving free food to 65-70,000 people daily, while about 45-50,000 get their heads shaved at the temples sixteen tonsuring halls as a gift to the God. The Tirupati laddoo received a geographical indication (GI) tag in 2009 to denote its exclusivity to the templenot so long ago, the temples estimated revenue was Rs 1750 million from laddoo sales alone! This book is a photographic tribute to the Venkateshwara temple by the renowned photographer Raghu Rai, with a short introduction to its history by poet and writer Lekshmy Rajeev.

Raghu Rai is an Indian photographer and photojournalist. He has contributed photo essays on socio-political and cultural issues to The New York Times, The Sunday Times, Newsweek and The New Yorker among others. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri. Lekshmy Rajeev is a writer, columnist and translator. She is the author of Dusk Diary and Attukal Amma: The Goddess of Millions, and has edited a volume of Malayalam essays titled Sabarimala and Women.