The book is called 'Flowers at his feet' and it has been written by the multi-faceted Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao based in Chennai. It provides an insight into the compositions of Annamacharya.

The book is based partly on a compilation of his 12 lectures of Dr. Rao. Four of these lectures have been covered in this project and they are backed by kutcheri demonstrations by eminent singers like Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, Nedunoori Krishnamoorthy, Balakrishna Prasad and M. Sridevi. These songs have been transferred on to four CDs.

Dr. Pappu, a musiologist, dance critic and a social worker, has vividly described the holy place of Thirumala and its surroundings and provided the historical background of the Annamacharya era. The sevas that are being conducted everyday at Thirumala temple have been explained and their significance elaborated.

The book contains 12 chapters which are spread across 164 pages and the unique drawings by the famous artist Sri Bapu, who has also designed the cover, increase the value of this unique book.

The foreword has written by Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna. Probably this is the first book in English which focuses on the compositions of Annamacharya.

Annamacharya wrote 32,000 compositions but only 14000 are available now. Out of that only 2139 are 'Adhyathmic' i.e. philosophical and spiritual, the rest 11000+ are 'Srungarathmic' or erotic.

Annamacharya, born as a Saivite, became a Vaishavite later.Dr. Pappu has a word on this - Annamacharya was the avathara of the sword of the Lord Venkateswara. Nammaazwar of Vaishnavite culture was also believed to be the avathara of Lord's sword. Both were born on Vaishakha Vishakha Poornima Day.

Annamacharya's compositions touched ordinary people the songs carried the rustic beauty and were rich in folklore. And he kept to this style though he was very well versed in Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamil. He was also an exponent in pure shasthriya Carnatic music. As he did not have a sishya parampara, his works were not properly compiled.

Well known Carnatic singer Vedavalli who reviewed the CDs when they were released in Chennai, said that Annamacharya's krithis were sung by the masses 500 years ago in the bhajan sampradaya tradition without even knowing the name of the composer.

She said she was touched by the divinity in the Telugu language and also the way it was rendered by the singers. Annamacharya's krithis were tuned by renowned musicians like Dr.M Balamurali Krishna. Nedunoori, Rallapalli Anantharama Sarma, Kadayanallur R. Venkataraman and others and popularised by the late M. S. Subbalakshmi.

Some of the songs in the CDs like 'Alarulu Kuriyaga" in Sankarabharanam, 'Sahaja Vaishnava" in Samantham, 'Choodudinthariki' in Bhairavi, 'Chakkani thalliki' in Paadi, 'Ippuditu kalaganti' in Bouli and 'Alara chanchala' Ragamalika are rendered very beautifully and every line impresses you.

The other rare ragas featured in the CDs are Andolika, Vachaspathi, Kurinji, Nadanamakriya, Lalitha, and Punnagavarali. The book is priced Rs.300 and the four CDs pack costs Rs.400. You can buy the book separately. Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao can be contacted at No.9, 4th Cross Street, C.I.T. Colony, Mylapore, Chennai-4. Ph:24997766.

If you wish to buy the books and the CDs, at kutcheribuzz.com