Nearly 750 inscriptions on the walls of the second prakara of the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala will be documented and made available online after the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) permitted the Archaeological Survey of India’s epigraphy wing to begin an 11-day copying exercise from December 1 to 11.
The material will include estampages, transcripts and brief summaries of the inscriptions. The records are to be uploaded to the Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions, known as BharatSHRI, for access by the public, scholars and researchers.
According to the proceedings issued by the TTD, the ASI has been authorised to copy, digitise and upload all inscriptions engraved on the temple walls within the specified section. The documentation will cover inscriptions issued under several ruling dynasties, including the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Kadavarayas, Yadavas, Telugu Cholas and Vijayanagara rulers.
The inscriptions also include records associated with Sri Krishnadevaraya’s conquests over various chiefs and kings. Their inclusion in the digital repository will provide researchers with access to records that are currently located on the temple walls at Tirumala.
The exercise is being carried out by the ASI’s epigraphy wing with permission from the TTD and the Andhra Pradesh government. ASI (Epigraphy) Director Munirathnam Reddy thanked the state government and TTD for allowing the documentation work.
The arrangement places the temple’s inscriptional records within a wider institutional process of copying, transcription and digital preservation. By making the material available through BharatSHRI, the agencies will provide a common online reference point for the public and for academic research, while retaining the physical inscriptions at their original location.
The documentation is scheduled to continue for 11 days beginning December 1. The TTD proceedings provide for the inscriptions to be copied, digitised and uploaded to the BharatSHRI website after the ASI team completes the exercise.
