Talking about resources - and particularly in connection with the Tirupathi, let us see the history fo Sri Venkateswaea Subprabhatam - Ithe source is from http://tirumala-tirupati-balajii.blogspot.com/Ramanuja (1017 - 1137 AD) apart from being a great philosopher and author of the brilliant Sri-Bashyam ( an extraordinary commentary on Badrayana's cryptic Brahmasutra), was also one of the earliest social reformers & quality control architects in history. In his extensive travels, he systematized & standardized the - for lack of a better/simpler word - pooja procedures in all the temples that he visited. As a result, today, many vaishnavite temples essentially follow a single procedure and basically do the same thing, thereby giving a homogenous feel. He also set-up a heirarchy of 64 saints ( called muthalis) under him. Many were dalits and even more were from non-priestly class. There were also a few women acharyas. [As a sidenote: the recent law that allows people from all castes to be temple archakars is not a new one. It is also not a violation of Agamas. It is an inadvertent copy of an age-old practice].
After the passing away of Ramanuja, difference arose in nature and interpretation of prapatti among his followers. As a result there was split and one group congregated around Manavala Maamuni ( the other group followed Vedanta Desikan's principles). Manavaala Maamuni was responsible for ensuring that the consistent system of temple procedures, initiated by Ramanuja, spread and was maintained. Manavala Maamuni had 8 followers called ashtadigajas. One such ashtadigajas was called P.B Annan (expands as Sri Prathivadhi Bhayangaram Annangaracharyar ). Manavala Maamuni requested P.B Annan Swamy to compose a song for Thiru Vengadam (Thirumala). This song was meant to precede the Thirupalli ezhuchi, composed by Thondaraipodi Azhwar, sung every morning for Lord Vekateswara of Thirumalai.
And so the song - Suprabhatham - was composed by P.B Annan. It draws from various puranas and Sri Suktham. It serves to awaken Sri and Venkteswara. Many commentators have said that Suprabhatam has all aspects for being called a wellrounded puja. It has four aspects (1) Venkatesa Suprabhatam, which is the actual awaking of Sree and Vishnu, (2) Stotram, which is essentially a Praise, (3) A Prapatti through Sree and (4) A Mangalam, which serves as a conclusion (Incidentally the later part of the song that begins with 'kamala ...' is said to be composed in Madyamavathi raagam - can anybody confirm?). The mangalasaasanam was composed by Manavala Maamuni himself. Also interesting is that both 'Venkatesa' and 'Balaji', names which are used quite frequently nowadays are not part of the Vishnu Sahasranamam (1000 names of Vishnu). There is an explanation for this which essentially said that Venkatesa avataram, is a more recent kali yuga avatar, whereas Mahabharatha (where the Sahasranamam appears) belongs to a earlier Dwapara Yugam. Venkatesa is also considered by some to be a Sanskrit translation of Azhwar's "Thiru Vengadam". Anyway these are all just theories from various sources.
Moving on - In many vaishnavite temples, for example Thirupathi, this is how the morning begins. A cowherd wakes up the chief priest, the priest holds the key to the door of the temple and he accompanies the cowherd to the temple (correct me if I am wrong - some temples like Uppuliappan temple has a cow accompanying them also). Both the cowherd and the priest, then request permission from the Dwara Balakar's (Jai & Vijay) standing as guard in front of the temple, to enter the premises. After this, as part of the daily rituals in Thirupathi, a descendant of Talapak Annamacharya sings a song. Then the recitation of Suprabhatham begins. This is followed by the Thirupalli Ezhuchi of Thondaraipodi Azhwar, which includes or is followed by the Sarrumurai. (All vaishnavite temples give Suprabhatham recitation a vacation between Dec 15 and Jan 15. Andal's Thirupaavai is sung instead)
Ofcourse for most people M.S Subbulakshmi's name is synonymous with Suprabhatham. Folks at Madras always romanticise about the triple cannon of The Hindu Newspaper, filter coffee and M.S rendition of Suprabhatham.
