Stotra (Sanskrit: स्तोत्र) or stotram (स्तोत्रम्) is a Sanskrit word that means “ode, eulogy or a hymn of praise
" It is a literary genre of Indian religious texts designed to be melodically sung, in contrast to a shastra which is composed to be recited
A stotra can be a prayer, a description, or a conversation, but always with a poetic structure
It may be a simple poem expressing praise and personal devotion to a deity for example, or poems with embedded spiritual and philosophical doctrines
Many stotra hymns praise aspects of the divine, such as Devi, Shiva, or Vishnu
Relating to word “stuti”, coming from the same Sanskrit root *stu- (“to praise”), and basically both mean “praise”
Notable stotras are Shiva Tandava Stotram in praise of Shiva and Rama Raksha Stotra, a prayer for protection to Rama
Stotras are a type of popular devotional literature
Among the early texts with Stotras are by Kuresha, which combine Ramanuja’s Vedantic ideas on qualified monism about Atman and Brahman (ultimate, unchanging reality), with temple practices