Krishnamacharyulu Dasaradhi (1925-1987)
Krishnamacharyulu Dasaradhi was born on July
25, 1925 in a middleclass Vaishnava family (Vaikhaanasa Brahmin). His native
village was Chinnaguduru in Manukota taluqa in Khammam district.
He was a great pundit in Andhra, Sanskrit, and Tamil languages and puranas
(mythology). He was an orthodox Brahmin and strictly followed Brahminism
and its principles without any exceptions. He graduated in Matriculation
from Khammam Government High School and gave up higher education to join
the movement against autocratic Nizam Muslim rule in the Hyderabad Kingdom.
As a volunteer in Andhra Mahasabha (Left Wing), Krishnamacharyulu
traveled from village to village in Telangana to enlighten the public.
Mahatma Gandhi and Veeresalingam Kandukuri influenced him. However,
he joined leftwing, as most of his friends were leftists and communist revolutionaries.
Krishnamacharyulu began writing
poetry very young as a student. His poetry was revolutionary and was
influenced by communist and leftist ideology of Carl Marx. Downtrodden, poor,
exploited, workers etc. were his subjects in poetry. He strongly believed
that the capitalist, feudalist and autocratic society under Muslim rule would
give way to democracy and equality.
The Indian Continent was liberated from the British
Rule and the Indian Union was formed in 1947. Many independent kingdoms
and principalities joined the newly formed Indian Union. However,
Hyderabad State under autocratic rule of the then ruler Mir Osaman Ali Khan
did not join the Union. Mir Osaman Ali Khan failed to control the atrocities
committed by Mazlis Ittehadul Muslimeen Party. At this juncture, State
Congress Party under the leadership of Swamy Raamaanandateerdha called for
an action against the autocratic Muslim rule. Thousands of people
went to jail by responding to this call and participating in "satyagraha
(civil disobedience)." Dasaradhi was arrested in 1947 and was sent
to Warangal central jail, along with many other eminent leaders like Kesavarao
Jamlapuram, Hiralal Moria, Kesavarao Gella, Kishanrao Kolipaka, Narayanarao
Utukuri, Manikyarao Gandham, Kaloji etc. Dasaradhi was later moved
to Nizamabad central jail. He wrote poetry in jail. He left Telangana when
released from jail and went to Vijayawada and wrote poetry against the King
in "Telugu Desam," a daily paper devoted to news and articles related
to Telangana and Nizam's rule.
In 1948, the Indian Union took over the Hyderabad
State in a police action and put an end to to the autocratic
Nizam rule and to the violence unleashed by the Muslim Razakars
and Mazlis Ittehadul Muslimeen Party. Later, the Telangana part of
the Hyderabad state was united with the state of Andhra, which was separated
in 1953 from the Madras Province of the British India, and formed the present
state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.
In 1949, his first poetry compilation entitled
"agnidhaara" was published. It contained tiles such as maatrubhoomi,
desabhakti, prajaporatam, dharmachakram, vasantakumari, silpi etc.
He published rudraveena in 1950, in which he described the life of starving
poor. His works include mahaandhrodayam (1955), punarnavam
(1956), mahaboadhi (1959), Galib geetaalu (1961), Dasaradhi
satakamu (1962), kavita pushpakam (1960), timiramto
samaram (1973), aalochanaalochanalu (1975) etc. In
addition, he wrote lyrics for many Telugu movies. His debut movie was vaagdanam.
He wrote approximately 2000 lyrics for the film industry. His "timiramto
samaram (war with darkness)" bagged the
Sahitya Akademy (the
Indian National Academy of Letters) Award
in 1967. (The Sahitya Akademi was formally launched by the Government
of India on March 12, 1954. Sahitya Akademi gives twenty-two
awards to literary works in the twenty-two national languages it has recognised
and an equal number to literary translations from and into the languages
of India, both after a year-long process of scrutiny, discussion and selection.)
In 1975, the Andhra University honored Dasaradhi Krishnamacharyulu
with title "kalaprapoorna." In 1976, the Agra University honored
him by conferring D. Litt. degree.
After a democratic rule was established in Hyderabad, Krishnamacharyulu
served in the government of Andhra Pradesh for sometime. Later, he worked
for All India Radio Vijayawada and Madras (Chennai) as a prompter and retired
in 1971. He served as the Government Poet from 1971 through 1984.
He also rendered services as an emeritus producer for All India Radio and
Doordarshan (Television). He died in 1987.
Visit for Telugu peotry of Dasaradhi: http://www.telugumata.com/dasaradhi.html
Source: Nooruguru Telugu Pramukhulu, by M.L.
Narasimharao
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