Chetti Bhanumurti (born 23 February 1888;Mary Stillwell McLaurin, ''Chetti Bhanumurti'' in John Craig, J. R. Stillwell, I. C. Archibald, A. E. Baskerville (Edited), ''Some of the Trophies: Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board Jubilee Volume, Telugu Trophies - The Jubilee story of some of the principal Telugu converts in the Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission in India from 1874 to 1924'', American Baptist Publication Society, Toronto

/ref> died 6 January 1973) was a Hymn Writer whose hymns are found in the Hymnal in Telugu language, Telugu.Andhra Christian Hymnal, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1966
/ref> Bhanumurti was a Pastor of the

Canadian Baptist Mission The Canadian Baptist Mission (CBM) is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the Canadian Baptist Ministries. History It was established in 1850 by the Canadian Baptist Ministries. The CBM ...

Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars The Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC) is a Baptist Christian denomination in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The churches are part of the Telugu Christian community of Southern India. Its language is Telugu. It is affilia ...

who also led the Principalship of the Baptist Theological Seminary,

Kakinada Kakinada ( formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the sixth largest city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the district headquarters of the Kakinada District. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. J. ...

from 1945-1956 leading to its affiliation to the nation's first University,

Senate of Serampore College (University) The Senate of Serampore College (University) is located in Serampore in West Bengal, India. Serampore was granted the status of university in 1829, making it India's first institution to have the status of a university.Government of India, Mini ...

in 1946

Comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

Scholar

R. R. Sundara Rao Rayi Ratna Sundara Rao (born 1934; died 1992Rayi Ministries./ref>) was a prolific writer, theologian and comparative religion scholar who once was the principal of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, affiliated to India's first un ...

who researched at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

highlighted the literary standard of Chetty Bhanumurti terming him as a pioneer hymn writer whose songs had the element of Bhakti.R. R. Sundara Rao, ''Bhakti theology in the Telugu hymnal'', CISRS/CLS, Bangalore/Chennai, 1983

/ref> The Old Testament Scholar,

Victor Premasagar Victor Premasagar (1927–2005) was the fourth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak. He was an Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar who made major contributions to research on the Old Testament and to the field of theology. Prem ...

was also enthused by the lyrical content in Bhanumurti's compositions,T. Dayanandan Francis, ''Attempts at Critical Assimilation in Regional Christian Literature: A Tamil Perspective'' in H. S. Wilson (Edited), ''The Church on the Move: A Quest to Affirm the Biblical Faith - Essays in honour of P. Victor Premasagar'', CLS, Chennai, 1988, pp.135-14

/ref> especially Hymn Number 94 titled ''Yesuku Samanulevaru'' (Translated ''Who is equal to you Lord?'') with direct reference to

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

71:19 and strikingly similar to

Tyagaraja Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

's composition in

Kharaharapriya Kharaharapriya is a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 22nd '' melakarta'' rāga (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāga system. It is possible that the name of the ragam was originally ''Harapriya'' but it was changed to conform to the ...

. Dayanandan Francis brings Chetti Bhanumurti in the line of another Hymn writer,

Puroshottam Choudhary Puroshottam Choudhary (5 September 1803 – 24 August 1890) also spelled Purushottama Chaudhary or Purushothama Choudhari was a great 19th century Telugu Christian poet. He was a Christian preacher, evangelist, and pastor of the Berhampur ...

and writes,

Studies

In 1915,

S. J. Samartha Stanley Jedidiah Samartha ( kn, ಸ್ಟಾನ್ಲಿ ಜೆದಿದಿಃ ಸಮರ್ಥ; 7 October 1920 – 22 July 2001) was an Indian theologianEeuwout van der Linden, ''Samartha, S. J.'' in Gerald H. Anderson, ''Biographical Dictionary ...

M. P. John Mathew P. John was a Biblical Scholar and PresidentMax Gonsalves (Ed.), Society for Biblical Studies in India Directory 1998. of the Society for Biblical Studies in India. Studies M. P. John studied Bachelor of Divinity from 1943–1949S. J. ...

(Compiled), ''Directory of students 1910-1967'', Serampore College (Theology Department), Serampore, 1967, p.1. Bhanumurthy discerned his avocation towards priesthood and went for ministerial formation to the

Serampore College , founders = William Ward (missionary), William Ward, William Carey (missionary), William Carey, & Joshua Marshman , religious_affiliation = Baptists, Baptist , rector = , location = 8, William Carey RoadSerampore – 712201West Be ...

Serampore Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampo ...

, a constituent College of the nation's first University,

Murli Manohar Joshi Murli Manohar Joshi (born 5 January 1934) is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of which he was the President between 1991 and 1993, and the former Member of Parliament for Kanpur parliamentary constitu ...

, ''Higher Education in India Vision and Action, A paper presented at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in the Twenty First Century, Paris, 5–9 October 1998. Internet, accessed 22 August 2008. '' studying up to 1918, during the Principalship of

George Howells George Howells (11 May 1871 – 7 November 1955) was a Welsh academic and writer, who was Principal of Serampore College, India from 1907 to 1932. Life Howells was born on 11 May 1871 in Cwm, Monmouthshire in south Wales. He was educated at ...

, as a candidate of the Canadian Baptist Mission/Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars where Bhanumurthy obtained a

Licentiate in Theology The Licentiate in Theology or (in Britain) Licence in Theology (LTh or, in Australia, ThL) is a non-degree qualification in theology awarded in Canada and previously awarded in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. A qualification simil ...

( L.Th.).

Theological Teacher

Bhanumurthy taught at the

Ramayapatnam Ramayapatnam is a small village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India on the bank of the Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Banglad ...

Baptist Theological Seminary in Ramayapatnam and later on moved to Kakinada where he taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Kakinada along with

Muthyala Theophilus M. Theophilus (7 May 1895 – 10 December 1946) was a Baptist Patriarch and Spiritual Formator of the Protestant Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, a major congregation along the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh, India that exten ...

who was his colleague. This was the period when

A. B. Masilamani Acharya A. B. Masilamani or Abel Boanerges MasilamaniK. Ranjit Kumar, ''Bhakti as one of the leading factor for transformation in the lyrics of Acharya A. B. Masilamani in the Telugu Christian Hymnal'', Master's College Theological Journal, Volu ...

joined the seminary for spiritual formation. In 1952, Bhanumurthy became Principal of the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Hymns

Roger E. Hedlund, the

Missiologist Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

writes that along with the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

, the Christian Hymnal in Telugu also forms the main bulwark of Christian spiritual life for the Telugu language, Telugu folk and of equal use to both the non-literates and the literates as well.Roger E. Hedlund, Quest for Identity: India's Churches of Indigenous origin: The "Little" Tradition in Indian Christianity, New Delhi, 2000, p.261

/ref> In such a context, it is noteworthy that sixteen of Bhanumurthy's compositions are found in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu with the following sequence, * 9, ''Stuti Geethamu'', * 84, ''Neeti Suryudu'', * 87, ''Kreesthuku Namo Namo'', * 92, ''Yesu Sharanu'', * 94, ''Yesuku Samanulevaru'', * 116, ''Raraju Janmadinamu'', * 198, ''Siluva Balamu'', * 201, ''Yesu Shanthikarudu'', * 263, ''Kreesthu Sanghamunaku Sirassu'', * 361, ''Yesunaku Sakshulu'', * 406, ''Kreesthuni Vembadinchuta'', * 514, ''Kutumbaradhana'', * 522, ''Melukolupu'', * 524, ''Kraistava Yuvajanulara Kreesthu Koraku Nelavandi'', * 552, ''Abhinaya Christmas Geethamu'', * 579, ''Kruthagnathala Panduga'',

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhanumurthy, Chetty 1888 births 1973 deaths Singers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu people Telugu-language writers 20th-century Baptist ministers Christian clergy from Andhra Pradesh Indian Christian theologians Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni Senate of Serampore College (University) faculty Indian Baptist ministers Sacred music composers Baptist hymnwriters Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars Canadian Baptist Ministries 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers