Rayaprolu Subbarao (1892–1984) was among the pioneers of modern Telugu literature. He is known as Abhinava Nannaya. He was recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award to Telugu Writers for his poetic work ''Misra Manjari'' in 1965. He was inspired by the Western literary movement and brought romanticism into Telugu literature by breaking away from the traditional translations of

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

. He introduced the concept of "Amalina Shringara Tatvamu" into

Telugu literature Telugu literature includes poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and other works composed in Telugu. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium. The earliest extant works are from the ...

Early life

Rao was born in Garlapadu village, Kakumanu Mandal,

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

. His maternal uncle, Avvari Subramanya Sastri, initially taught him Sanskrit and Telugu. He attended the Board High School in

Bapatla Bapatla is a town and district headquarters of Bapatla district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Bapatla mandal of Bapatla revenue division. The nearest towns and cities to Bapatla are ...

and was later educated in

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

and

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

. He assisted Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rao in the preparation of ''Andhra Vignana Sarvasvamu''. Department of Telugu in

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

was started in 1919. He was the professor and head of this department for 25 years. Khandavalli Lakshmi Ranjanam, Divakarla Venkata Avadhani, B. Rama Raju and C. Narayana Reddy were associated with him as faculty. He was the chief editor of ''Andhra Maha Bhagavatam'' published by Telugu Academi,

Style

Subbarao's literature is a mixture of Telugu

Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pertaining to the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and the Republic of India post-1947. ...

and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

s. He brought Western

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

especially English lyric style to

. However, he followed classical

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and Telugu meter in his writings and he didn't abandon Sanskrit Telugu form common language. His literature themes include sensual material, love of nature,

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

humanitarianism Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotion ...

and social reforms. Sensuality, in general, may be divided into two kinds, union and separation. Rayaprolu preferred separation in his writings. Rayaprolu was a great patriot and Telugu nationalist. He praised the (past) greatness of Telugu warriors to awaken the sleeping Telugu pride. Rayaprolu Subbarao defined Telugu romanticism and began a new era in Telugu literature. His romantic literature is considered as the watershed in Telugu literature for its modernity of themes such as naturalism, rural life,

platonic love Platonic love is a type of love in which sexual desire or romantic features are nonexistent or have been suppressed or sublimated, but it means more than simple friendship. The term is derived from the name of Greek philosopher Plato, tho ...

, a sense of history,

libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...

, and fierce

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

Trunakankanamu

In his first independent poem, Trunakankanamu, Rayaprolu narrates love pangs of separation. The hero's lover marries another man and he remains unmarried to suffer from the memories. By the end of the poem, hero's love transforms into a platonic love and friendship. In this poem, Rayaprolu's heroin continues a platonic relationship with the hero while married to another man. In Kastakamala, Kamala loves (platonic) two men. However, when one of them writes a love letter, she commits suicide.

Edesamegina Endukalidina

His poem " Edesamegina Endukalidina" is very popular. One patriotic verse by Subba Rao, "" (also known as ""), is a perennial favourite, being regularly sung and recited. It was particularly popular for public events in the pre-Independence Andhra region. The verse has been adapted many times into song for use in Telugu films.

Honours

* Sri Rayaprolu Subba Rao was awarded

Kalaprapoorna Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Ma ...

from

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

in 1977. * Sri Rayaprolu Subba Rao was awarded

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1965.

Works

Translations

* ''Anumati'' (Permission) * ''Bhaja Govindamu'' (Prayer to Govinda) (Telugu translation of Shankaracharya's Bhaja Govindham) * ''Soundarya Lahari'' (Below of Beauty) (Telugu translation of Shankaracharya's Soundarya Lahari) * ''Sundara Kanda'' (Beauty Section) (Telugu translation of Valmiki

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

) * ''Dootha Mattebhamu'' (Messenger Elephant) * ''Lalitha'' (Telugu translation of ''The Hermit'' of liver Goldsmith * ''Madhukalasamu'' (Liquor Pitcher) (Telugu rendering of

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald (poet), Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian language, Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dub ...

) * ''Meghaduta'' (Telugu translation of Kalidasa's work) * ''Uttararama Charitha'' (Telugu translation of Bhavabhuti's work)

Independent works

* ''Trunakankanamu'' (Grass Bracelet) * ''Andhravali'' (Andhra Row) * ''Kashta Kamala'' (Kamala in Distress) * ''Ramyalokamu'' (Beautiful Sight) * ''Swapnakumaramu'' * ''Telugutoata'' (Telugu Garden) * ''Vanamala'' (Forest Necklace) * ''Misra Manjari'' (Mixed Bouquet) * ''Kannepatalu'' (Virgin Songs) * ''Jadakutchulu'' (Braid Tassels)

References

External links