The State anthem ‘Maa Telugu Talliki Mallepoo Danda… Maa Kannatalliki Mangalaaratulu…’ is sure to fill a sense of pride in every Telugu.
Sankarambadi Sundarachari of Tirupati, who had written the cherished composition, has the title ‘Prasanna Kavi’ (meaning ‘Poet who causes delight’).
To immortalise his glory and restore the society’s fading memory of the ace composer, Kendra Sahitya Akademi and Telugu Bhashodyama Samiti jointly conducted Sankarambadi centenary symposium at Sri Padmavathi Women’s (SPW) Degree College here on Monday.
SVU Vice-Chancellor W. Rajendra paid tributes to Sankarambadi and lauded his role in uniting Telugus with his awe-inspiring song. Sahitya Akademi Secretary K. Srinivasa Rao, its Telugu advisory council coordinator N. Gopi and member Rachapalem Chandrasekhar Reddy spoke on their role in perpetuating the glory of such great littérateurs.
N. Venugopal of All India Radio (Chennai), writer Mannava Bhaskar Naidu and academic T. Ramachandra Reddy said that Sankarambadi Sundarachari had remained an ‘unsung hero’ throughout his life and beyond. Sankarambadi’s niece I.S. Sravanthi and Mallela Lakshmi, daughter of his contemporary Y.K.V.N. Acharya, went nostalgic on their personal attachment with the writer. Many subtly recalled that Sundarachari became a household name only after his statue was installed in Tirupati and the traffic junction named after him a decade back by Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, the then TUDA Chairman.
Samiti’s founder Sakam Nagaraja, president G. Sridevi and general secretary Peruru Balasubramanyam spoke on the need to bring his books to light. SPW Telugu head V. Krishnaveni proposed a vote of thanks. Among the papers presented on the occasion were ‘Geethanjali’ by Madhurantakam Narendra, ‘Sundara Bharatham’ by Nadendla Srimannarayana, ‘Sundara Ramayanam’ by M. Mallikarjuna Reddy, ‘Sankarambadi Chandasilpam’ by A. Murali, ‘Agnipariksha’ by Medipalli Ravikumar, ‘Buddha Geetha’ by Madabhushi Sampath Kumar and ‘Na Swami’ by Gangavaram Sridevi.
