Dasaradhi Krishnamacharyulu (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 KhammamGovernmentHigh School and gave up higher education to join the movement against autocratic Nizam Muslim rule in the HyderabadKingdom.

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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.

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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.

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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, HyderabadState 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.

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In 1948, the Indian Union took over the HyderabadState 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 MadrasProvince of the British India, and formed the present state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

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In 1949, his first poetry compilation entitled "agnidhaara" was published. It contained tiles such as [i]maatrubhoomi, desabhakti, prajaporatam, dharmachakram, vasantakumari, silpi etc. He published rudraveena in 1950, in which he described the life of starving poor. His works includemahaandhrodayam, punarnavam,mahaboadhi, Galib geetaalu, Dasaradhi satakamu , kavita pushpakam, timiramto samaram , aalochanaalochanalu 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" 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 AndhraUniversity honored Dasaradhi Krishnamacharyulu with title "kalaprapoorna." In 1976, the AgraUniversity honored him by conferring D. Litt. Degree.

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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.