Devulapalli Krishnasastri (1 November 1897 – 24 February 1980) was a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

poet,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and translator known for his works in

Telugu literature Telugu literature is the body of works written in the Telugu language. It consists of poems, short stories, novels, plays, and song lyrics, among others. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first ...

and

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

. He is known as ''Andhra Shelley''. In 1976, Krishnasastri was honoured with

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, third highest civilian award in India. In 1978, he received

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 ...

for his literary works.

Early life

Krishnasastri was born on 1 November 1897 in Ramachandrapalem of

East Godavari East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of 2011 Census of India, census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,54 ...

, India. He was brought up in

Pithapuram Pithapuram, historically known as Pittapore, is a town and a municipality in the Kakinada district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority. The town is home to one of the eighteen ...

in a family of court-poets.Krishnasastri
He grew interest in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

while he was in his high school.

Career

Krishnasastri started writing poetry from a very young age. Krishnasastri's works changed significantly after he met

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

in 1929. Krishnasastri joined

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

in 1945 and wrote a number of plays for it. He also translated Goda Devi's Tamil

Tiruppavai The Thiruppavai (Tamil: திருப்பாவை) is a set of Tamil devotional religious hymns attributed to the female poet-saint Andal (also known as Nachiyar, Kodhai or Goda Devi). She is considered the manifestation of Bhudevi, who ha ...

into Telugu Keertanaas. Other translations of Tiruppavai are available - but they are all word for word. His translation is unique because he had taken the central idea of each Pasuram, made it into Pallavi and wove around it the rest of the paasuram into anupallavi and charanam(s). They were set to pure carnatic music, even as they were composed, by Amruthavalli Sundaram. The publication with notation, is Orient Longman. He died on 24 February 1980.

Literary works

Some of Krishnasastri's famous works include : *''Amrutha Veena'' (1992) *''Appude Putti Vunte'' *''Aruna Ratham'' *''Badarika'' *''Bahukaala Darshanam'' *''Dhanurdasu'' *''Gorinta'' *''Mangala Kahali'' *''Sri Vidyapathi'' *''Krishnapaksham - Urvashi pravasam'' *''Sharmishta'' *''Vyaasavali - Kavi parampara'' *''Sri Andallu Tiruppavu Kirtanalu'' (1993) * ''Meghamala'' (1996) *''Krishna Paksham'' (The Darkening Fortnight), *''Pravasam'' (Alien Residence), *''Mahati'' (The Veena of Narada), *''Urvasi''.

Films

Krishnasastri entered the film industry by scripting the 1951 Telugu film '' Malliswari''. He gave lyrics to about 160 songs in over 70 films during the 1950s to 1970s. They include '' Malleswari'', '' Naa Illu'', '' En Veedu'', '' Bangaru Papa'', '' Ekaveera'', '' Bhagya Rekha'' (1957), '' Rakta Kanneeru'', '' Bhakta Tukaram'', ''

Karthika Deepam Kartika Deepam () is a festival of lights that is observed mainly by Hindu Tamils, and also by adherents in the regions of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Sri Lanka. Celebrated in Tamilakam since the ancient period, the festi ...

'', '' Gorintaku'', ''

Megha Sandesam ''Meghasandesam'' () is a 1982 Telugu-language drama film, produced and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao under his Taraka Prabhu Films banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Jaya Prada, Jayasudha and music composed by Ramesh Naidu. This film ...

'', ''

Sri Rama Pattabhishekam ''Sri Rama Pattabhishekam'' () is a 1978 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed and produced by N. T. Rama Rao under Ramakrishna Cine Studios banner. Based on the ''Ramayana'', the film stars Rama Rao, Jamuna ( ...

''.

Awards

; Nandi Awards(in

) * Best Lyricist - '' Seetamalakshmi'' (1978) * Best Lyricist - '' Meghasandesam'' (1982) ;Other Awards * Andhra University has conferred the title '' Kala Prapoorna'' (The complete artist) on him in 1975. * He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award. * Krishnashastri also won the

Award in the year 1976.

References

External links

*
Krishnasastriyam
is a novel musical interpretation of some songs written by Sri Krishnasastri. Excerpts available at the linked site. * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnasastri, Devulapalli 1890s births 1980 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Telugu Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Telugu-language lyricists Telugu poets Hindu poets People from East Godavari district Indian male poets 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers Tamil–Telugu translators