Hemalatha Lavanam (26 February 1932 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian social reformer, writer, and atheist who protested against untouchability and the caste system. She was also a co-founder of Samskar with her husband,

Lavanam Goparaju Ramachandra Lavanam (10 October 1930 – 14 August 2015), known popularly as G. Lavanam or Lavanam, was an Indian social reformer and Gandhian. He worked to remove untouchability in Indian society. He was an atheist and co-founded the ...

Life

Hemalatha was born on 26 February 1932 at

Vinukonda Vinukonda is a town in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Vinukonda mandal and administered under Narasaraopet revenue division. Etymology The town was formerly known as ''Vish ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, now in the

Guntur District Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She was the daughter of

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 Gurram Joshua and Mirayamma and the daughter-in-law of social reformer

Goparaju Ramachandra Rao Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (nickname: Gora) (15 November 1902 – 26 July 1975) was an Indian social reformer, atheist activist and a participant in the Indian independence movement. He authored many books on atheism and proposed atheism as self- ...

and

Saraswathi Gora Saraswathi Gora (28 September 1912 – 19 August 2006) was an Indian social activist who served as leader of the Atheist Centre for many years, campaigning against untouchability and the caste system. Biography In the 1930s, Saraswathi cham ...

, who were atheist social reformers and founders of the

Atheist Centre The Atheist Centre is an institution founded by Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (aka Gora, 1902–1975) and Saraswathi Gora (1912–2006) to initiate social change in rural Andhra Pradesh based on the ideology of Gandhism and Atheism. Founded in 1940 ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

Reformation of denotified tribes

Through Samskar, Lavanam and Hemlatha took part in historical surrenders of

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquia ...

s in Chambal Valley to

Vinobha Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is co ...

Jaya Prakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

inspired the couple to work on criminal rehabilitation. Hemlatha, Lavanam and volunteers from atheist centre participated actively in criminal reformation and rehabilitation in 1974 in the areas of erstwhile criminal settlements Sitanagaram, Stuartpuram, Kawali, and Kapparallathippa in Andhra Pradesh. They devoted their time to bring change in the mindset of criminal tribal shelter helped to provide alternative livelihood to criminal rehabilitated families. Hemalatha and Lavanam demanded government of Andhra Pradesh to abolish settlements. Due to their efforts, the state government took a step in abolishing the managements and declaring them as free colonies in 1976. They visited the prisoners of Stuartpuram and kept constant contact through letters. The families of settlers visited Atheist center for advice. This contact changed some hardened criminals. They motivated the criminals to change from crime culture.

Work on Jogini

Hemalatha and Lavanam worked on upliftment and eradication of

Jogini A yogini (Sanskrit: योगिनी, IAST: ) is a female master practitioner of tantra and yoga, as well as a formal term of respect for female Hindu or Buddhist spiritual teachers in Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Greater Tibet. Th ...

s in Nizamabad district through Samskar. Her work made the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

Government enact legislation in 1988 to eradicate the Jogini system, Kumud Ben Joshi,

C. Rangarajan Chakravarthi Rangarajan (born 1932) is an Indian economist, a former Member of Parliament and 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He is the former Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, he resigned the day the UPA ...

as Governor of Andhra pradesh oversaw the marriages for joginis in Rajbhavan, Hyderabad. Samskar founded Chelli Nilyam Sister's Home in verni of

Nizamabad district Nizamabad district is a district located in the north-western region in the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Nizamabad is the district headquarters.It was known as " Indur " which was supposed to have originated from the name of the King ...

Joshua Foundation

The Joshua Foundation instituted the Joshua Sahitya Puraskaram, a national award for poets of any language who had enriched Indian literature with human values. The rationale was to promote national integration and encourage purposeful poetry.

Awards and recognition

Hemalatha received her doctorate in social work from

Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University The Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University (PSTU) is one of the few Indian language universities in India. University It was established as "Telugu University" on 2 December 1985 through an Act of Legislation (Act No. 27 of 1985) by the State Legi ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. The National Book Trust of India published a biography of her in the National Biography series, written by Vakulabharanam Lalitha and Kompalli Sundar. K. Viyanna Rao, the Vice-Chancellor of

Acharya Nagarjuna University Acharya Nagarjuna University (IAST: ''Ācārya Nāgārjuna Vișvavidyālaya'') is a state university in Namburu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History The university was established as Nagarjuna University by Act 43 of 1976 of A.P. ...

, released the book and presented the first copy to her husband, Lavanam. In 2003 she received a Red and White Bravery Award from

Surjit Singh Barnala Surjit Singh Barnala (21 October 1925 – 14 January 2017) was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Punjab state from 1985 to 1987. Following that he served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh , l ...

, the Governor of

, for her contribution to the field of social work.

Death

Hemalatha suffered from ovarian cancer and died at the Atheist Centre, Vijayawada, on 19 March 2008. She was cremated without any religious rites.

References

External links

Her Will: Devadasi Culture In South India"

'Evolution of Voluntary Sector in Modern Andhra: Past and Present- Sundar Kompalli, Ph D (HCU)'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavanam, Hemalatha Indian atheists Indian sceptics Telugu people Activists from Andhra Pradesh Indian social reformers 1932 births 2008 deaths Indian women activists People from Guntur district Women educators from Andhra Pradesh Educators from Andhra Pradesh Indian women educational theorists 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century women educators 20th-century Indian women