Lakkoju Sanjeevaraya Sarma () (22 November 1907 – 2 December 1998) was an

Indian mathematician Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 CE to 1200 CE), important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, ...

. He gave many mathematical ''Avadhanams'' (''Ganitavadhanams''), educated people and surprised the elite.

Early life

Lakkoju Sanjeevaraya Sarma was born at Kalluru village of

Proddatur Proddatur (1915) is a city in the YSR Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh, located on the banks of the Penna River. The city is a municipality, and also the mandal headquarters of Proddatur mandal. It is the second-largest town in former Kadapa ...

mandal in

Kadapa district Kadapa district (officially: YSR district; formerly: Cuddapah district) is one of the twenty six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. On 19 August 2005 nomenclature of “Cuddapah” has been changed as “Kadapa” by the Governm ...

. His parents were Lakkoju Pedda Pullayya and Nagamamba. He was born blind and had no formal education. He married Adilakshmamma at 19. He learnt mathematics when his sister recited what she learnt at school at home.

Career

Sharma gave his first performance at

Andhra Mahasabha Andhra Mahasabha (Telugu language, Telugu: ఆంధ్ర మహాసభ, IAST: ''Āndhra mahāsabha'') was a people's organisation in the erstwhile Hyderabad state of India. The organization spearheaded people's awareness and people's movemen ...

at Nandyala on 15 November 1928, chaired by

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...

. He was invited to New Delhi by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

and performed before President

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

along with other dignitaries. He traveled widely and gave about 7,000 performances in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi. One of his most memorable performances was on 7 December 1966 at Sri Krishna Devaraya Andhra Bhasha Nilayam. He received many gold medals, honors and felicitations. Sarma prepared an Indian Calendar extending 4,000 years. Sarma was invited to visit the United States in 1993 by the Telugu community. He could not attend due to visa problems.

Sri Venkateswara University Sri Venkateswara University (commonly referred as S. V. University or SVU) is a public state university located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. The university is named after Lord Venkateswara, whose shrine is located in the city. The univ ...

honored him with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1996. Sanjeeva Raya Sarma was poor. Capt.Dr.Mohan Rao of Rajampet introduced him to Pundit Nehru, who arranged a monthly sustenance of 300 until his death. He played the violin every evening at Sri Kalahasthiswara temple for an honorarium from the Devasthanam authorities. In 1998 the "Ganitha Brahma" died at the feet of SriKaalaHastheeswara. Sanjeevaraya Sarma and his wife were invited to Rajampeta (Kadapa Dist.) in 1960 by Capt. Dr. Mohana Rao Varanasi to give a performance at Govt.High School. The highlights were answering mathematical problems by playing his Violin along with songs like "భరీయింప జాలనీ బ్లాకుమార్కెట్టూ భారతీయులారా ..." (Very difficult to get on with black market). Later, impressed by his talent, Dr. Mohan Rao introduced Sanjeevaraya to many other Schools and Colleges for performances, and also to help him financially with performance-fee. His unique feat was giving the exact number of Paddy seeds that can be arranged in doubling progression from one to 17 zillion millions on 64 squares of a Chess Board. He could spontaneously reveal the Day, Tidhi and Zodiac of any given date in the calendar. Born blind, he never went to any school but learnt numbers and imagined their compounded shapes to spontaneously give a solution to any problem, faster than the Computer. Ms.Shakunthala Devi, the Mathematical Wizard also praised his enviable acumen.

References

Telugu people 1998 deaths People from Kadapa district Scientists from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian mathematicians 1907 births {{Asia-mathematician-stub