Shankarambadi Sundarachari (10 August 1914 – 8 April 1977) was an Indian writer and poet in the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fam ...

, although of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

origin. He wrote '' Maa Telugu Talliki, Malleypu Danda'', the official state song of the present-day Indian state of

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 ...

Early life

Sankarambadi Sundarachari was born on 10 August 1914 in a Tamil family at

Tiruchanur Tiruchanur (also known as Alamelu Mangapuram) is a suburb and neighbourhood of Tirupati and is located in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a part of Tirupati urban agglomeration. It is the mandal headquarters o ...

, near

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

Madras Presidency,

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 ...

. Though his roots are in Hindu religious traditions, he use to protest certain rituals he perceived to be superstitions. However, he liked to study

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

s at TTD High school,

. While studying high school final (S.S.C), atheism had more influence on him. This antagonised his parents and in a conflict, came out of his house to live on his own. He spent his life in utter poverty with doing odd jobs.

Life

After moving out of his parents house, for sustenance, he worked as a waiter at a Hotel. He got disillusioned with the petty jobs and wanted to test his luck at

Andhra Patrika Andhra Patrika was the weekly newspaper of the nationalist movement in the Telugu speaking region founded by Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao in 1908. It later transformed into a daily newspaper before it closed down in 1991. It helped to shape both mo ...

, renowned news Daily in Telugu, whose editor Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao, great freedom fighter. Kasinathuni was impressed with Sankaram and offered him a job. Sankaram joined the daily, but soon, he could not continue there for long and resigned due to his overt independent attitude. He spend his last days at Ahobilam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, at his relative’s house K P Ramesh. Sankaram then decided to continue his education and completed B.A (Bachelor of Arts). He applied for 'Inspector of School education' and was selected for the post and the initial posting was in Chittor. His sincerity got him good name and popularity. However his profound love for Telugu language, poetry made him to focus more on it.

Literary career

In 1942, he has penned

Maa Telugu Talliki Maa Telugu Talliki (, IAST: ''Mā Telugu Talliki''; ) is the official song of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugu Thalli is portrayed as a symbol of Telugu people. Many schools and government events start with this song. Backgroun ...

, which became state song for

later. At first, he penned this song for a Telugu Film

Deena bandhu Deena is a given name that is mainly feminine, but sometimes masculine. Some notables name Deena include: Women: * Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz (born 1975), Saudi Arabian princess * Deena Deardurff (born 1957), American retired swimmer * Deena Dill, A ...

but for reasons not known, Director of the film hasn't kept it in the film. So Sankaram got disheartened but HMV Gramphone company bought this song for mere INR. 116/- (Hundred sixteen rupees only) from him. The music for the lyrics were composed by

Tanguturi Suryakumari Tanguturi Suryakumari (13 November 1925 – 25 April 2005), also known by her married name Suryakumari Elvin, was an Indian singer, actress and dancer in Telugu cinema. She sang " Maa Telugu Thalliki", the official song of the State of Andhra P ...

and S. Balasaraswathi. The Album was released and it was overwhelmingly received by the public turning it as a great seller for the company. He penned a different version of Ramayana by the name Sundara Ramayanam. Later on, he also wrote Sundara Bharatam, besides half-a-dozen other works. Unfortunately, none of his works are available for reprint, even with senior

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

or his relatives. With this, posterity is denied the opportunity of studying his great works. He wrote 'Buddhageeta' which was popular seller over 10000 copies. He used to engage a renowned scholar of his time, Kapistalam Srirangachary in (friendly) literary duels and discuss politics with

Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar (4 February 1891 – 19 March 1978) was the first Deputy Speaker and then Speaker of the Lok Sabha in the Indian Parliament. He also served as the 5th Governor of Bihar. He was born in Thiruchanoor, Tirup ...

, former

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

speaker, both of whom resided in the same street. His poetry was liked by all and in one such memorable moment, He was given a cheque of INR. 116/- and honoured by the then President of India,

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 ...

and the Prime Minister of India

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 ...

Personal life

When he went on a work to Kanchipuram, he came to know about the health conditions of the girl Vedammal from her parents whom he eventually married and started living at Tirupati. They were happy for some time, but later when she became ill (psychological imbalance) and soon after died. They had a daughter, but she also died at the age of 5. Having lost love of his life, Sankaram became unstable and led a wanderer life. He toured many places, written some books during this period and one such ''Buddha Geeta'' became popular and sold over 10000 copies. However, with his wayward and unstable life towards the end, he missed many opportunities and recognition in life. Thus remained an unsung hero who has not received due recognition and also monetary benefits. Forced to lead a poverty stricken life and ill health, Sankaram died in the year 1977.

Awards and felicitations

* Prasanna Kavi award, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati * In the year 1975, on the occasion of 'World Telugu convention', he was honoured by the State government of Andhra Pradesh * Tirupati Authority has installed a bronze statue in memory of him

Trivia

Faintly recalling Sankarambadi's death in the summer of 1977, another relative working in a bank has suggested to the Government to institute a chair in a university or a literary award in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundaraachari, Sankarambadi 1914 births 1977 deaths Telugu writers Poets from Andhra Pradesh People from Chittoor district 20th-century Indian poets