''Sri Gauri Mahatyam'' () is a 1956 Indian

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 ...

-language

swashbuckler film Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-c ...

, directed by

D. Yoganand Dasari Yoganand (16 April 1922 – 23 November 2006) was a South Indian film director. Early life Yoganand was born in Madras under British India. His parents were Venkata Das, estate manager under Nawaab Raza Ali Khan of Machilipatnam, and La ...

. It stars

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 ...

and

Sriranjani Jr. Sriranjani (22 February 1927 – 27 April 1974) was an Indian actress active in Telugu and Tamil films. She was the younger sister of Sriranjani. She is known mainly for her tragedy roles particularly as the long-suffering wife. Life in Brief ...

, with music jointly composed by

Ogirala Ramachandra Rao Ogirala Ramachandra Rao ( te, ఓగిరాల రామచంద్రరావు) (1905–1957) was an Indian actor, music director and multi instrumentalist, predominant in Telugu cinema. Early life and career Ogirala was born on 10 Sept ...

and

T. V. Raju Thotakura Venkata Raju (Telugu: తోటకూర వెంకట రాజు), better known as T. V. Raju (1921 - 20 February 1973), was an Indian music composer who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. He worked as an assistant composer to ...

Plot

The film begins with a King (C.S.R.) who has two wives, the first wife Satyavathi Devi (P. Hemalatha) is an ardent devotee of Goddess Mangala Gauri and she names her daughter Bala Gauri. On the other side, as the second wife Satyabhama (Suryakala) is childless she begrudges and poisons them when Satyavathi dies, but Gauri escapes. Years roll by, and Gauri (Srirajani Jr.) also grows up with the same devotion towards the goddess. Now Satyabhama decides to couple up her with a lunatic and assigns the task to gardener Thantalu (Relangi). But faithful Thantalu wants to stop this atrocity. Fortuitously, on the way, he gets acquainted with Prince Balaveera (N. T. Rama Rao). Learning about the plight, Balaveera promises Thantalu to wed Gauri, so, he enters in disguise as a lunatic and marries Gauri. Soon after, a dreadful secret is revealed regarding Balaveera. In his childhood, his father Satyavrata (Srivatsa) has broken an anoint pot on the idol when

Lord Siva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

(Kanta Rao) curses that the lifespan of his son is equal to the number of pieces that the pot has broken. Here a conflict arises between Siva & Parvathi (Latha), one destroys another to protect Balaveera. At present, Siva sends his snake to hit Balaveera but Parvathi pullbacks and transforms it into a cruel human called Bhujanga (Mukkamala). But Bhujanga gets the power of ''Trishula'' and returns in search of Balaveera. By that time, Gauri & Balaveera decamp to the forest where they are captured by a tribal king Durjaya who throws Balaveera into the river and holds Gauri. In the palace, Bhujanga traces Gauri and brings her back. Parallelly, Balaveera is saved by a saint who suggests he pray to Goddess Parvathi to get rid off from these dilemmas, so, he does so, and acquires a weapon ''Chandrayudham'' as a boon. At that point, Bhujangam tries to remove the sacred wedding chain (''Mangalasutra'') of Gauri, soon, Balaveera lands and the war erupts. Ultimately, Balaveera throws Bhujangam into the fire when he again transforms into a snake and bites him. Angered Gauri throttles its neck when Siva & Parvathi appear and make Balaveera alive. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note.

Cast

as Balaveerudu *

as Gauri *

Kanta Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao starred in more than four hundred feature ...

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

* Relangi as Tantalu * Mukkamala as Bhujanganadhudu * C. S. R. as Maharaju * Vangara as Astrologer *

Balakrishna Bala Krishna ( sa, बाल कृष्ण, lit=child Krishna/divine child Krishna, translit=Bālakṛṣṇa). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship alread ...

as Rangadu *

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

Suryakantham Suryakantam or Sooryakantam (pronounced sūryakāntam) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 17th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. I ...

as Raami *P. Hemalatha as Satyavathi Devi *

Pushpavalli Pushpavalli (3 January 1926 – 28 April 1991) was an Indian actress who predominently worked in Telugu and Tamil films. She entered the film industry as a child actress with a small role as young Sita in the film ''Sampoorna Ramayanam'' (1936) ...

*Seeta as Kaami *Suryakala as Satyabhama *Latha as

Goddess Parvathi Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

Soundtrack

Music composed by

and

References

External links

* {{D. Yoganand 1950s fantasy adventure films 1950s Telugu-language films Films scored by T. V. Raju Indian fantasy adventure films