Telangana Language Day is celebrated on 9 September every year in

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

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 ...

. This date was chosen on the occasion of renowned writer, poet of the Telangana

Kaloji Narayana Rao Kaloji Narayana Rao (9 September 1914 – 13 November 2002) was an Indian poet, freedom fighter, anti-fascist and political activist of Telangana. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1992. The Telangana government honored Kaloji's birthday as ...

's 100th birth anniversary. The

Government of Telangana The Government of Telangana also known as Telangana Government, is the governing authority of the state of Telangana in India. It consists of an executive, a judiciary and a legislative. The state government is headed by the Governor of Telan ...

provides funds and awards for the improvement of

dialect 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 ...

. The Department of Culture organises the day on behalf of The Telangana Government. Shri Kaloji Narayana Rao, from Warangal district, wrote several poems, stories and novels about daily aspects of the common man's life. Kaloji Narayana Rao's "Naa Godava" is the most famous among all his writings.

Kaloji Narayana Rao

Kaloji Narayana Rao (9 September 1914 (

Madikonda Madikonda is a neighbourhood of Warangal in Telangana, India. It is on the way from Hyderabad to Warangal on National Highway 163 (India). During 2011 Census, Madikonda which was earlier a partly rural village have been classified as fully outgr ...

) – 13 November 2000 (

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

) Spouse: Rukmini Bai Awards: Padma Vibhushan Better known as Kaloji or Kalanna, he was an Indian poet, freedom fighter, Anti-fascist and political activist of Telangana. He was a prolific writer and poet in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. He was also a respected political activist who staunchly opposed the feudal attitude of Nizams. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1992. Kaloji Narayana Rao's full name according to his SSC certificate is Raghuveer Narayan Srinivasan Kaloji. Kaloji completed his primary education in

and higher education in Warangal and Hyderabad.

Movements

Since his student days he was deeply influenced by the popular movements of the time like the Arya Samaj Movement, especially the civil rights part of it, the Library Movement and the Andhra Maha Sabha Movement. He was also part of Satyagraha movement, the Osmania University Student Vandemataram movement, Arya Samaj, State Congress, Andhra Mahasabha(Telangana) and Anti-Razakar movements. Kaloji took part in Andhra Maha Sabha activities since its formation in 1934. He was also associated with the Arya Samaj. He actively participated in the freedom movement of the erstwhile Hyderabad State and underwent imprisonment under the Nizam. He has also participated in various social, political and literary activities in Andhra Pradesh. His active involvement with the masses and their problems and his tireless struggle for their emancipation have naturally earned him in equal measure the love of the people and the wrath of the powers that be. He is one of those select freedom fighters of our country who were imprisoned by the feudal lords and the alien rulers before the attainment of Indian Independence and also by the native leaders thereafter. He has consistently fought for the democratic and responsible government. His commitment to human rights made him an active member of the Tarkunde Committee. Although opposed to power and the trapping of office Kaloji looked upon elections as a democratic exercise. He ran for public office three times and was elected once as a member of the legislative council. His most significant contest was in 1977 against Vengal Rao then Chief Minister who symbolised the 'emergency' rule in Andhra Pradesh.

References

{{Telangana Telugu language Language observances