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Veturi Prabhakara Sastri (7 February 1888 – 29 August 1950) was a
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 ...
and
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 ...
scholar, editor, translator and historian. He was born in the town of
Pedakallepalli
Pedakallēpalli is a village in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Mopidevi mandal of Machilipatnam revenue division. It is one of the villages in the mandal to be a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. Su ...
in the
Krishna District
Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the di ...
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 ...
. He was known for deciphering a few thousand of Annamayya's composition during his tenure at the Devasthanam Oriental Institute. He is also recognized for his scholarship on Telugu poet
Srinatha's work. Veturi was involved in researching lost texts and forgotten literature, and he is regarded for his enlightened and liberal scholarship that was free of literary or religious prejudices.
Work
As a publisher and writer, he introduced to the
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 ...
people several antiquated texts, in association with
Manavalli Ramakrishna Kavi from prachya likhita pustaka bhandagaram (library of ancient scripts). He discovered the copper scripts of
Annamayya
Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (IAST: taḷḷapāka annamācārya; 22 May 1408 – 4 April 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a 15th-century Hindu saint and the ear ...
's poetry and introduced them to Telugu people. Similarly, he unearthed palm scripts of Ranganatha's Ragadalu. He published Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra, Srinatha Vaibhavamu, Sringara Srinatham, Manu Charitra, Basava Puranam etc. with elaborate introductions. He translated Bhasa's Pratima Natakam, Karnaabharam and Madhyama Vyayogam.
Veturi Prabhakara Sastry was also an editor of Ayurvedic texts. He edited and wrote an introduction for an Ayurvedic text called the Carucarya for a patron, the then-
Raja of Muktyala
Raja Vasireddy Ramagopala Krishna Maheswara Prasad, popularly known as Muktyala Raja (4 October 1917 – 28 August 1972) was the King of Muktyala samasthanam, politician, and patron of Ayurveda. He was instrumental in the construction of the Na ...
. He also edited the 'Ballad of the Battle of Yerragaddapadu' written by Gangula Pinayellaya. Veturi also edited many
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
religious
satakam
Sathakam is a Telugu literary piece of art. The name derives from ''Sata'', which means a ''hundred'' in Sanskrit. Sathakam usually comprises a hundred poems (give or take). Hence, a Sathakam is a volume (book) of hundred poems.It is one of the mo ...
s and stavams in praise of
Venkateshwara
Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Etymology
Venkatesw ...
, such as Venkatachala Vihara Satakam. Veturi Prabhakara Sastry was also a translator. He rendered the classical Sanskrit farcical play 'Bhagavadajjukam' of Bodhyanakavi into Telugu, and he translated a Sanskrit farcical play 'Mattavilasaprahasanam' into a Telugu work entitled 'Mattavilasamu.'
Vangmaya Peetham
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...
(TTD) established "Sriman Veturi Prabhakara Sastri Vangmaya Peetham" in 2007 to publish his books and research works. A life-size bronze statue of Sri Veturi was installed before the SVETA Complex in
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 refe ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sastri, Veturi Prabhakara
Writers from Andhra Pradesh
Telugu writers
Indian Sanskrit scholars
1888 births
1950 deaths
People from Krishna district
20th-century Indian translators
20th-century Indian historians