Nidudavolu Venkatarao (3 January 1903 – 15 October 1982) was an Indian littérateur, and historian 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 fami ...

. He was regarded as "Jangama Vijnanasvarasvam" in Telugu ("Moving encyclopedia"). Venatrao was a Lecturer, Reader and Head of the Department of Telugu at the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

. While he was working in Madras university, he undertook a little-known work tripurantakodaaharanam, and published it with elaborate annotations in 1935.https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400860906.309/pdf He continued to work on the genre, udaaharana vanjmayam, and published udaaharana vanjmaya charitra (History of udaaharana literature). Among his other works with extensive revisions, Panditaraadhya charitra, Basava Puranam, and Poets in South Indian Literature are considered valuable in the history of Telugu literature. After his retirement, he moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. He was a Professor of University Grants Commission, a special position created for retired professors, 1964–1968. Venkatarao embraced

Saivaite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

tradition in his life. He died on

Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu c ...

day at midnight on 15 October 1982, at the age of 79 in

. His grand daughter

Jayasudha Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She has also worked in few Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known as natural actress, she received fiv ...

is an actress in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

Early life

He was born to Nidudavolu Sundaram Pantulu and Jogamma on 3 January 1903 in

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

town in

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 ...

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 ...

. He was married to Palakodeti Lakshmi Kanthamma and he had five sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Sundareswara Rao was also a well-known research scholar. Venkatarao started as a clerk in the

Imperial Bank of India The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was one of the oldest and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, and was subsequently transformed into the State Bank of India in 1955. Initially, as per its royal charter, it acted as the cen ...

(now State Bank of India) in Vizianagaram in 1926. After a year, he was transferred to Kakinada, where he worked until 1939 where he met with the Pithapuram Maharaja, who invited him to work on his dictionary project, Suryarayandhra Nighantuvu. In 1940, he went to Madras to earn his M. A. Degree and returned to Kakinada to work as a lecturer in a college. In 1942, he returned to

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

, where he worked as lecturer, reader and Head of the Department of Telugu until 1964.

Literary works

This is partial List of the works by Nidudavolu Venkatarao: * Cinnayasuri jeevitamu:

Paravastu Chinnayasuri Paravastu Chinnayasuri (1806/7–1861/2) (Telugu: పరవస్తు చిన్నయ సూరి) was a Telugu writer who played a prominent role in the elevation of prose to importance in Telugu literature. He was the first Telugu Pandit ...

krutha Hindu dhramasastra sangrahamu sahitamugaa, 1962 * Dakshinadeseeyandhra vanjmayamu, The Southern School of Telugu Literature. (With preface in English) 1954 * Kopparapu sodarakavula charitra. 1973. * Nannechodunu kavitaavaibhavamu: Nannechoduni padyaalaku ruchira vyakhyaanamu.. 1976. * Potana. 1962. * Telugu kavula charitra. 1956. * Udaaharana vanjmaya charitra. 1968 * Vijayanagara samsthaanamu: Andhra vanjmaya poshana. 1965. * Andhra vachana vanjmayamu. 1977. * Andhra vachana vanjmayamu: pracheena kalamu nundi 1900 A.D. varaku. 1954 * Bhamaakalaapamu, edited by P. Jayamma. 1999

Prefaces and commentaries

*Sri Nachana Somanathuni hamsaadibakopakhyanamu (uttara harivamsamu, chaturtha aswaasamu). Commentary by Nidudavolu Venkatarao. 1972.

Editions and revisions

*Sivatatthva saaramu by Mallikarjuna Panditaaraadhyulu. Edited with extensive annotations by Nidudavolu Venkatarao, 1968. *Prabodha chandrodayamu by Nandi Mallaya. Edited by Nidudavolu Venkatarao, 1976. *Sabdaratnakaram by Bahujanapalli Sitaramacharyulu (1827–1891). Revised by Nidudavolu Venkatarao. 1969.

Collaborations

* Sakalanitisaaramu, by Madiki Singana. Edited by Nidudavolu Venkatarao and Ponangi Srirama Apparao. 1970. * Manavalli rachanalu. Edited by Nidudavolu Venkatarao and Ponangi Srirama Apparao. 1972. * Telugu Kannadamula samskrutika sambandhaalu, by Nidudavolu Venkatarao, et al. 1974. * Telugu, Kannada, Tamila, Malayala bhashalalo saati samethalu, compiled by Nidudavolu Venkatarao, et al., 1961.

Titles and awards

* "Vidyaratna" awarded by Andhra Saraswata Parishad, Narasaraopet. * tripurantakodaaharam, edited with elaborate annotations by Venkatarao won Telugu Bhasha Samiti award. *

Kalaprapoorna Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest don ...

title, conferred by

Andhra University Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest do ...

in 1970. * UGC Professorship from 1964 to 1967

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venkatarao, Nidudavolu Telugu writers People from Vizianagaram 1903 births 1982 deaths