Tripuraneni RamaswamyRemembering ‘Kaviraju'
''The Hindu'', 17 April 2011. (1887–1943), also known as Tripuraneni Ramaswamy, was a lawyer, poet, playwright and reformer active among the Telugu-speaking people. He was popularly known as Kaviraju (the "king of poets"), a title given to him by the Andhra Mahasabha in 1929. Ramaswamy was part of a growing movement in

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 ...

to reassess the

culture of India Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term al ...

. This movement included such people as

Ram Mohan Roy Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( bn, রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform ...

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century ...

, Ranade, Dayananda Saraswati,

Kandukuri Veeresalingam Kandukuri Veeresalingam (16 April 1848 27 May 1919) was a social reformer and writer from the Madras Presidency, British India. He is considered as the father of the Telugu Renaissance movement. He was one of the early social reformers who en ...

and

Gurazada Apparao Gurajada Venkata Apparao (21 September 1862 – 30 November 1915) was an Indian playwright, dramatist, poet, and writer known for his works in Telugu theatre. Rao wrote the play '' Kanyasulkam'' in 1892, which is considered as the greatest play ...

Childhood and early years

Ramaswamy was born in the village of Angaluru in the Krishna District (present-day

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 ...

) into a family of farmers. At the age of 23, he passed his

Matriculation Examination A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a school leaving certificate recognising academi ...

. In the same year Ramaswamy wrote two plays: ''Karempudi Kadanam,'' based on the

Palanadu Palnadu is a region located in Palnadu district and covering a portion of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is spread over the revenue divisions of Gurazala in Palnadu district and Markapur in Prakasam district. History The ...

battle, and ''Kurukshetra Sangramam,'' based on the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

war. In 1911, Ramaswamy joined the

Noble College Noble College in Machilipatnam was founded by late Robert Turlington Noble, an English missionary, in 1843. Rev. Noble came to then Masulipatnam (now Machilipatnam also known as Bandar) as a Christian Missionary in 1841 and stayed until his dea ...

at Bandar to study for the

Intermediate Course Intermediate may refer to: * Intermediate 1 or Intermediate 2, educational qualifications in Scotland * Intermediate (anatomy), the relative location of an anatomical structure lying between two other structures: see Anatomical terms of locati ...

. In those years he displayed his literary skills and prodigious memory in his

Avadhanam Avadhānaṃ is a literary performance popular from the very ancient days in India. Avadhānaṃ originated as a Sanskrit literary process and is revived in modern times by poets in Telugu primarily. It involves the partial improvisation of poems ...

. In 1914, Ramaswamy went to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and studied law as well as English Literature and modern

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Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. During this time, Ramaswamy wrote to Krishna Patrika, a Telugu weekly appealing to Indians to support the

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

movement started by Annie Besant. He pleaded for

India's independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

. Ramaswamy wrote many patriotic songs during the independence movement. After returning to India, Ramaswamy practiced law for some years, mostly in

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...

town. However, his main activity was directed towards social reforms. He launched a full-scale attack on

casteism Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

and the social injustices resulting from it.

Literary career and public life

Ramaswamy chose literary writing as the vehicle for expressing his rationalist thoughts, and he worked with his close friend Unnava Lakshminarayana, who was a renowned

Telugu Brahmin Telugu Brahmins are Brahmin communities native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. History Origin theories According to the ''Aitareya Brahmana'' of the Rigveda, the Andhras left north India from the banks of the River Yamuna ...

Brahmo leader. His poetic work '' Kuppuswamy Satakam'' reveals the theme of social revolution and talks about social evils, blind faith and indignity to man. In his other works such as '' Sambhukavadha'', '' Suthashrama geethaalu'', '' Dhoortha maanava'', '' Khooni'', ''

Bhagavadgita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

'', ''

Rana Pratap Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap (c. 9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), was a king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty. Pratap became a folk hero for his military resistance against the expansionism of the Mughal Empire under ...

'' and '' Kondaveeti pathanam'', Ramaswamy made a rational analysis of dogmas prescribed by ancient classics and the injustice these dogmas did to people belonging to the lower social orders. Moreover, Ramaswamy attacked discriminatory practices and fought against the idea of

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

. Ramaswamy was against the traditional

Hindu marriage The Hindu marriage () is the most important of all the samskaras, the rites of passage described in the Dharmashastra texts. Variously defined, it is generally described to be a social institution for the establishment and regulation of a prope ...

ceremony which resulted in burdensome expenditure, especially among the poor. He prepared a simple procedure in Telugu called Vivaha Vidhi. He officiated at many marriages. Ramaswamy was a patriot even when he was a student. He wrote a patriotic play ''Rana Pratap'', which was proscribed by the British government. He was an ardent lover of 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 ...

and culture and was proud of their history. He was an educationist and was a member of the senate of the

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 d ...

for three terms. Ramaswamy was awarded many honors and was popularly known as 'Kaviraju', a title conferred on him. The Indian government issued a commemorative postage stamp with his picture in 1987, his centenary year.

Children

Among his children were

Tripuraneni Gopichand Tripuraneni Gopichand (8 September 1910 – 2 November 1962) was a Telugu short story writer, novelist, editor, essayist, playwright, film director, and a radical humanist. Gopichand was the son of renowned social reformer and play writer Tripu ...

, who left his own mark on the Telugu literature. Ramaswamy's grandson and Gopichand's son, Sai Chand is an actor in Telugu film industry.

References

Bibliography

* Ramaswamy Tripuraneni (1887–1943), Luminaries of 20th Century, Part 2, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005, pp: 552–3. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramaswamy ChoWdary, Tripuraneni 1887 births 1943 deaths Indian social reformers Academic staff of Andhra University Poets from Andhra Pradesh Telugu poets People from Krishna district Indian male poets 20th-century Indian poets Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Activists from Andhra Pradesh Dramatists and playwrights from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers