Veturi Prabhakara Sastri (7 February 1888 – 29 August 1950) was a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

scholar, editor, translator and historian. He was born in the town of Pedakallepalli in the

Krishna District Krishna district is a district in the Coastal Andhra region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is surrounded on the East by Bay of Bengal, West by Guntur district, Guntur, Bapatla distric ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. 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

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 () (09 May 1408 – 23 February 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a Telugu musician, composer, and a Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called '' samkirtanas.'' His devoti ...

'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. He also edited the 'Ballad of the Battle of Yerragaddapadu' written by Gangula Pinayellaya. Veturi also edited many

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

religious satakams and stavams in praise of

Venkateshwara Venkateswara (, ), also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkata, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. His consorts, Padmavati and Bhud ...

, 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 government trust in India managed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The trust primarily oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious center Venkatesw ...

(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 States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sastri, Veturi Prabhakara Writers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu writers Indian Sanskrit scholars 1888 births 1950 deaths Writers from Krishna district 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian historians