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A Brief Introduction of Sri Kandukuri Veeresalingam
Kandukuri Veeresalingam (16 April 1848 - 27 May 1919) was a social reformer of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in an orthodox Andhra family. He is widely considered as the man who first brought about a renaissance in Telugu people and Telugu literature.He got involved in the cause of social reforms. In 1876 he started a Telugu journal and wrote the first prose for women. He encouraged education for women, and started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874. He started a social organisation called Hitakarini (Benefactor).
He had many firsts to his credit: novelist (Rajasekhara Charitra inspired by Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of the Wakefiled), critic, autobiographer, biographer, essayist, poet, writer of plays and playlets, satirist, investigative journalist (One judge dispensing judgments and dismissing justice committed suicide after the expose), scientific writing. He translated many books from Sanskrit and English into Telugu. He also contributed to children’s literature by basing his children’s book on Aesop’s Fables. He was all for vernacular Telugu, which became the precursor of the language now.
In Andhra, there was no such thing as a town hall. It was he who started these town hall meetings wherein local communities could be engaged.
Veeresalingam panthulu is popularly called Gadhya Thikkana.He wrote about 100 books between 1869 and 1919 and introduced the essay, biography, autobiography and the novel into Telugu literature.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam is considered as prophet of Modern Andhra. Veeresalingam awakened Andhras out of their suffocating medieval orthodox customs and superstitions. He was not only a reformer, but also a literary activist. His literary activities were varied. He was the first to write a Telugu novel (Rajasekhara Charitramu), Telugu drama, books on natural sciences and history in Telugu, and Telugu prose for women. He was considered the father of renaissance in Andhra.
He was a reformist writer. His initial writings were in classical style of Prabandhas. He wrote several Satakas, such as, Gopala Satakamu, Markandeya Satakamu etc. His Abhagyopakhyanamu is a humorous satire on the Andhra society. His Rajasekhara Charitramu was the first Telugu novel.
Veeresalingam was one of the greatest personalities and earliest reformers in India to demand for radical changes in Telugu Indian society. He had a keen insight, great courage and dynamic energy. He fought against untruth and championed the cause of progress with vigor. He fought for education for women, and remarriage of widows. He arranged the first widow remarriage in India on December 11, 1881.He started Vivekavardhini, a monthly journal, to point out and criticize the defects in the society. He also maintained several other journals like Chintamani, Sateehitabodha, Satyasavardhani, Satyavadi etc., and helped develop the Telugu literature and reformation of the society. He established in 1874 a girls school at Dhavaleswaram to encourage women's education. In 1884, he established another school for girls at Innispeta in Rajamundry. He also established an organization called Hitakarini Society and donated all his property for the social activities to improve the society and support various organizations set up by him. He ridiculed the opponents of women's education in many satires, lampoons and drama like "Brahma Vivaham." Through his writings he criticized early marriages, Kanyasulkam (price of bride) and marriages of old men with young girls.
In his last days he admired the vernacular Telugu (Vyavahara Bhasha) and the then independence movement organized by the Congress. He published the "ANDHRA KAVULA CHARITRA" (History of Andhra Poets), which is the basis for the history of Andhra and Andhra Literature. Sri Viresalingam started the revolution to reform the then existing Telugu language usage which led to the birth of "Vyavaharaika Bhasha". This revolution was later successfully handled by Sri Gidugu Ramamurty of Parlakimedi and Sri Gurajada Apparao of Vizianagaram. Every common and ordinary Telugite should be grateful to Sri Kandukuri Viresalingam, Sri Gidugu Ramamurty, and Sri Gurajada Apparao for the fruits of their indifatiguable battle - the culture and creation of "Vyavaharika Telugu".
Had he been somehow with us now, (his 90th death anniversary is on May 27), he would have said to the girl on the Facebook, “Wow. That’s great.”