An exclusive gallery highlighting the legacy of popular playback singer-cum-composer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao will be established at Bapu Museum (erstwhile Victoria Museum) by the State government, according to Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad here on Sunday.
Speaking at the 94th birth anniversary of the legendary singer, he said the museum would house all the awards, rewards, trophies and memorabilia and articles the singer used such as footwear, pens and spectacles for posterity. “We are planning to divide the first floor into two and use one half for the museum. The estimated cost of the project will be ₹ 1.5 crore,” he added.
Language and Culture Department Director D. Vizia Bhaskar said the services of the experts would be sought for establishing a digital segment, which would house all the songs rendered by the maestro. “This effort is to bring the legendary singer close to the next generation. We are planning to have digital catalogue for the benefit of the tech-savvy youngsters.”
Earlier, floral tributes were paid to the singer at the Government Music College named after him in which Ghantasala Ratna Kumar, son of the singer, and several die-hard fans took part and rendered songs sung by the maestro.
Mr. Challa Subbarayudu, who has a huge collection of the songs of ‘masteru’, said he would donate all the books collected over decades to the museum. Several fans, who took part in an interaction session, promised to donate the memorabilia they possessed. “For all of us Ghantasala is God. Our only request is that the distinctiveness of the great singer should be protected,” they said in unison.
The evening saw Mr. Angadi Siva Prasad along with other musicians enthralling the audience with the run-away hit songs crooned by the great singer, A short film – ‘Gandhi margamlo Ghantasala’, directed by B. Satya Jagadish was screened. A book “An epitome of tradition and the individual talent” by Mr. Ranganath Nandyal was released.
