Passionate about reading books from childhood

Bibliophile Lanka Suryanarayana has a collection of over 65,000 books and nearly 4 lakh important paper cuttings

April 26, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:50 am IST - VIJAYAWADA:

VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH, 23/04/2015: Book lover Lanka Suryanarayana. 
Photo: V. Raju

VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH, 23/04/2015: Book lover Lanka Suryanarayana. Photo: V. Raju

Lanka Suryanarayana is an unapologetic bibliophile, hopelessly in love with the written word. At 80, his eyes sparkle like that of a child when he is talking about the pleasure of reading books.

Born in an agriculturist’s family in Guntur, he went to the village elementary school. As a young boy, he started reading Bengali writer Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s translated novels which were very popular in Andhra Pradesh in 1950s and 60s, under the influence of his paternal uncle Anand Rao. “That got me hooked and I started collecting books whenever, wherever and by whatever means it was possible,” says Mr. Suryanarayana.

Treasure trove

As the collection grew in size, his interest developed into an obsession and what began as an assortment of a few books in 1950, transformed into a treasure trove of over 65,000 books and nearly 4 lakh important paper cuttings besides other printed material.

The vast collection includes nearly 4,000 dictionaries, encyclopaedias, 200-300 Bhagvad Gitas, 200 Upanishads, books and compilations of all genres, complete works of famous Telugu writers like Kutumba Rao, Sri Sri, Muppala Ranganayakamma, Suryadevara Sanjiv Dev, Narla Venkateswara Rao, Viswanatha Satyanarayana and Devulapalli Krishna Sastry.

A retired Preventive Superintendent from the Customs and Central Excise Department, Mr. Suryanarayana made books his best friends after superannuation.

Sharing a vivid account of people of the same ilk, he talks about Paturi Subba Rao, brother of Kalaprapoorna Paturi Nagabhushanam who heralded the library movement in Andhra Pradesh.

“Even at 80, he was a voracious reader. After he was done with books in almost all libraries in Guntur, he would come to me cycling every single day looking for a new book. His very sight would trigger worry for me for it meant an intensive search for a book he had not read so far,” he reminiscence.

He then recalls the visit of writer and former editor of Illustrated Weekly of India Avadhanam Sita Raman’s visit to his house.

“The two hours he spent were very fruitful for me,” he says.

Try telling him that the book-reading habit is on the wane and he vehemently nods to the sides.

“There may be a temporary lull. But people are bound to turn back to the book. Books will not go anywhere; they are here for posterity,” he says emphatically.

Public domain

Mr. Satyanarayana has given away his vast collection of books to the Annamayya Temple Trust primarily to bring the wealth of knowledge into public domain.

There may be a temporary lull. But people are bound to turn back to the book. Books will not go anywhere; they are here for posterity

Lanka Suryanarayana

Bibliophile

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