A painter in Ongole has come out with a unique tribute to Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu, the first Chief Minister of Andhra State, by painting the Island Villa, the bungalow which no longer exists.
It was from the palatial bungalow, the barrister-turned-freedom fighter spearheaded the freedom struggle in these parts, recalls the artist Macharaju Ramachandra Rao, who has closely observed the style of functioning of Prakasam Pantulu as a student of a nearby school, popularly referred as Thopula Badi by old-timers.
Now, except for the plaque, there is nothing to cherish the memory of Prakasam Pantulu, who headed the fledgling State at difficult times. He had laid the foundation for putting the first linguistic State in the country on the path of progress after shirking the colonial past, says the painter, proudly showing his artistic creation to The Hindu .
It was in the Island Villa, the Andhra Kesari maintained a library and motivated different sections of people to plunge into the freedom movement after giving up a lucrative legal practise. Youngsters used to eagerly wait for a copy of ‘Swarajya’, a newspaper brought out by Prakasam, Andhra Kesari Prakasam Seva Samiti leader P.Venkateswarulu recalls.
A major portion of the house has been converted into a private college now after it changed several hands. Mr. Venkateswarulu feels that there is still some place left over in the Island Villa and the same can be used for construction of a suitable memorial for the members of GenX to draw inspiration from the great leader.
It was from Island Villa that the legendary leader spearheaded the freedom struggle
