Rich tributes were paid to revolutionary poet Kaloji Narayana Rao on the occasion of his 105th birth anniversary, which is also being observed as the Telangana Language Day.
Warangal Urban District Collector Prashanth Jeevan Patil, Rural Collector M Haritha, Zilla Parishad chairman M Sudheer Kumar and officials and political leaders garlanded the statue of the late peoples’ poet in Hanamkonda.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Patil said that the government has introduced several welfare schemes, besides implementing developmental programmes in line with the ideals of Kaloji Narayana Rao.
Rural Collector M Haritha sad Kaloji was the voice of the poor and downtrodden. Celebrating Kaloji’s birth anniversary as Telangana Language Day was fitting tribute to the great poet, she said.
Mr. Kumar recalled the contribution of Kaloji to the literary world and for the cause of Telangana. He was a symbol of defiance, Mr Kumar said.
Greater Warangal Congress president Katla Srinivas Rao said the legendary poet had longed for the well-being of society throughout his life. “His writings inspired many people to take part in Telangana movement. The people’s poet expressed the hardships of people in his book, Naa Godava . He brought recognition to Telangana language and culture through his poetry,” the Congress leader said.
Official language day
Karimnagar Special Correspondent adds: The prajakavi’s birth anniversary celebrations were held in various parts of Karimnagar district as Telangana Official Language Day.
On this occasion, floral tributes were paid by Collector Sarafaraz Ahmad, DRO Pravinya, ZP CEO Venkat Madhava Rao and others by garlanding his portrait in Collectorate.
Speaking on the occasion, the Collector said that Kaloji Narayana Rao fought throughout his life for the political and social empowerment of the society and strived for the setting up of libraries in each village.
Rajanna-Sircilla Collector D Krishna Bhaskar said Kaloji strived hard for the protection of Telangana dialect and language through his writings and poems.
Joint Collector Yasmeen Basha and others were also present.
Minute’s silence observed
Nizamabad Special Correspondent adds: People paid rich tributes to the Prajakavi and Padma Vibhushan across the erstwhile undivided district.
Collector M. Ram Mohan Rao led people in paying homage to the departed soul at Pragati Bhavan here while his counterpart in Kamareddy, N. Satyanarayana, took the responsibility to perform Kaloji Jayanthi officially. They garlanded the portrait of Kaloji and observed a minute’s silence in respect of the departed literary and cultural leader of Telangana.
Poems recited
Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri Staff Reporter adds from Ramannapet: While top officials and leaders across the district paid tributes by garlanding Kaloji, students of Ramannapet Government Degree College recited his poems to celebrate the day.
Students along with teachers here sat in a circle, and took turns reciting and summarising poems from Na Godava , the doyen's masterwork.
Principal of the college, Belli Yadaiah, said the recital, followed by discussion on each of the 30 poems, truly made it a ‘Kaloji day’ for the entire institution.
“Kaloji's poems are social, literary, political and revolutionary. We wanted the students, irrespective of their backgrounds, to know about him and his work,” Mr. Yadaiah said.
