Memorial for Gurajada to come up at his birthplace

Schoolchildren rendering the song 'Desamante matti kadoyi...' at a programme organised tomark the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahakavi Gurajada in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Photo: A. Manikanta kumar

A memorial for Mahakavi Gurajada Appa Rao would be built in the city and a fitting memorial is being planned in the place he was born in S. Rayavaram in the district, Minister for Infrastructure, Investments and Ports Ganta Srinivas Rao said.

Addressing a function organised by the district administration on the occasion, he urged the schoolchildren to learn from the works of Gurajada. After listening to the poem “Desamnu preminchamana manchi annadi penchamanna…”, rendered by some 3,000 schoolchildren on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of the poet, playwright and social reformer, the Minister pointed out that every line in the immortal work was relevant even today and urged the students to learn from it.

He directed the Education Department to ensure that the schools include social values and ethics and spirit of patriotism in the curriculum.

Professors of Andhra University V. Simhanna and Mohan Rao spoke on the works of Gurajada and their relevance today.

Mahakavi addressed the issue of gender justice more than a century ago and he can be rightly said to be the inspiration for the present day writers, they said.

The students who rendered the immortal song should remember that they were a part of the celebrations of a great man and should be inspired by him and his works, District Collector V Seshadri said.

Earlier, the Minister garlanded the bust of Gurajada at the Gurajada Kalakshetram. Commissioner Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation M V Satyanarayana, City Police Commissioner J Purnachandra Rao, Vice Chairman Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority K Sasidhar, Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad D V Redy, Additional Joint Collector Y Narasimha Rao, District Revenue Officer M Venkateswara Rao, District Education Officer K Krishnaveni, chairman of Zilla Grandhalaya T Nagesh and other officials participated.

Earlier Students from a number of schools took out a rally around the VUDA office and reached the Gurajada Kalakshetram. Students of Prema High School performed a dance and a theatre group presented two brief episodes from Gurajada’s Kanyasulkam.