Andhra Pradesh   

State to celebrate Krishnadevaraya fete

Geeta Reddy

HYDERABAD: Taking a cue from Karnataka the Andhra Pradesh Government has finalised a Rs 5-crore action plan to celebrate the 500 {+t} {+h} anniversary of the coronation of Sri Krishnadevaraya this year, befitting the stature and image of the emperor who hailed Telugu as the best of languages.

It has decided to organise the main celebrations at Anantapur which lies close to Hampi, the capital of the Vijayanagara empire, and festivals at Penukonda in Anantapur district used by the emperor as his second capital. Dates for the events will be finalised soon.

As part of the action plan, all historical places and archaeological sites associated with Sri Krishnadevaraya will be renovated and rehabilitated with a sum of Rs. 20 crore sought from the Union Government.

The places would include Penukonda, where every inch is occupied by one structure or the other built by the emperor or his successors and Simhachalam at which he raised a victory pillar putting a halt to his invasions after annexing all the territories up to this place, into his empire. The other places are Vinukonda, Kondaveedu, Kondapalli etc. Sri Krishnadevaraya visited both Srisailam and Tirumala and presented gifts to the presiding deities.

Cultural Affairs Minister J. Geeta Reddy had informed the Assembly on Thursday that Chief Minister K. Rosaiah had formed a high level committee headed by her, to work out the details of the celebrations. The committee was already on the job to identify the historical places connected with Sri Krishnadevaraya whose empire was spread over present Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

She recalled that the emperor worked for welfare of his subjects, constructed irrigation tanks and temples all over, and patronised poets and men of letters. Telugu was in its glory during his period. The Minister assured steps to send out a godman who had encroached some archaeological sites at Penukonda.

A meeting of the high power committee held here on Saturday, chaired by Ms. Geeta Reddy later decided to invite President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for celebrations which will be organised throughout the year. The other decisions taken by the committee provided fro the creation of a permanent public asset in honour of Sri Krishnadevaraya whose rule is referred to, by historians as golden age and organise seminars/debates and competitions in several fine arts especially literature.

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