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A Collector's vow

The city paid rich tributes to the Jnan Peeth awardee in a fitting manner. Andavilli Satyanarayana recounts the glorious moments.

FITTING TRIBUTE The then Collector J. Harinarayana addressing the memorial lecture

Viswanatha Satyanarayana Memorial lectures were organised in S.R.R. & C.V.R. Government College here for three days in March 1984. Lovers of literature were treated to a rich fare by professors and scholars including G.V. Subramanyam, T. Donappa, C. Sundara Rama Sarma, Aruna Vyas, Puranam Subramanya Sarma and J. Bapu Reddy, who spoke on the poetic excellence of three great poets - Tikkana, Srinatha and Viswanatha.

Inaugurating the lectures, J. Harinarayana, then Collector of Krishna district and the present Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, paid rich tributes to the `Jnan Peeth' awardee.

He said that it was embarrassing for him to speak about Viswanatha whose works he had not read, though his mother tongue was Telugu, as he had his education all through in other States.

Proposal shelved

To my appeal, as the secretary of the committee, for his help in the construction of `Viswanatha Bharati', an auditorium and research centre for literary and cultural activities and for the installation of a bronze statue of the litterateur in the city to perpetuate his memory, Mr. Harinarayana responded favourably and assured all possible help from the Government, if there were concrete proposals from citizens.

However, within a short time, he was transferred out of the district. It was much later both the proposals took shape, but without any help from the Government.

Viswanatha's bronze statue was unveiled in 1994 by President of India Shankar Dayal Sharma in Lenin Centre on the occasion of the former's birth centenary celebrations. This became possible due to the munificent contribution of Malladi brothers of Chennai, who were his students.

Efforts continued for a long time to get his house in Marutinagar, where he lived from 1945 to 1976, acquired by the Government for making it a national monument. But nothing happened, despite Viswanatha's great admirer and translator of his `magnum opus', Veyi Padagalu into Hindi (Sahasra Phan) P.V.Narasimha Rao holding important positions in the Government for a long time, including the prime ministership.

Finally, it fell to the lot of Viswanatha's family itself to donate it for the noble cause.

Sahitya Peetham

Viswanadha Bharati was inaugurated by Sri Siddheswarananda Bharati Swami of Courtalam Peetham in April 2005. Even before that in 2003, with the initiative of Dr.V.Kondala Rao, `Viswanadha Sahitya Peetham' was established in Hyderabad with very eminent persons from different walks of life on the Board of Management.

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