Chetty Bhanumurthy

Last updated

Chetty Bhanumurthy, CBCNC
Born(1888-02-23)February 23, 1888 [1]
Cocanada (Madras Presidency)
DiedJanuary 6, 1973(1973-01-06) (aged 84) [1]
Andhra Pradesh
Education
Alma mater
Years active1912–1973 (61 years)
Known forLyrical compositions in Telugu Christian Hymnal
Religion Christianity
Church Canadian Baptist Mission/Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars
Congregations served
CBM-Andhra Baptist Church, Kakinada (1913–1914/1918–1919)
Offices held
TitleThe Reverend

Chetti Bhanumurti (born 23 February 1888; [2] died 6 January 1973 [1] ) was a Hymn Writer whose hymns are found in the Hymnal in Telugu. [3] Bhanumurti was a Pastor of the Canadian Baptist Mission/Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars who also led the Principalship of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada from 1945 to 1956 leading to its affiliation to the nation's first [4] University, Senate of Serampore College (University) in 1946 [5]

Contents

Comparative religion Scholar R. R. Sundara Rao who researched at the University of Wisconsin–Madison highlighted the literary standard of Chetty Bhanumurti terming him as a pioneer hymn writer whose songs had the element of Bhakti. [6] The Old Testament Scholar, Victor Premasagar was also enthused by the lyrical content in Bhanumurti's compositions, [7] especially Hymn Number 94 titled Yesuku Samanulevaru (Translated Who is equal to you Lord?) with direct reference to Psalm 71:19 and strikingly similar to Tyagaraja's composition in Kharaharapriya. Dayanandan Francis brings Chetti Bhanumurti in the line of another Hymn writer, Puroshottam Choudhary and writes,

Like Choudari, Bhanumurti also is interested in picking up ideas, thought-forms and even ragas from popular Hindu poems and lyrics, while at the same time endeavouring to broaden the perspectives found in such religious literary forms with distinctive Christian ideas.

Studies

In 1915, [8] Bhanumurthy discerned his avocation towards priesthood and went for ministerial formation to the Serampore College, Serampore, a constituent College of the nation's first University, [4] studying up to 1918, [8] during the Principalship of George Howells, as a candidate of the Canadian Baptist Mission/Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars where Bhanumurthy obtained a Licentiate in Theology (L.Th.). [2]

Theological Teacher

Bhanumurthy taught at the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary in Ramayapatnam [2] and later on moved to Kakinada where he taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Kakinada along with Muthyala Theophilus who was his colleague. This was the period when A. B. Masilamani joined the seminary for spiritual formation. In 1952, Bhanumurthy became Principal of the seminary.

Hymns

Roger E. Hedlund, the Missiologist writes that along with the Bible, the Christian Hymnal in Telugu also forms the main bulwark of Christian spiritual life for the Telugu folk and of equal use to both the non-literates and the literates as well. [9] In such a context, it is noteworthy that sixteen of Bhanumurthy's compositions are found in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu with the following sequence,

Academic offices
Preceded by Principal,
CBM-Baptist Theological Seminary,
Kakinada
1952-1955 [10] 		Succeeded by
Religious titles
Preceded by
M. Venkata Reddy, CBCNC [11] 1912
T. Israel Raju, CBCNC, 1915-1917
 Parish Priest, [11]
CBM-Andhra Baptist Church,
Kakinada
1913-1914, 1918-1919		Succeeded by
T. Israel Raju, CBCNC, 1915-1917
D. Jeevaratnam, CBCNC 1920-1927 [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Premasagar</span> Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar

Victor Premasagar (1927–2005) was the fourth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak. He was an Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar who made major contributions to research on the Old Testament and to the field of theology. Premasagar's articles appeared in the Expository Times (1966), the Vetus Testamentum (1966), the International Review of Mission (1972), and the Indian Journal of Theology (1974) and cited in major works relating to the theme of Promise in the Bible and critical works on Psalms LXXX and the Hebrew word HOQ in the Tanakh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andhra Christian Theological College</span> Seminary in Telangana, India

Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University), and has degree-granting authority under a Danish charter ratified by the government of West Bengal. ACTC is on the Hussain Sagar canal (north) in Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the Secunderabad Junction railway station.

The Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC) is an association of Baptist Christian churches in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The churches are part of the Telugu Christian community of Southern India. Its language is Telugu. It is affiliated to the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baptist Theological Seminary</span>

Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist seminary located in Jagannaickpur, Church Square, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is affiliated with the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars.

M. Victor Paul was a biblical scholar who served as President of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1993 to 1997.

Ryder Devapriam was systematic theologian who taught during the 1960s and the 1970s at the Andhra Christian Theological College, a Protestant Regional Theologiate in Secunderabad, affiliated to the nation's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) {a University under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956}with degree-granting authority validated by a Danish Charter and ratified by the Government of West Bengal.

Acharya A. B. Masilamani or Abel Boanerges Masilamani (1914–1990) was a Golden Jubilee Baptist pastor and evangelist on whom parallels had been drawn comparing his ecclesiastical ministry with that of Saint Paul. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church, one of the Saint Thomas Christian Churches founded by Thomas the Apostle in the first century which holds the annual Maramon Conventions used to have Masilamani preach at its conventions since the 1970s. During one such Maramon Convention held in 1983 at Maramon, Masilamani was one of the main speaker who spoke on Christology in the presence of the two patriarchs of the Mar Thoma Church, Alexander Mar Thoma and Thomas Mar Athanius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravela Joseph</span> Indian priest

Ravela Joseph was a Sapphire jubilee-Priest involved in Spiritual formation from the mid-1960s into the early 2000s in the Telugu states. He taught Systematic theology in Major Seminaries affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University), the nation's first modern University {a University under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956} with degree-granting authority validated by a Danish Charter and ratified by the Government of West Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suppogu Joseph</span>

Suppogu Joseph is a Golden jubilee Pastor of the Protestant Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches with major contribution to New Testament scholarship with reference to Lukan literature. In a study on Luke in 2010 by Justin Alexandru undertaken at the University of Durham, Joseph's work has been cited by the researcher in the context of Authorship of Luke–Acts where Justin authoritatively attests the work of Joseph.

Rayi Ratna Sundara Rao was a prolific writer, theologian and comparative religion scholar who once was the principal of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, affiliated to India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University).

Chetti Devasahayam was the Registrar of the nation's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) who was in office from 1960 through 1975. It was during Devasahayam's tenure at the University that ecumenism gave way to merger of seminaries and the formation of special purpose entities throughout India. It was Devasahayam who gave the inaugural address when the Andhra Christian Theological College was formed in 1964 in Rajahmundry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talluru Thomas Gabriel</span>

Talluru Thomas Gabriel(born December 15, 1837; died January 1, 1875) was the founder of the Canadian Baptist Mission in India.

S. E. Krupa Rao was a Baptist Pastor of the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars where he held leadership positions in the Church society whose area of operation extended from Srikakulam District in the northern circars along the Bay of Bengal right through seven districts up to Guntur District.

Quirk Memorial Baptist Church (QMB Church), founded in 1948, is a Baptist Church affiliated to the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars. The Church is located on Rama Talkies Road in Resapuvanipalem, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (India).

Archibald Gordon was a Canadian Baptist missionary who served in India during 1913-1953 with Canadian Baptist Ministries.

T. Gnananandam was a Pastor of the Protestant Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars and was Principal of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada during 1968-1969, the shortest ever in the history of the seminary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muthyala Theophilus</span> Indian Protestant priest

M. Theophilus was a Baptist Patriarch and Spiritual Formator of the Protestant Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, a major congregation along the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh, India that extends from Srikakulam District in the northern tip through Guntur District in the middle. Theophilus taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada during the period 1926–1946 and was also Senator of India's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) during 1942–1946 taking forward not only the theological concerns of the university but also the concerns of Serampore College, which as a dual University affiliated entity, had the arts, science and commerce faculties affiliated to the University of Calcutta. In matters of Church union, Theophilus actively cooperated with the National Council of Churches in India that not only incorporated the Protestant and the Oriental Orthodox Churches but also reached out to the Catholics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaddala Solomon</span>

G. Solomon was an Old Testament Scholar and a Baptist Patriarch hailing from the Protestant Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches Society (an affiliate member of the Baptist World Alliance and the National Council of Churches in India) and led it as its President during the years 1978-1982 overseeing the spiritual affairs of the Church Society whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction comprises the three states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with 873 Churches comprising nearly a million members per present statistics.

M. S. G. Lalitha Kumari a.k.a. Lalitha Krupa Rao was the eighth Principal of Eva Rose York Bible Training and Technical School for Women, Tuni. She held the term from 1993 through 2011. Lalitha was a theologically trained woman who also used to pastor a Church. With her ordination in 1992, she became the first Woman priest in the Protestant Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars.

Perapogu Joseph was a military chaplain in the Indian Army Corps of EME and a counselor who taught students in Serampore College, Serampore and Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Roger E. Hedlund, Jesudas M. Athyal, Joshua Kalapati, and Jessica Richard (Edited), The Oxford Encyclopaedia of South Asian Christianity, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Mary Stillwell McLaurin, Chetti Bhanumurti in John Craig, J. R. Stillwell, I. C. Archibald, A. E. Baskerville (Edited), Some of the Trophies: Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board Jubilee Volume, Telugu Trophies - The Jubilee story of some of the principal Telugu converts in the Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission in India from 1874 to 1924, American Baptist Publication Society, Toronto.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Andhra Christian Hymnal, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1966
  4. 1 2 Murli Manohar Joshi, Higher Education in India Vision and Action, A paper presented at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in the Twenty First Century, Paris, 5–9 October 1998. Internet, accessed 22 August 2008. "Department of Secondary&Higher Education". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  5. ↑ Orville E. Daniel, Rising Tides in India, Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board, 1963, p.91.
  6. ↑ R. R. Sundara Rao, Bhakti theology in the Telugu hymnal, CISRS/CLS, Bangalore/Chennai, 1983.
  7. ↑ T. Dayanandan Francis, Attempts at Critical Assimilation in Regional Christian Literature: A Tamil Perspective in H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move: A Quest to Affirm the Biblical Faith - Essays in honour of P. Victor Premasagar, CLS, Chennai, 1988, pp.135-144
  8. 1 2 S. J. Samartha, M. P. John (Compiled), Directory of students 1910-1967, Serampore College (Theology Department), Serampore, 1967, p.1.
  9. ↑ Roger E. Hedlund, Quest for Identity: India's Churches of Indigenous origin: The "Little" Tradition in Indian Christianity, New Delhi, 2000, p.261.
  10. 1 2 3 C. L. Johnson (Edited), Canadian Baptist Mission 125 year's Jubilee Celebrations of Baptist Churches in Northern Circars, Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada, 1999, p.217-219.
  11. 1 2 3 CBM-Andhra Baptist Church, Jagannaickpur, Kakinada 100 years souvenir 1906-2006. Office Bearers of the Church 1906-2006, p.2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.