| Sri Gowthami Regional Library | |
|---|---|
| Gowthami Grandhalayam | |
 | |
| 17°00′33″N81°46′27″E / 17.009298914840837°N 81.774203049487°E | |
| Location | Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Established | 1898 |
| Reference to legal mandate | Societies Registration Act, 1920 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 1.03 lakh |
Gowthami Grandhalayam or Sri Gowthami Regional Library was started by poet and social reformer Nalam Krishna Rao in 1898 in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Initially named Sri Veeresalingam library, since it was backed by the nationalist Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu, it was housed in Nalam Choultry in Innispeta with a very small collection.
Around the same time Addanki Satyanarayana established the Vasuraya Library.
Andhra Desa Grandhalaya Sangham secretary Pathuri Nageswara Rao suggested merger of the two libraries to get regional status.
Following the advice of the elite in the city, the two libraries were merged and named as Gowthami Grandhalayam and registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1920. Vavilala Gopala Krishnaiah and AB Nageswara Rao were successful in getting regional status to the library. In 1979, the government took over the library. [5] With the increase in collections the library moved to the Town Hall in Rajahmundry.
The library enjoyed the patronage of persons like Maharaja Vikram Deo Verma of Jeypore State, Raja Kanchumarthi Ramachandra Rao of Dharmavaram Estate, Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham, Bhamidipati Kameswara Rao, Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao, Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy and Pathuri Nagabhushanam. It had the reputation of quenching the literary thirst of people from foreign origin as well. [3]
Later land was bought at Lakshmivarapupeta and a rich landlord Kanchumarti Seetaramachandra Rao constructed a building in memory of his daughter Babayamma (one of the first women to complete matriculation in Rajahmundry) who died young. The Babayamma Hall, served as the library building until the 1970s and still exists, behind the new building. [6] Kanchumarti Babayamma is the first woman Municipal Councillor of Rajahmundry. [7]
With a good collection of both Telugu and English classics, including old editions of Shakespeare, the library was first managed by a committee elected by select lifetime members.
Mahidhar Jaganmohan Rao was the last secretary of the library under the committee.
As of 2020, the library holds 1.10 lakh books, including 71,130 of Telugu, 21,974 of English, 7,967 of Hindi, 372 Urdu books, 667 other books, 411 palm leaf manuscripts, six copper plates and 40 unpublished manuscripts. [3] [5] [8]
After the Tanjavur library in Tamil Nadu, the biggest in the region is Sri Gowthami Regional Library. [5] By mid-2019, the construction of a new library building is scheduled to be completed. [9]
Akkineni Nageswara Rao, widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and film producer, known for his work majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became one of the most prominent figures of Telugu cinema. Akkineni received seven state Nandi Awards, five Filmfare Awards South and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. The Highest Honour in Indian Cinema Dada Saheb Phalke Award was given on 38th National Film Awards (1990). He was Honoured with Padma Vibhushan (2011), Padma Bhushan (1988) and Padma Shri (1968), India's second, third and fourth highest civilian awards, for his contributions to the fields of Art and Cinema.
Rajahmundry, officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the seventh most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmundry was created in the Madras Presidency in 1823. It was reorganised in 1859 and bifurcated into the Godavari and Krishna districts. Rajahmundry was the headquarters of Godavari district, which was further bifurcated into East Godavari and West Godavari districts in 1925. It is administered under Rajahmundry revenue division of the East Godavari district. The city is known for its floriculture, history, culture, agriculture, economy, tourism, and its heritage. It is known as the "Cultural Capital of Andhra Pradesh".
Kandukuri Veeresalingam was a social reformer and writer from the Madras Presidency, British India. He is considered as the father of the Telugu Renaissance movement. He was one of the early social reformers who encouraged the education of women and the remarriage of widows. He also fought against child marriage and the dowry system. He started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874, constructed the 'Brahmo Mandir' in 1887 and built the 'Hithakarini School' in 1908 in Andhra Pradesh. His novel Rajasekhara Charitramu is considered to be the first novel in Telugu literature.
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Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood (originally and currently the name Tollywood used by Cinema of West Bengal too, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad. As of 2021, Telugu cinema is the largest film industry in India in terms of box-office. Telugu films sold 23.3 crore tickets in 2022, the highest among various film industries in India.
Kasinadhuni Nageswararao, better known as Nageswara Rao Pantulu, was an Indian journalist, nationalist, politician, businessman, and a staunch supporter of Khaddar movement. He participated in the Indian independence movement and in the Indian National Congress party, including Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement through salt satyagraha. He was conferred with the title Desabandhu by the people of Andhra Pradesh. He was a major financier of Congress activities in Andhra and Chennai and is also known for patenting Amrutanjan. He was conferred with the title Desoddhaaraka by the Andhra Mahasabha. In 1935, the Andhra University honoured him with Kalaprapoorna, an honorary doctorate of Literature.
The Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University (PSTU) is one of the few Indian language universities in India.
T. Krishna Kumari was an Indian actress. She worked predominantly in Telugu films, in addition to Tamil and Kannada films in the 1950s and 1960s. She was the sister of noted actress Sowkar Janaki.
International Telugu Institute was established by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1975 in acceptance of a resolution unanimously adopted by the delegates to the first World Telugu Conference held at Hyderabad. It was later merged with the Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University in 1985 and renamed as the International Telugu Centre.
Chellapilla Venkata Sastry was a Telugu language poet laureate and scholar. He was one of the two poets known as Tirupati Venkata Kavulu and other being Divakarla Tirupati Sastry.
Nyapathi Subba Rao Pantulu was an Indian politician and social activist who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council between 1893 and 1909. He was also one of the Triplicane Six, founders of The Hindu, and General Secretary of the Indian National Congress from 1914 to 1917.
Nandināgarī is a Brahmic script derived from the Nāgarī script which appeared in the 7th century AD. This script and its variants were used in the central Deccan region and south India, and an abundance of Sanskrit manuscripts in Nandināgarī have been discovered but remain untransliterated. Some of the discovered manuscripts of Madhvacharya of the Dvaita Vedanta school of Hinduism are in Nandināgarī script.
Nalam Krishna Rao was an accomplished Telugu writer, magazine editor and social activist. He was born at Mandapeta in East Godavari district on 18 January 1881. He founded Gowthami Grandhalayam at Rajahmundry in 1898. Rao supported eradicating the social evil of the caste system and strongly supported widow remarriages. Every year, Telugu University presents endowment awards to writers, artistes and critics. Nalam Krishna Rao Memorial Award is one among those, which is given for Best Women Writer in Telugu.
Andhra Patrika was a Telugu weekly newspaper of the nationalist movement founded by Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao in 1908. It later transformed into a daily newspaper before it closed down in 1991. It helped to shape both modern Telugu language and an identity that resulted in the creation of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Sri Balusu Prabhakara Buchi Krishna Satyanarayana Rao,, was a Telugu Indian industrialist, politician, and the zamindar of Kapileswarapuram. He was a Union Minister and active in the Circar districts of India. He served as Minister of State for Agriculture in the Vajpayee government for two years between 1999 and 2001. He was elected to the AP Legislative Council from the North Circar Districts Graduates Constituency in 1958 and 1980. His last rites were performed at his native village.
Digavalli Venkata Siva Rao, or Digavalli Śivarāvu, was a lawyer, historian and Telugu writer from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He is the author of forty-two books and some 300 articles written between 1924 and 1987. Some of his works are available in the Indian Digital Library.
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).
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