Dr Medasani Mohan (born 19 April 1955) is a famous Avadhani. [1] he was the director of Annamacharya Project initiated by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. He belongs to Nadimpalli village of Andhra Pradesh in India. . [2] He participated in International Internet Avadhanam (IIA). He holds the record of answering 5,000 scholars at a time. [3]
He was born on April 19, 1955, in a village called Nadimpalli, which belongs to Chandragiri Mandal, Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh in India. His parents are Ayyanna Naidu and Lakshmamma. From his 8th standard he evinced his interest in Telugu and Sanskrit literature. At the age 15, he performed his first Ashtavadhanam and got appreciation from the Pundits. As a student he practiced Yoga and improved his power of retention. He also took spiritual initiation from an Avadhuta called Sivananda Mouni. In 1978 he completed his M.A. in Telugu literature from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Later he completed his Ph.D. from Madras University on Annamacharya Keerthanas.
Andhra Pradesh is a state in the southern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state with an area of 162,970 km2 (62,920 sq mi) and the tenth-most populous state with 49,577,103 inhabitants. It has shared borders with Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Telangana and the Bay of Bengal. It has the second-longest coastline in India at about 974 km (605 mi). Telugu, one of the classical languages of India used by the majority of people, is the first official language.
Tallapaka Annamacharya, also popularly known as Annamayya, was a musician, composer, and a Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called samkirtanas. His devotional samkirtanas were in the praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. The musical form of the kirtana songs that he composed, which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists, have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions. His compositions are classified as Adhyatma (spiritual) and Sringara (romantic). Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, as one the greatest musicians and is honoured as a great devotee of Vishnu by devotees and saintly singers. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era.
Chiranjeevi is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he starred in over 150 feature films predominantly in Telugu, as well as some films in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada. Chiranjeevi won the Andhra Pradesh state's highest film award, the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, three Nandi Awards, and nine Filmfare Awards South including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2013, CNN-IBN named him as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema".
Gurram Jashuva was a Telugu poet. He is legendary figure in the Telugu literary world. With his immense wisdom and through the struggle he faced due to the caste-based discrimination, Jashuva wrote his poetry with a universal approach. He was called the "Poet of the Millennium" for his timeless pieces of poetry and literature.
Telugu literature is the body of works written in the Telugu language. It consists of poems, short stories, novels, plays, and song lyrics, among others. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium, the first extant works are from the 11th century when the Mahabharata was first translated to Telugu from Sanskrit by Nannaya. The language has experienced a golden age under the patronage of the Vijayanagara Emperor-Poet Krishnadevaraya.
Tirupati is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple and other historic temples. It is located at a distance of 150 km from Chennai, 250 km from Bangalore,406 km from Amaravati. It is one of the eight Svayam vyakta kshetras dedicated to Vishnu. Tirupati is a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Tirupati (urban) mandal, Tirupati (rural) mandal, and the Tirupati revenue division.
Sri Latha Reddy known by her stage name Roja, is an Indian politician and former actress. She is currently serving as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement of Andhra Pradesh. She was a leading actress in Tamil and Telugu films from 1991 to 2002. She has also acted in a few Kannada and Malayalam-language films. She won three Nandi Awards and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. In 2022, Roja announced she would be leaving the film industry to focus more on her political career as a politician. She also announced that she will no longer be acting in any films.
Avadhānaṃ is a literary performance popular from the medieval era in India. Avadhānaṃ was originated and primarily cultivated among Telugu poets. It involves the partial improvisation of poems using specific themes, metres, forms, or words. The true purpose of an Avadhanam event thus is the showcasing, through entertainment, of superior mastery of cognitive capabilities - of observation, memory, multitasking, task switching, retrieval, reasoning and creativity in multiple modes of intelligence - literature, poetry, music, mathematical calculations, puzzle solving etc.
Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana was a Carnatic musician, a classical vocalist, musicologist, author and teacher, a great administrator and motivator. He was a performer on All India Radio and Doordarshan who participated in Sangeeta Sammelans, outdoor broadcasts and national programmes innumerable times. His radio lessons and Bhakti Ranjanis were very popular. He was awarded Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 2010.
Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma, popularly known as Chittoor Nagayya, was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. Indian film journalist Baburao Patel described Nagayya as "The Paul Muni of India". Nagayya was considered the best character actor in South Indian cinema during 1940s and 1950s. In 1965, he became the first South Indian actor to receive the Padma Shri in Arts from the Government of India for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Garimella Balakrishna Prasad is an Indian classical devotional singer, composer, Sangeet Natak Akademi for year 2020, T.T.D Asthana Vidwaan and Ahobhilamatam Asthana Vidwaan. He served Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam's Annamacharya Project as Special Grade Vocal Artiste from 1978 to 2006.
Garikipati Narasimha Rao is an Indian scholar, litterateur, and avadhani from Andhra Pradesh. In 1996, he performed Avadhanam with 1116 Pruchchakas for 21 days in Kakinada. He also delivers lectures on personality development based on dharmic culture and way of life. He regularly appears on Telugu TV channels like SVBC, Bhakti TV, and ABN Andhra Jyothi giving discourses on ancient Hindu texts like Bhagavadgita, Ramayana, and Mahabharata. In 2022, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri by the government of India.
Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma was a noted composer of Carnatic music, singer, Telugu litterateur, teacher and Sanskrit scholar. He was responsible for discovering, cataloguing and putting to music many forgotten compositions of Annamacharya. These compositions composed hundreds of years ago came back to life thanks to Sharma's efforts and successive singers like S. P. Balasubramanyam and M. S. Subbalakshmi would sing many of them, hence popularising them. Sharma authored prose works like Vemana, Natakopanyasamulu,Ganakale,Sahitya Mattu Jeevana Kale and Saraswatalokamu. Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma translated 395 Gathas from original Prakrit into Telugu language titled Shalivahana Gatha Sapta Saramu in 1931. Sharma is the recipient of Central Sangeet & Natak Academy Fellowship (1973), Gana Kala Sindhu (1961), Gana Kala Prapoorna (1969), Sangeeta Kala Ratna (1974) and Sangeeta Sahitya Asthan Vidwan honours with a Honorary Doctorate from TTD University, Andhra Pradesh.
Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, was an Indian freedom fighter and member of the Indian National Congress from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Known by his title of Andhra Ratna (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర రత్న, translates to "Jewel of Andhra" or "Gem of Andhra." Sri Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, Gopalakrishnayya was the first Andhra leader to become secretary of the All India Congress Committee. Sri Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, was a very captivating poet, speaker, songwriter, philosopher, singer and an extraordinary revolutionary with a philosophy of non-violence. Sri Nadimpalli Venkata Lakshmi Narasimha Rao worked in tandem with Sri Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya. For his exemplary work and sacrifices for freedom movement in Andhra, he was fondly conferred the name 'Andhra Ratna'
Kolakaluri Enoch is an Indian writer, teacher, and former Vice Chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of literature.
Pasam Jagannadham Naidu is a Telugu language journalist, writer, columnist and Editor-in-Chief of Telugu Patrika, and Managing Director of Jagan Raja Publications.
Venkateswara Temple is an important Vaishnavite temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, built by a Tamil king and later expanded and renovated under the Vijayanagara Empire. The Temple is dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, an incarnation of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared here to save mankind from the trials and troubles of Kali Yuga. The temple is situated at a height of 853 metres on Tirumala Hills which are part of Seshachalam Hills and is constructed in South Indian Tamil Architectural Style.
Sribhashyam Vijayasarathi was an Indian author, Sanskrit grammarian, philosopher and critic.
Asavadi Prakasa Rao was an Indian poet, critic, translator and scholar, who is known for his poetry and prose works. He is noted for his significant contribution to Telugu and Sanskrit literature. In January 2021, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri in the Arts and Literature category. As Ashtavadhani, he has given 170 performances and has written and published 50 books across various genres. His most notable literary contribution is his performance of Avadhanam – a literary performance. He has received an honorary D Litt from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University and a Distinguished Teacher award from the Department of Higher Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Annamayya district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, established in 2022. Rayachoti is the district administrative headquarters and Madanapalle is the most populated City in the district.