Adivi Bapiraju · Telugu History

Adivi Bapiraju was a Telugu writer and painter of the first half of the 20th century.¹² He wrote novels, poems and stories, painted, worked in the cinema and edited a newspaper.¹³ The West Godavari district gazetteer remembers him as “a famous novelist, poet, artist”.²

Early life and painting

The Census handbook of West Godavari district (1961) says he was born at Bhimavaram in 1895.¹ He was known to his friends as “Bapi Bava”.¹

He trained as a painter at Machilipatnam. K. Sitaramaiya writes that a chair for art at the National College there was held by Pramod Chatterjee, and that he influenced young men such as Damerla Rama Rao and Adivi Bapiraju.⁴ Khandavalli Lakshmiranjanam also names Bapiraju as the chief of the painters who grew up under Pramod Kumar Chatterjee at the Machilipatnam college.⁵ His portrait of the poet Tikkana won a prize from Andhra University.¹

Freedom movement and law

Bapiraju took part in the struggle for independence. In 1922 he was jailed for a year, and in prison he wrote poems later published as Tolakari.¹ After that he passed the law examination and practised as a lawyer at Bhimavaram for about four years.¹

Writer and art director

In 1934 he joined the Andhra Jatiya Kalasala (National College) at Machilipatnam.¹ In his four years there he wrote short stories such as Silpabala, Veena and Himalayarasmi.¹ His social novel Narayana Rao won a prize from Andhra University.¹

In 1939 he entered the film world. He became known as an art director of Telugu films such as Anasuya, Dhruva Vijayamu and Meerabai.¹³

The Meezan years

In 1944 he moved to Hyderabad and edited the daily Meezan for three years.³ In this time he wrote the novels Konangi, Tufanu and Gona Gannareddi, and more short stories.³

Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, in his history of the Telangana armed struggle, describes the paper. Its owner ran daily papers in English, Urdu and Telugu, and asked Bapiraju to edit the Telugu one.⁶⁷ Bapiraju had to follow the owner’s editorials, but the rest of the paper was in his hands.⁷ Devulapalli says it supported the Andhra Mahasabha and the Communists in their struggle, and that Bapiraju encouraged ordinary writers.⁷

Where the sources disagree

His novels. The West Godavari gazetteer of 1979 lists Narayana Rao, Himabindu, Tufanu, Gona Gannareddi and Konangi.² The census handbook of 1961 names the same novels except Himabindu, and dates Konangi, Tufanu and Gona Gannareddi to his years in Hyderabad after 1944.³

Census of India 1961, Andhra Pradesh: District Census Handbook, West Godavari District (1967), p. xvi (censusindia.gov.in (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹
Andhra Pradesh District Gazetteers: West Godavari (1979), p. 197 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Census of India 1961: District Census Handbook, West Godavari (1967), p. xvii (censusindia.gov.in (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
K. Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 102 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Khandavalli Lakshmiranjanam and Khandavalli Balendusekharam, Andhrula Charitra – Samskriti, 2nd ed. (1957), p. 480 (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 261 (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Devulapalli, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 262 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³