Vavilikolanu Subbarao

Telugu scholar-poet of the early 20th century who translated Valmiki's Ramayana into Telugu verse line by line and dedicated it to Rama. K. Sitaramaiya records that he believed Ontimitta in Kadapa district was the birthplace of Bammera Potana, renovated the Rama temple there and founded a school of Rama devotees. He was one of the classical scholars criticised by Gidugu Ramamurti in the language quarrel.

Vavilikolanu Subbarao was a Telugu scholar and poet of the early 20th century.¹² He is remembered for a Telugu verse translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana that follows the Sanskrit closely.² He was a devoted worshipper of Rama.² P. T. Raju, in 1944, counted him among the great scholars known for their translations from Sanskrit.³

Scholar and poet

K. Sitaramaiya, writing in Hyderabad in 1943, placed him first among the “scholar-poets” of the period.² He wrote that Subbarao “attempted and achieved the translation of Valmiki Ramayana verbatim”.² He admired Indian culture, and wrote small books under the title Aryakathanidhi to spread knowledge of it.² He also wrote long poems (prabandhas) in the old style, and a play, Subhadravijayamu, that kept strictly to the rules of poetics.² Sitaramaiya listed him among the scholars who still wrote prabandhas at the start of the 20th century.¹

He also took part in the work of Komarraju Lakshmana Rao’s Vignana Chandrika circle.⁴ Lakshmana Rao set up a Vignana Chandrika Parishad, which held prize competitions in history, natural science and literature.⁴ Kandukuri Veeresalingam was its president and “Vavili Kolanu Subba Rao” its vice-president.⁴

Ontimitta and Potana

Sitaramaiya wrote that Subbarao firmly believed that Ontimitta, in Kadapa (then Cuddapah) district, was the birthplace of Bammera Potana.² Like Potana, he dedicated his Ramayana to Rama himself, not to a patron.² He renovated the temple at Ontimitta and founded a school of Rama devotees there.² In the end he gave up the world, and died with Rama’s name on his lips.²

Chenchiah and Bhujanga Rao, in 1928, wrote that Potana’s birthplace had caused “a protracted controversy” between Warangal and Ontimitta.⁵ The question is discussed on the page Bammera Potana.

The language quarrel

Subbarao wrote in the classical literary style.² In the quarrel over spoken Telugu, Gidugu Ramamurti pointed out errors in the writings of Vedam, Kokkonda and Vavilikolanu.⁶ He judged them by their own rules of grammar, Sitaramaiya wrote.⁶ See Vedam Venkataraya Sastri and Kokkonda Venkataratnam.

K. Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 65, note 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²
Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 75 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²
P. T. Raju, Telugu Literature (1944), p. 58 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. III (1957), p. 152 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³
P. Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao, A History of Telugu Literature (1928), p. 63 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 88 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

Scholar and poet

Ontimitta and Potana

The language quarrel

Footnotes

References