"Sri Hanumanu gurudevulu naa yeda / Palikina Sita Rama katha / Ne palikeda
Sita Rama katha…"
If your childhood was spent out here or in any other part of Andhra, that mellifluous chant can't be unfamiliar to you. If not in the home on a cassette, you'd have heard in on the loudspeakers umpteen times during all the community festival celebrations. Here's an occasion celebrating the man behind perhaps the most popular version ever of the Sundarakanda.
M S Rama Rao was an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman, and composed his own songs and presented them on various occasions. In an interview he said that the Lord once appeared in his dream and advised him to write songs in praise of Lord Rama. And so, for nearly two decades after that he dedicated himself to Lord Hanuman and Sri Rama, and wrote hundreds of songs in praise of them. He left for his heavenly abode a decade ago.
Dr P Srinivas, the grandson of M S Rama Rao, is celebrating Rama Rao's 80th birthday in a grand way for 3 days. Pushpagiri Peetham Vidyanarasimha Swamy will inaugurate the first day's function. On this day Yamani Saraswati (writer) and Ashok Gujrale (music director) will be felicitated for their contribution to their fields. On the same day, Dr Srinivas will also recite the Sundarakanda in memory of his grandfather.
Sundarakanda is the part of the Ramayana where Hanuman crosses the sea to visit Lanka in search of Sita, burns the kingdom provoked by the demons' behavior, and comes back to narrate the story to Lord Rama.
Kala Venkata Deekthilu will inaugurate the second day celebrations. V S Rajya Laxmi, the Founder President of Raga Saptaswaram, will unveil M S Rama Rao's portrait, and this will be followed by the release of 'Immortal Melodies of M S Rama Rao (Volume-I)', an audiocassette, by Dr K Laxman, MLA, Musheerabad. 'Hanuman Chanting' by Dr Srinivas will follow.
On the final day the valedictory function of the celebrations will take place, and on this occasion Modur Narayana will release a cassette titled 'Suvarchala Hanuman Chanting' composed by Dr Srinivas.
Please contact Dr P Srinivas at 763-4620/767-8067 for further details.