Tripuraneni Ramaswamy

Tripuraneni Ramaswamy (Telugu: త్రిపురనేని రామస్వామి) (January 15, 1887–1943) was a lawyer, playwright and reformer active among the Telugu-speaking people. He was part of a growing movement in India to reassess the culture of India. This movement included such people as Ram Mohan Roy, Eswara Chandra Vidya Sagar, Ranade, Dayanand Saraswathi, Kandukuri Veeresalingam and Gurazada Appa Rao.

Childhood and early years

Tripuraneni Ramaswamy was born in the village of Angaluru in the Krishna District (present day Andhra Pradesh) into a family of farmers. At the age of 23, he passed his Matriculation Examination. In the same year he wrote two plays: "Karempudi Kadanam" based on the Palanadu battle and "Kurukshetra Sangramam" based on the Mahabharata war. In 1911, he joined the Noble College at Bandar to study for the Intermediate Course. In those years he displayed his literary skills and prodigious memory in his Avadhanam.

In 1914, he went to the Britain and studied law as well as English Literature and modern European culture in Dublin. During this time, he wrote to Krishna Patrika, a Telugu weekly appealing to Indians to support the Home Rule movement started by Annie Besant. He pleaded for India's independence. Ramaswamy wrote many patriotic songs during the independence movement.

After returning to India, he practiced law for some years, mostly in Tenali town. However, his main activity was directed towards social reforms. He launched a full-scale attack on casteism and the social injustices resulting from it.

Literary career and public life

Ramaswamy chose literary writing as the vehicle for expressing his rationalist thoughts. His famous work 'Sutaparanam' in four cantos was a fierce attack on the ancient Puranas. His poetic work "Kuppuswamy Satakam" reveals the theme of social revolution and talks about social evils, blind faith and indignity to man. He was against Congress and its fight against independence. He advocated British Rule is more suitable for India .

In his other works such as "Sambhukavadha", "Suthashrama geethaalu', 'Dhoortha maanava', 'Khooni', 'Bhagavadgita', 'Rana Pratap' and 'Kondaveeti pathanam', he made a rational analysis of dogmas prescribed by ancient classics and the injustice these dogmas did to people belonging to the lower social orders. Moreover, he attacked discriminatory practices and fought against the idea of untouchability.

Sambhuka Vadha created lot of controversy . Sambhuka was a character , who did tapassu to go heaven with live body before death. That was considered as adharma and was killed by Lord Rama. This story was interpreted that Brahmins do not like doing tapassu by non - brahmins , that is why Sabhuka was killed.

He was against the traditional Hindu marriage ceremony which resulted in burdensome expenditure, especially among the poor. He prepared a simple procedure in Telugu called Vivaha Vidhi. He officiated at many marriages. When he was the Chairman of Tenali Municipality, he did not permit animal sacrifice to appease Devatas.

Ramaswamy was a patriot even when he was a student. He wrote a patriotic play "Rana Pratap", which was proscribed by the British government. He was an ardent lover of the Telugu language and culture and was proud of their history. He was an educationist and was a member of the senate of the Andhra University for three terms. He was awarded many honors and was popularly known as 'Kaviraju', a title conferred on him.

Ramaswamy died in 1943, but left his imprint on the development of the Telugu-speaking people. The Indian government honored his legacy by issuing a commemorative postage stamp with his picture in 1987, his centenary year.

His children

His son Tripuraneni Gopichand has left his own mark on the Telugu literature. His younger brother Gokulchand's most famous and outstanding work is a drama about the drought of Bengal in the 1950s. Ramaswamy's eldest child was the daughter Sarojini Devi. She married Subba Rao Kanumilli, an officer of the Indian Administration Services, who is known for his high ethical standards. Pitcheswara Rao Atluri, a Royal Indian Navy mutineer during the Indian freedom movement, married Ramaswamy's youngest daughter Choudarani. She is the first woman to run an exclusively Telugu language bookstore in Tamilnadu, the land of Tamils in the Indian peninsular.

Sources

http://tripuranenis.org/default.aspx http://gopichand-tripuraneni.blogspot.com

Persondata
Name	Ramaswamy, Tripuraneni
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 15, 1887
Place of birth
Date of death	1943
Place of death