Felicitations to Dr. Viswanatha

Kavisamrat, Kalaprapurna, Padmabhushan

DR. VISWANATHA SATYANARAYANA, M.A., D. Litt.

It is the proud privilege of Triveni to felicitate Kauisamrat Kalaprapurna, Padmabhushan Dr. Viswanatha Satyanarayana on the recent conferment on him of the Jnan Pith Award. To the readers of Triveni Viswanatha needs no introduction. An intimate friend and admirer, and for some years a colleague of our Founder-Editor, the late lamented Sri K. Ramakotiswara Rau, on the staff of the Jateeya Kalasala, Viswanatha’s association with the journal is as old as the journal itself. The inaugural number of Triveni published two of his pieces rendered into English by another dear friend of his, the late Sri Adivi Bapiraju.

A great scholar in Telugu and Sanskrit, Viswanatha has been a unique force in Telugu literature for the last nearly half a century. There is no branch of literature he has touched but he adorned and it is no exaggeration when people hail him as the greatest living poet of Andhra, and of all India. Should his works be rendered into English and made available to a wider public, the poet would get world recognition and would be a worthy candidate for the Noble Prize for literature. We earnestly hope that the day is not very far.

Laurels, titles and degrees, including the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jnan Pith Award, have come to him during the years, the latest being the Poet-Laureateship of Andhra Pradesh, an honour conferred on his illustrations and revered Guru, late Sri Chellapilla Venkata Sastri. It is really the good fortune of Sri Viswanatha and his numerous admirers and friends that a whole nation has recognized his genius while he is still happily with us.

To the learned authors who have contributed special articles to this number on the various aspects of the services rendered by Sri Viswanatha to Indian literature, Triveni conveys her grateful thanks.

That this great giant among our poets may long continue to adorn the world of Indian literature receiving the homage of an ever-widening world of admirers is the fervent prayer of Triveni.
BHAVARAJU NARASIMHA RAO
Managing Editor