The People of Andhra Pradesh and Their Heritage

THE PEOPLE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
AND THEIR HERITAGE

A. S. RAMAN
Formerly Editor, “Illustrated Weekly of India”

Dr. VISWANATHA SATYANARAYANA whose poetry has the sweep and succulence of the classical idiom at its purest has added a new dimension to the achievement of the Andhras by winning the highly coveted Jnanpith Literary Prize. Interviewed by the press soon after the announcement of the Award, he is reported to have said nonchalantly: “I’m not surprised!” Indeed, the typical reaction of an Andhra! Whatever other virtues an Andhra may possess, and he has many in abundance, humility is not among them. This does not mean that he is vain and vulgar. If anything, he is too naive and impulsive. He represents a happy synthesis of a number of desirable qualities: patriotism, generosity, fortitude and affability. He has won Mahatma Gandhi’s admiration for his role in the Khadi movement and the freedom struggle. Fanatical devotion to ideals in which he has faith and which he pursues fearlessly is typical of him. One is familiar enough with the examples set by Potti Sriramulu who died for a cause and T. Prakasam who nearly died by baring his chest to the British bullets. And yet, one does not know enough about the Andhras who live in India’s fifth biggest State and speak Telugu, which is the mother-tongue of the largest number Indians after Hindi. To the north Indians, prior to the formation of Andhra Pradesh, the Andhras were mere Madrassis. Whenever one refers to South India one invariably means Tamil Nadu. No doubt the Tamilian has a genius for public relations. Karnatak music, Bharata Natyam, Dravidian architecture: these are all associated with Tamil culture. One of the paradoxes of Karnatak music is that it is best rendered by those who least understand its nuances. For Telugu is the base of all compositions, and the greatest exponents of the system are Tamilians. The result is virtuosity at the expense of empathy. As a rule, even veteran vidwans concentrate on swara patterns and pay little attention to bhava, and rasa.

One can have a quarrel, not with the Tamilian for overstating his case, but with the Andhra for not stating his at all. The Andhra is quite oblivious of his own heritage. Self-pity comes as naturally to him as self-praise does to the Tamilian. The Andhras hate to assert themselves in positive terms. On the contrary, they are good at flattering their heroes in other States by imitating them. The Andhra names–not surnames–reveal an intriguing diversity: such as, Tilaks, Gokhales, Gandhis, Ranades, Boses, Tagores, Nehrus, etc. Such genuinely Andhra names as Tikkana, Thyagayya, Kshetrarya, Nannaya, Vemana and Vallabhacharya are uncommon. The criticism against the Andhras is that, while emotionally they are responsive, intellectually they are lethargic and have no capacity for organization, i.e., for sustained effort and team work. It is said that as one half of an institution is busy trying to consolidate itself, the other half is already engaged in the suicidal task of demolishing it. The Andhra lacks the tenacity of the Tamilian, the sharpness of the Keraleeya and the resilience of the Kannadiga. But he has two great qualities which enable him to think big and feel big: open-mindedness and large-heartedness. Also, aesthetically speaking, he has a very acute sensibility.

The term Andhra has a respectable ancestry. It first occurs in the Aitareya Brahmana. The reference is to a South Indian tribe. The puranas refer to “Andhrabhritya dynasty of kings called Satakarnis and Satavahanas.” The various tribes described in the Ramayana are identified as the original pre-Dravidian inhabitants of the region now known as Andhra Pradesh. Janasthana, Kishkindha and Dandakaranya described in the Ramayana are also believed to be synonymous with the present-day Andhra Pradesh. Geologists claim that this territory has been the site of several quartzite implements dating from the paleolithic age.

The history of the Andhras actually begins only from the rise of the Satavahanas who flourished after the fall of the Mauryan empire. The Golden Age of the Satavahanas, who ruled from the middle of the 3rd century B. C. to the first quarter of the third century A.D., was marked by great literary and artistic activity and expansion of trade and commerce across the seas. Ptolemy speaks of five ports and eighteen inland towns. He gives a vivid account of “the trade on the East Coast.” His ‘Apheterion’ is also known a Maisolia in the Krishna delta. The Satavahana hegemony at its height extended from East Coast to West Coast and from Mysore in the South to Avanti or modern Ujjain, in the North. There is ample archaeological and epigraphic evidence in support of the theory that under the patronage of such outstanding Satavahana rulers as Gautamiputra and Pulumayi, there was all-round progress. Those were the spacious days of peace and plenty. The principal centres of trade and commerce were: Dhanyakataka (Dharanikota, near Amaravati, 250 B. C.), Kevurara, Vijayapura and Narasala. Ptolemy makes an approving reference to the alliance by marriage (200 A. D.) between Pulumayi II and the daughter of Rudradaman, the Western Satrap based in Malwa and Gujarat. Buddhism received great impetus for nearly 600 years (from 300 B. C. to 300 A. D.) under the enlightened rule of the Andhra dynasty. Actually, chaityas and viharas were built on a large-scale with the help of the funds provided by the mercantile community, many sections of which became monks.

The next important phase of the rise of Andhra power dates from the Kakatiya empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Kakatiyas who had their capital at Warangal were great patrons of Brahmanical art. Eventually, with the capture of Prataparudra who was taken to Delhi, in the middle of the 14th century, the Muslims dominated the scene in the Deccan. The Bahamani sultanate rose in 1347 from the ruins of the Tughlak empire.

Side by side with the consolidation of Muslim power in the Deccan, the nucleus of a mighty Hindu empire was taking shape on the banks of the Tungabhadra under the guidance of a great saint-statesman, Swami Vidyaranya, the Pontiff of Sringeri. The Vijayanagar empire served as a most effective check to the Muslim expansionism for more than 200 years. The Vijayanagara rulers were lovers of art and literature. The greatest of them all, Krishna Deva Raya who reigned for twenty years (1510-1530), was virtually revered as an Avatar of the Lord Vishnu. His spectacular career of conquest and consolidation resulted in an unprecedented expansion and enrichment of the Vijayanagar empire, which however was short-lived. The Battle of Talikota in 1565 led to the final and complete collapse of the Hindu power in the Deccan and to the filling of the vacuum by the Bahamani sultanates.

Meanwhile, with the slackening of the authority of the Kakatiya rulers, a number of principalities under the Reddi rulers began to make their presence felt. They retained their ethos for more than a hundred years: from 1325 to 1448 A. D. The Reddi rulers inherited the responsibilities of their Kshatriya predecessors, but acquired none of the rights, because being Sudras by birth, they did not enjoy the exalted dwija (Twice Born) status of the Kshatriyas. Naturally, they found themselves debarred from participating in solemn Vedic rituals, such as yajnas and kratuvus and from performing upanayanam (the initiation ceremony for the son) to which the Kshatriyas were entitled. There is however historical evidence to suggest that the Kshatriya rulers of Warangal and their Reddi chieftains were united by social affinities which occasionally expressed themselves even through inter-marriages. The term Reddi which, according to scholars, has a very estimable percentage was more a title denoting temporal authority than a symbol of spiritual or intellectual stature. The Kakatiyas had 72 nayakas (feudatory chieftains) under them. Among them were the local versions of the Montagus and Capulets: the Reddis and the Velamas, though the Romeos and the Juliets seem to have received scant attention from the historian and the poet.

The Reddis of those days were a martial class rather than a tribe of feudal tyrants. Their sense of social commitment was very lofty indeed. They were chivalrous and considered it their duty to protect the hearths and homes of the common folk. They were always ready to go into battle in defence of their cherished beliefs and ideals. The resurgence of Hinduism in all its many-splendoured sweep and sanctity was a passion with them. Of the many Reddi kindgdoms that proliferated consequent on the fall of the Kakatiya empire, the one at Kondaveedu was most important. It was founded by Prolaya Vema presumably in 1320 A. D. He ruled for twelve years.

The Reddi kings, during their 125-year long rule, marred occasionally by internecine skirmishes, succeeded in establishing an order of stability and a pattern of culture. There was a rapport between the palace and the populace. The respect for the law of the land was universal. The result was that the crimes were not many, and where they occurred, the punishment was retributive rather than reformative. Peace and plenty set the tenor of living, which was urbane, gracious and sedate. Creativity in the arts and literature was the rule rather than the exception. There was a long line of kings and princes distinguished for their achievements equally significant in all the three roles that seemed to come naturally to them: as soldiers, statesmen and scholars. One almost begins to wonder whether it was the ancient age of philosopher-kings come with a bang. Srinatha, the great Telugu poet who was also an inimitable stylist, wrote under the patronge of the Reddi kings. He describes his chief patron, Vema Reddi, as Sarvajnachakravarti. Kumaragiri, another Reddi ruler, was proficient in music and dance. Peda Komati was an authority on music and literature. He wrote a brilliant treatise on rhetoric, Sahityachintamani, in Sanskrit, evidently under the inspiration of Mamata’s Kavyaprakasa. He also wrote a companion volume on the aesthetic aspects of music, called Sangitachintamani. King Veerabhadra Reddi of Rajamahendravaram was another celebrated aesthete and scholar with definite views on music and literature.

A major Telugu poet of the Reddi period was Vemana who lived probably in the earlier part of the 15th century. He had no need for royal patronage, because he was a saint. Biographical details concerning his early life continue to be clouded by controversy. Believed born of Reddi parents in affluent circumstances, he lived for most of the time, it appears, at Katarupalli, a village in the Kadiri taluk of the district of Anantapur, Rayalaseema, where his descendants are said to pray at his samadhi even today. He grew up to remain soaked in sensual pleasures, till one day he found himself being tortured by a feeling of guilt. He at once recoiled from the lure of lust and luxury and followed the arduous path of a yogi. His sharp, succinct, bitter sweet 4000 odd aphorisms in verse, reminiscent of Thiruvalluvar’s terse Tamil epigrams, constitute the Bible of the Andhras. Whoever knows Telugu instinctively responds to the magic of the quatrains of Vemana which are unique examples of wisdom conveyed through the language of the heart.

The Reddis today are engaged primarily in agriculture which gives them an advantage over others in politics. They are to found mostly in Rayalaseema, Telangana and in the districts of Nellore, Guntur and Ongole. The Kammas, another affluent, village-based, land-owning community dominates the economy of three districts which constitute the granary of the state: East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna. The Kammas, compared with the Reddis, are known to be urbane, astute and sophisticated. The well-known Telugu poet, Tummala Sitaramamurti, a Sahitya Akademi Award-winner, belongs to this progressive community.

Literary Heritage

The Brahmin supremacy however remains unchallenged, where literary achievements are concerned. From Nannaya to Dr Viswanatha Satyanarayana the 900-year literary history of the Andhras is nothing but a saga of the ascendancy of the Brahmins who belong principally to two sects, both Saivaite: the Vaidikis (priests) and the Niyogis (professionals). No doubt there have been some outstanding writers outside this exclusive community. But they are the exceptions that prove the rule. The ‘transcreation’ of the Mahabharata from the Sanskrit by the ‘Big three’ of Telugu literature over a period of three centuries, Nannaya (11th century), Tikkana (13th century) and Yerrapraggada (14th century) was the first major literary event. All the three poets were Brahmins. They were the greatest trendsetters in Telugu literature. Nannaya was a conformist, involved deeply in his pursuit of excellence. Tikkana who wrote the major portion of the Telugu Mahabharata (15 out of the 18 parvas)was a modernist who looked as far ahead as he could. He invested the Telugu idiom with a new richness and roundness Yerrapraggada achieved a unique synthesis between Nannaya’s sense of exclusiveness and Tikkana’s feeling of emancipation and assumed the responsibilities of a new path-finder. The period from 1030 to 1400 A. D. was known as the age of the Big Three. The next hundred years (1400-1500 A.D.) were years not merely of assimilation, but of assertion. Vyasa’s Sanskrit matrikas provided basic themes, but the Telugu ‘transcreators’ produced classics which existed in their own right: original, authoritative and self-sufficient. Srinatha and Pothana were the outstanding poets of this age. Srinatha wrote a number of Saivaite classics with a touch of sensuous sublimity, reconciling his intensely spiritual vision to his muscular, down-to-earth idiom. Pothana, in the best of traditions of the Bhakti cult, was a great devotee of Srirama. His Mahabhagavatham is one of the finest specimens of religious literature: lines from his immortal classic are frequently heard on the lips of every Andhra.

If the age of Srinatha and Pothana was the age of intellectual ferment and spiritual quest, the one that followed was a period of technical virtuosity. Known as the Prabandha Age, this phase began in 1500 A. D. and lasted up to 1875. The temper of the times was clearly exhibitionist. Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar was the incomparable royal patron to whom writers and artistes turned not fortheir material sustenance but for the fulfilment of their literary and aesthetic urges, because the Emperor was not only a munificent bestower of gifts but a great scholar, critic and poet. Many literary giants adorned his court. The best known of these was Allasani Peddana, the author of that literary tour de force, Manucharitra. Prabandha is a literary form in which technique takes precedence over theme.

Dr Viswanatha Satyanarayana dominates the contemporary literary scene in Andhra Pradesh. He is the best writer by any test. But unfortunately the next best is nowhere in sight. Dr Satyanarayana’s appeal is wholly through his writings which are as acceptable to modern sensibility as they are to traditional scholarship. By temperament and orientation, as a person, he is reputed to be rigid, aloof and rough-hewn. He maintains that he is a believer, not in contemporary fads, but in universal values. Other Andhra literary figures of importance are: Devulapalli Krishna Sastry (poet), Rallapalli Anantakrishna Sarma (critic and musicologist), Sri Sri (poet), C. Narayana Reddy (poet) and Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastry (short-story writer ).

Art and Architecture

Andhra Pradesh has many delicately conceived temples. They are not as massive as the ones in Tamil Nadu. But they draw pilgrims from all parts of the country because of their atmosphere and sanctity. Tirupati is a famous pilgrim centre. It lies in the Chittoor district of Rayalaseema. The Venkateswara temple here is said to be the richest shrine in India. It runs a first-rate university with the help of funds provided by devotees. The shrine is particularly sacred to the Vaishnavas, though its appeal is truly non-sectarian.

Srisailam in the Kurnool district of Rayalaseema has a great Siva temple. It is claimed to be as ancient as Varanasi. Among those who have worshipped at the shrine of Srisailam’s Mallikarjuna are: Sriramachandra and Sitadevi in the Tretayuga, the Pandavas in the Dwaparayuga and Adi Sankara in the Kaliyuga. Yogi Nagarjuna had his ashram here. In the Kritayuga, that controversial devotee of Mallikarjuna, demon-king Hiranyakasipu, used the sanctuary as his pujagriha. Srisailam is so-called, partly because of the surrounding abundance of the sacred bilva (sri) trees, and partly owing to the Sri Chakra shape of the plateau on which the sanctuary stands. The scenic splendour and the transcendental aura of Srisaila shrine have inspired some of the finest passages in Mahabharata, the Skanda Purana and the Sivanandalahari of Adi Sankara. Even a glimpse of the gopuram, it is believed, will emancipate the beholder from the inexorable cycle of births and deaths. The sculptures at Srisailam, particularly the lyrical, little known bas-reliefs on the gopuram are exquisite. They are simple and direct and have a distinctive feel and elan. Though harnessed to the dogma and discipline of hieratic art, these carvings are products of an uninhibited sense of abandon and emancipation.

Other sacred places of importance are: Simhachalam, Mangalagiri, Annavaram, Bhadrachalam, Daksharamam, Ahobilam, Kadiri, Vijayawada (Kanakadurga Temple), Vontimetta and Yadavagirigutta.

There is the unmistakable flavour of Andhra lyricism and romanticism pervading the evocative creations in stone at Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. This can be perceived even in the Ajanta frescoes. The emphasis is, not on the remote, rarefied beatitude of the Buddha, but on his compassion and humanism. The scale is not monumental, but the impact is overpowering. Even a tiny medallion has a whole world compressed into it. There is mobility on every face, emotion in every eye. The lips quiver. One can almost hear the heart throbs of the men and women immortalised in these friezes and medallions. Intensity, tenderness and warmth: these are the chief qualities one associates with the Andhra School of Sculpture. None of the stiffness of the Gandhara School, none of the severity of the Mauryan monoliths, none of the sheer sensuousness of the Kushan carvings.

After Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda, we do not come across any exciting creations in stone. When the Kakatiyas arrive on the scene, the Brahmanical art assumes a new significance. The temples at Ramappa and Warangal have all the exuberance and plasticity of this genre. The female figure rendered with particular feeling and finesse has a touch of the sublime and the sensuous at the same time. The friezes at Ramappa have the suppleness, warmth and vibrancy of the flesh itself. They unashamedly reveal an erotic bias. The mithuna motifs, carved with a combination of abandon and sensibility, conform to the fashion set by the medieval sculptors elsewhere. The panels at Ramappa depicting the Bharata Natya sequences and the bracket figurines, known as Naga Kanyas, in black stone, are among the finest specimens of medieval sculpture: they have simplicity, plasticity, harmony and vibrancy. The bust of Prataparudra II at Warangal is a rare example of modelling: serene, precise and well-proportioned. The heritage of Jain sculpture in Andhra Pradesh is not particularly noteworthy. It can be seen here and there, but is negligible in quality and quantity, unlike itsrnanifestations in the neighbouring Mysore State. The enormous carving in the nude of a Jain Tirthankara on display at Danavulapadu, in the district of Cuddapah, Rayalaseema, reminiscent of the breathtakingly massive monolith at Sravanabelgola, Mysore, however, deserves mention.

The Vijayanagara period is supposed to represent the Golden Age of Andhra Art and Literature. Under the patronage of Krishnadevaraya and other rulers, a number of temples were built throughout Andhra Pradesh. The sculptures produced during this period are distinguished for their technical finish rather than for their artistic finesse. Creative imagination and aesthetic sensibility are not what the sculptor is anxious to develop. He is happily preoccupied with problems of surface ornamentation. Design acquires overtones. The rendering of detail becomes meticulous and mannered. Lepakshi, however, is an exception. The sculptures and the murals on view here are worthy examples of medieval art at its best. The figures no doubt are stylised, but they have a distinctive grace and vitality. The colours are indigenous and the heavy ornate drapery is consistent with local custom and fashion. The passion and abandon suggest a generation of unspoilt artists whose agony and ecstasy match their fidelity to detail.

Among the minor arts, the Andhra textiles have a rich tradition. The handloom products reveal a striking diversity and richness in design. The toys and dolls of Kondapalli and Tirupati, the Nirmal cottage industry, the inlay work of Hyderabad: all these are potential foreign exchange earners.

As for the contemporary scene, many Andhra artists have arrived: S. V. Rama Rao, Krishna Reddy, P. T. Reddy, A. Paidi Raju and several others. They are necessarily eclectic in the sources they choose to draw freely upon, but their basic inspiration is identifiably indigenous. They no doubt share their common heritage. But they are equally eager to integrate it into the images and idioms that emerge from their confrontation with the West.

Other aspects of the Andhra Heritage

The Kuchipudi dance which has the sensuousness of Bharatha Natyam, the vigour of Kathakali, and the directness of Yakshagana, is typically Andhra in its origin. The Bhagavata Mela of Melattur in the district of Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, is only a variation on it. In the past, the Kuchipudi artistes without exception were all Brahmins and they were all males. Even today the outstanding exponent of the style is Vedantam Satyanarayana, though a number of girls have also distinguished themselves. This exacting genre of classical dancing demands a mastery over music, mime, footwork, histrionics and Telugu and Sanskrit classics.

The contribution of the Andhras to the musical heritage of South India is well-known. Tyagaraja, Tallapakam Annamacharyulu, Kancherla Gopanna (Bhakta Ramdas), Kshetrayya, Munipalli Subramanyakavi (author of Adhyatmaramayanam), Melattur Veerabhadrayya, Melattur Kasinathayya and Melattur Venkatarama Sastry: these names are familiar to every lover of South Indian music, dance and drama. The Karnatak musical idiom as we know it today is the gift of the Great Trinity: Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri.

What isthe contribution of the Andhras to the development of Indian philosophy? The greatest interpreter of Indian thought living is an Andhra: Dr S. Radhakrishnan. As for the past, the name of Nagarjuna is a familiar one: he made the most significant contribution to Buddhism after the Buddha. Butwas he an Andhra? It is difficult to say. To quote Professor T. M. P. Mahadevan: “The participation of Andhras in India’s philosophical enterprise has been as full as it has been pervasive. But there are only vague indications regarding the identities of many of those who were responsible for this participation.” Vallabhacharya, the founder of the Suddhadwaita School, and Nimbarka, the founder of the Dvaitadwaita School, were unmistakably of Andhra origin.

The eleven Telugu-speaking districts of the old Madras Presidency were separated on October 1, 1953, to form the State of Andhra. With the subsequent merger of the Nizam’s territory with the Indian Union, Telangana Comprising nine districts was added to these. The present enlarged State of Andhra Pradesh was thus born on November 1, 1956. There has been a redrawing of the maps of a few districts since for administrative reasons. Indeed Andhra Pradesh is full of hidden wealth: minerals, water resources, industrial potential. The state comprising the rich, 400 mile long coastal belt, the developing Rayalaseema and the neglected Telangana is no doubt uneven and presents the facade of poverty amidst plenty. But its potentialities are immense. The will to exploit them to the maximum is not in evidence yet. Here, as in the rest of India, the main problem is, not lack of resources, but the absence of vision, drive and a sense of commitment on the part of leadership.