Well-known Annamayya scholar, poet, essayist and commentator, Venkat Garikapati is being felicitated and awarded the Sri Krishna Puraskaram by the Cultural Organization of twin cities, Sri Krishna Swara Raga Sravanthi on March 1 at 6 pm at the Tyagaraya Gana Sabha, Chikkadapally.
Y S Ramakrishna, secretary of Sri Krishna Swara Raga Sravanthi stated that Venkat Garikapati who is known for his versatile analysis on Tallapaka Pada Sahityam, will comment on the rare 14th century lyrics at the function.
Garikapati, a pioneer in the propagation and preservation of Tallapaka Pada Sahityam, has been a force to reckon with in this respect.
Venkat’s works ‘Annamayya Sankeerthana Ratnakaram’ and ‘Annamayya Sankeerthana Sudhakaram’ have been very popular throughout the state. The latter is in its fourth edition currently.
Venkat’s “Annamayya Sankeerthana Sudha” has been on air on MAA TV. His recent commentary in the linguistic program “Telugu Velugu” on ETV2 has made him a household name in the state. Christened “Annamayya Sankeerthanalu-Achcha Telugu Palukulu”, the program not only carries the analysis of the Sankeerthana, but also contains the synonyms for the rare telugu words used by Annamacharya.
Venkat’s articles on devotion and other areas have been published in all the prominent magazines of AP. He has been continuing his prolific writing on various topics including cricket, which has been one of his favourite areas.
The felicitation program will be chaired by Vijaya Babu, editor, Andhra Prabha whereas eminent poet, Gnanpeeth Awardee Dr C Narayana Reddy will be the chief guest. Shobha Naidu, Kuchipudi Natya guru and Shailaja Suman, director, Doordarshan will be the other guests.