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Welcome to the Andhra Cultural Portal: the cultural network, interface, and database for the serious Andhra person. For the latest articles on the most relevant ACP topics, choose from the clickable icons above or go to the menu to view by subject area. Readers from Telangana, Rayalaseema, and Kosta are all welcome with open arms as we cover the common history, language, and culture from all regions of ancient Andhra. This website focuses on serious issues pertaining to and the high culture of the Undivided State of Andhra Pradesh: The Diamond of India. It is the e-Society for all true lovers of the Telugu Language, Andhra Culture, and Indic Civilization.

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- Personalities: Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastri
  May 22, 2018After a long hiatus, we return to the world of Dance. Kuchipudi has had numerous exponents of great fame, perhaps none more famous than Vempati Chinna Satyam. And yet, it was his guru who first opened this previously male-dominated art form to females. Our next Article in our Continuing Series on Andhra Personalities looks into the life and legacy of Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri. Background Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri was born to Rameshwarayya and Savithriamma in 1880. His birth in the village of Kuchipudi, Krishna District, in present-day Andhra Pradesh would herald a sea-change in the half a millennium old tradition. He trained deeply in the art of Kuchipudi. He began giving performances at many courts. He was feted by dance lovers, vidvaans, and rajas alike in courts such as Vanaparthi, Jataprolu, Gadwal, Challapalli, and Uyyuru. Sri Rachappa assisted Vedantam garu to gain an appointment with the Maharaja of Mysore. The royal was very impressed by his performance, and the whole audience gasped when Sastri garu successfully fulfilled Rachappa’s challenge to dance to the numbers 1 through 10 and give the significance. He continued to tour India and demonstrated not only his skill at nrtya, but the variegated forms and expressiveness of Kuchipudi. The 1930s were a period of great churn in the world of dance especially for Kuchipudi. “He was ever restless in composing something new and creative, which would at the same time catch the eye of the audience. In this process, he started experimenting with unconventional ideas such as making his disciples dance on a wooden stool of barely one foot in length and width. In this he aimed to display the skill and control of the dancer over the intricate footwork in a limited place.” Various aspects were also adapted to the solo format, such as Padis, Padams, Sabdams, and Tarangams. In fact, the Tarangam is the major attraction in Kuchipudi, and Narayana Teertha‘s famed Sri Krishna Leela Tarangam is the source literature for it. It was during this time that Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri began introducing the solo format for Kuchipudi. Eventually, he expanded the previously male-dominated artform to include females. Such was the virtuoso skill of this celebrated master of dance that the famed devadasi, Thanjavur Balasaraswati, sought and gained him as a teacher. Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana garu passed away on July 13th, 1957. In recognition of his contribution to inclusiveness, his vardhanthi is still commemorated by many female dancers even today. “The credit of solo performances went to Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry, who choreographed several solo items and laid a strong foundation for the current solo repertoire in Kuchipudi.” Achievements Formally opened Kuchipudi to female students of the dance Spread the fame of Kuchipudi in performances throughout North & South India Established the solo performance as a feature of the traditional Dance Drama Andhra Kala Parishad, Gudivada Honoured by Madras Government in 1948 with title ‘Kuchipudi Natya Kala Nidhi’ Many now-famous Kuchipudi masters were his disciples Trained famous exponents of Kuchipudi, such as Vempati Chinna Satyam, Vedantam Raghavayya, Jagannatha Sharma, Ramayya Pillai, and Tandava Krishna. Legendary narthakis (female dancers) include Jagadamma, Pushpavati, and, of course, the celebrated Bala Saraswati. “A master in both theoretical and Practical aspects of dance, music and talas. Lakshminarayana Sastry is credited for introducing solo system of dance in the otherwise traditional dance drama form of Kuchipudi.” Legacy “The connoisseurs are indebted to Shad Bharata Kalanidhi Vedantam Laksmi Narayana Shastry, a virtuoso in Mudrabhinayam and Padabhinaya. He excelled in the grammar of Bharata. He was also responsible for spreading Kuchipudi art form throughout the country.” Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastri, and his son Jagannatha Sarma, opened the Kuchipudi dance form to women. This was a landmark effort by him and served to underscore that culture was not the exclusive preserve of elite men, but open to all men and women with respect for tradition. That the famed Bharatanatyam danseuse, Balasaraswati, decided to become his student after watching his performance in 1948, is a testament to his skill. He taught her the abhinayam of padams and sabdams. Dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar remarked that when he saw Vedantam garu dance at 60, it seemed as though the Natyacharya performed as energetically as a 25 year old. Perhaps the best way to sum up his life and legacy is in the words of his own descendant: “Akella Santhi Sastry, the first girl from Kuchipudi to take dance as a profession, went down the memory lane about her grandfather: ‘He lived in a different world – the world of dance – of Siddhendra Yogi, of Kshetrayya, of Narayana Teertha’. References: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/kuchipudi-deciphered/article3218643.ece Patinjarayil, Rama Devi. Kuchipudi Dance in Textual Form. Secunderabad: Patinjarayil Publications.2001 Patinjarayil, Rama Devi. Kuchipudi Kalapas – An Odyssey Rediscovered. Secunderabad: Patinjarayil Publications. 2004 www.kuchipudi.com/personalities/person3/ http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/Women-dancers-indebted-to-father-of-solo-format-in-Kuchipudi/article11261078.ece...
- Personalities: Pullela Gopichand
  May 17, 2018Those of you following our mother site, Indic Civilizational Portal, would have seen our article on Kreeda, covering Indian Sports & Martial Arts. Part of culture is appreciating Fine & Performance Arts, Literature, and so on, and part of it is appreciating contributions to Physical & Athletic Culture. A people should be neither barbaric nor overrefined. The former results in misbehaviour and crudity and the latter results in effete cowardice. A balance must be struck to ensure that cultured yet courageous men and women are created. That is why, following the example of our sister site, Tamizh Cultural Portal, we have begun articles recognising Andhra Sports Personalities as well. The first one may still be on the young side, but given his nationwide contributions, is undoubtedly deserving: Pullela Gopichand. Background Though he has now become an household name, Pullela Gopichand’s origins were one that every household would identify with. Born in 1973 to Pullela Subhash Chandra Bose and Subbaravamma, in Nagandla, Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, both his parents were interested in sports. While he earlier favoured cricket, his elder brother encouraged him to take up badminton. He made a promising start in his amateur youth career; however, he suffered a critical multiple ligament injury in 1986 — making one wonder how much of an impact this might have had on his professional career. Nevertheless, he soon bounced back from this setback, and the following year placed second in the Andhra Pradesh State Championship— losing the title to his elder brother. An interesting point of note is that by Gopichand’s own admission, he had not succeeded at engineering after trying his hand at a few courses. The lesson here for all students (and parents…) is that there is professional hope and life beyond science & engineering, and a student’s talent (along with backup plans) should be identified. In any event, after graduating from AV College, Hyderabad (with a degree in Economics), Pullela Gopichand soon became a professional sportsman. “By 1999, Gopichand achieved a world ranking of 26 winning the Indian international, Scottish, Toulouse, French championships etc. He received the SAARC gold medal the same year. ” He gained a reputation as a fighter on the court, bouncing back from defeats to win against Olympic Champions and World Number 1’s. 2001 was a banner year for him, and he reached a career high ranking of World #5. Pullela Gopichand has done what others would only dream of achieving. The true heir to the legacy of Prakash Padukone, Gopichand has won the coveted All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham. He has an interesting coaching lineage himself, beginning with S.M.Arif and then later Prakash Padukone and subsequently Ganguly Prasad (Sports Authority of India). A matter of note is that Pullela Gopichand is also a practicioner of yoga, and “He has tremendous respect for the rich Indian culture and tradition.” Thus, sports success, professional success, and cultural cultivation can all go hand-in-hand and need not be mutually exclusive. We don’t need to forget who we are to achieve greatness on the national and international world stage. Though Gopichand’s own career formally ended in 2004 (hampered by injuries), his dedication to training ensured success on and off court. “What goes into training champions? ‘It’s a lot of work — physical as well as mental — over a sustained period of time. It needs a thorough understanding of the sport, looking into various facets of world badminton, of gauging individual performances of the players and exploring the best ways to get the best out of them. There are various aspects involved in making successful players, whether it’s psychology, physiology, diet training. Then you keep trying different things, be constantly on the lookout for areas in which the players’ performances can be optimised'” He married in 2002 to P.V.V Lakshmi (also a former national badminton champion) and now has two young children, training to be future badminton stars. Achievements All-England Badminton Open Champion Career high World Ranking of #5 Multiple Badminton titles/medals, including a Commonwealth Games Bronze Arjuna Khel Ratna Award Padma Bhushan 2014 Dronacharya Award, ESPN ‘Coach of the Year’ Award 2017 Mortgaged own home to set up Professional Coaching Academy Facility Coached champion shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P.V.Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap, H.S. Prannoy, Arun Vishnu, Arundhati Pantawane, & many others Dubbed ‘Supercoach’ for training 2 World #1’s What is often forgotten about the Prakasam Puli is that he himself is a yesteryear badminton ace. The winner of a number of medals and titles, it was Pullela Gopichand who carried the banner of Indian badminton between Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal. It is often said that those who can, do, those who can’t, teach. Gopichand is the rare person who can do both, proving that the best teachers are those who actually can do, and once did. But rather than lavishing encomiums upon him, perhaps it is best to let this badminton star’s record speak for itself. “Gopichand is indeed a story of sheer hard work, dedication and pure determination for the game of Badminton.” Legacy From Saina Nehwal to P.V. Sindhu to Srikanth Kidambi, the man who has been the trainer of champions was once a champion himself. In our society which honours Acharyas, Gopichand Pullela has become the veritable kreedacharya of the current times. His example demonstrates, more than anything, that training and discipline are key to achievement. Since the days of Vijay Amritraj, Indian Sports has, for far too long, coasted on individual talent, rather than training, discipline, and team effort. But championships are won through team performance. Even in a mostly individual sport like badminton, there is an entire support team that nurtures and buttresses an athlete. In a career that is marked in the beginning, middle, and end by injuries, it is interesting to ask what more Gopichand could have achieved as a professional, had this not been the case. But the more important question is what kept him going, despite all this adversity. One of the drivers behind his success is his emphasis on fitness. Judging by your average chowkidaar, fitness had been the bane of well-to-do India until gym culture took off very recently. Even among sport stars, talent & skill were coasted upon rather than inclusion of conditioning. But Prakasam’s Pullela Gopichand put his money where his mouth is, and even as a young shuttler, was known for his fitness: Gopichand fittest of all our baddy greats Gopichand is better than all our previous badminton in one respect –his fitness. That was the unanimous verdict of most ex-players one spoke to. As a gauge of the impact he has had not only on the sport of badminton, but on the national consciousness, a movie is already in the works on his life. At press time, it has been confirmed that Fox Star Studios is planning a Telugu & Hindi Biopic on Pullela Gopichand. His success, sportsmanship, and fighting spirit has produced not only a championship career, but continues to inspire many young champions. Above all is his own humble attitude as a coach that puts his players first is what describes this true sportsman of Andhra the best: “It’s a great talent that we have… as far as Srikanth is concerned, the rise has been fantastic. Hopefully, he will continue to keep playing the way he is and will reach greater heights by winning many more tournaments. It is very satisfying to see players grow up the ranks and reach the top of the world. As somebody who has been associated with Indian badminton as a player and later coach I feel very proud of such players” It is this spirit of building each other up rather than tearing each other down that Andhra needs now more than ever. A state and nation producing sore losers needs to get their act together and learn from a sportsmanlike winner like Pullela Gopichand. An avid reader of Sri Aurobindo and a yoga enthusiast, Mr. Gopichand asked sportspersons to remain cm even when they face defeat. “It is all right to lose. I do not dissect a loss soon after any of my students fail to perform despite giving their best efforts,” he said to a round of applause. The sportsman, who barely missed an Olympic medal thanks to ill health, said he used to take criticism personally in the early stages of his career. “After I underwent three surgeries I stopped competing with others. I got best results when I competed with myself,” he observed. References: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/P-Gopichand/articleshow/30977688.cms http://www.rediff.com/sports/2001/mar/10gopi.htm https://www.deccanchronicle.com/sports/badminton/110418/pullela-gopichand-a-champion-mentor.html https://www.webindia123.com/personal/sports/gopi.htm http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/pullela-gopichand-takes-wcit-by-storm/article22810427.ece http://www.rediff.com/sports/2002/jun/05gopi.htm http://www.espn.in/badminton/story/_/id/22972473/guru-gopichand-gamechanger-indian-badminton...

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