Kaloji Narayana Rao

Kaloji Narayana Rao Biography

Kaloji Narayana Rao was a poet, freedom fighter, anti-fascist and political activist of undivided Andhra Pradesh. His birth place Warangal is now a part of newly formed Telangana. His birthday is celebrated as Telangana Language Day by the state of Telangana. Government of India honoured him with Padma Vibhushan in 1992 for his contributions towards the field of arts. His full name is Raghuveer Narayan Laxmikanth Srinivasa Ram Raja Kaloji and he is also known by the names - Kaloji, Kalanna, Praja Kavi etc. He lived during the period 9 September 1914 – 13 November 2002.

Kaloji Narayana Rao hailed from Warangal of British India, now a part of Telangana state in south India. He did his primary education in Madikonda and higher education in Warangal and Hyderabad. As a child and teenager, he was very influenced by some of the changes and civic rights movements going on in the system then. He was associated with freedom struggle movement, and he was also attracted towards Arya Samaj Movement, Library movements, Andhra Mahasabha etc. He was also involved with Andhra Maha Sabha activities since its formation in the 1930s.

He mastered different Indian languages and write poetry in Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, and Marathi languages. He published his first work in 1941 titled Anakathalu. Since then he was active in the literary journey throughout his life, though he authored only a few works in the later years. In 1992, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kakatiya University. He passed away on 13 November 2002 aged 88. In 2014, the medical university Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences was named after him.

Published: September 08, 2018

Updated: September 08, 2018