Sunday, December 11, 2016

SEMINAR ON THE OEUVRE OF NARAYANA DAS

A two-day seminar on the oeuvre of Srimadajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das was held in Guntur on December 8 & 9. The seminar was inaugurated by Dr. A. Rajendra Prasad, Vice Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. Eminent litterateurs and musicians delivered discourses on the various aspects of Sri Narayana Das' literary and musical genius.

Dr. A. Rajendra Prasad addressing the seminar. Seen on the dais (from L to R) Mahamahopadhyaya
Dorbala Prabhakara Sarma, Brahmasri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma and Dr. Komanduri Seshadri
On the first day of the seminar, Brahmasri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma introduced Jagajjyothi, Narayana Das' magnum opus and a critique of various philosophical streams of Bharat's Sanatana Dharma. Mahamahopadhyaya Dorbala Prabhakara Sarma spoke on the philosophical underpinnings and literary values in Harkadhaamrutam, a compilation of Samskrutam Harikadhas. Dr. Komanduri Seshadri spoke on the musical genius of Narayana Das citing examples from his Harikadhas.


Mahamahopadhyaya Viswanadha Gopala Krishna Sastry led the second day's proceedings with a discourse on Narayana Das' Tarakam, a Samskrutam Kavyam of unmatched literary merit. This was followed by Brahmasri Samavedam's discourse on Narayana Das' Accha Telugu compositions. Sri Modugula Ravikrishna, who has published an annotated version of Narayana Das' autobiography, Naa Eruka spoke on Kasi Satakam, with specific reference to the social and historical allusions of Narayana Das' time in the work. The seminar concluded with a discourse on Narayana Das' Harikadha literature by Dr. Muppavarapu Simhachala Sastry.

Seated on the dais (from second left): Dr. M. V. Simhachala Sastry, Mahamahopadhyaya Viswanadha Gopala Krishna Sastry,
Brahmasri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma, Sri Modugula Ravikrishna. Standing (extreme left): Sri S.V..Lakshmi Narayana,
Secretary, Sahitee Samakhya, Guntur