Govt will extend all help to propagate Bhakta Ramdas legacy: Ramanachary

Winners of Bhakta Ramdas songs contest given prizes

Hyderabad: Telangana State government will extend all necessary help to propagate the legacy of Bhakta Ramdas, a great devotee of Lord Rama and a composer of Carnatic music, who is also one among the famous Vaggeyakaras (a person who not only composes the lyrics but also sets them to music).

Stating this during a function held to give away awards for State-level Bhakta Ramdas songs contest organised by Kodandapani Musical Educational Institution, Advisor to the Government K V Ramanachary said there was need to propagate the legacy of Ramdas to the world by holding such competitions.

The initiative to showcase the greatness of Bhakta Ramdas to the world started long ago but finally now it had materialised. “Everyone must follow God Rama to lead a successful life,” he said.

Ramanachary said Telangana State government, Language and Culture and Endowments Departments had come together to encourage the budding artistes across the State. Referring to another great Vaggeyakara Tallapaka Annamacharya, he said no one had noticed Annamacharya’s greatness until it came to light by great singer and composer Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma in 1948. Mamidi Harikrishna, Director of the Language and Culture Department of Telangana said in the present times traditional music was getting neglected due to the impact of Western culture.

“I am specially congratulating the parents, who encourage their children to participate in the competition,” he said. Hyderabad Brothers did great work to propagate the cultural music. Telangana State government, he said, had decided to encourage the artistes across the State," Harikrishna added. It may be mentioned here that the Kodandapani Musical Educational Institution had organised district-level competitions in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Nallagonda, Mahbubnagar and Khammam districts on May 29 as first phase.

Second phase competitions were held at Medak, Warangal, Nizamabad, Kareemnagar and Adilabad on June 5.

A total of 264 contestants participated across the State and of them 10 contestants from 10 districts of Telangana State (winners of district-level) were selected for finals which were started at 10 am at Ravindra Bharathi.

Shankaraditya from Warangal won the first prize. Other winners are Swati, Shruti, Vikas and Durga. They won 2,3,4 and 5 prizes respectively. On this occasion, Hyderabad Brothers, D Raghavachari and D Sheshachari, who have been most popular vocalists in Indian classical Carnatic music were also felicitated. Children's specialist Dr Ranganath, Director of Music Department, Potti Sriramulu University Radha Sarangapani and others also participated in the function.