misc. (aa.jyOti, mikkilinEni, Palmleaf mss, ....)

Sreenivas Paruchuri (sreeni@ktpsp2.uni-paderborn.de)
Mon, 27 Apr 1998 13:14:04 +0200 (MET DST) 

Please check the following URLs:

www.andhrajyoti.com/kotha.htm (a review on rEgaDi vittulu)

apropos rE.vi: Yesterday I received a bulk of news paper clippings, reports
on this work in Telugu press. It seems "vi.ra.saM" is seeing this work as a
"conspiracy", written by "many ghost writers", "supporting" the "migration
theory" (valasa vaadam) "proving" the dominance of "coastal districts".
Aren't they reading too much between the lines?

www.andhrajyoti.com/svedika.htm (on bEtavOlu raamabrahmam by chE.raa)
	(Veluri gaaru: remember bE.raa's padya kawitaa parichayam :-)?)

Sarma gaaru posts an appeal from Arvind Acharya from Indology-List, this
appeal had been appearing on Sanskrit-Digest, humanities.sanscrit.... group
since atleast a year, and I know that quite a few Telusaers/SCITers
subscribe to Sanskrit-Digest mailing list, and thought that one or other
NY based nettor would approach Mr. Acharya and eventually help him. It
seems not to be the case! Isn't it really disappointing?

To my great delight, Nasy mentions about mikkilinEni's "aandhra naaTakaranga
charitra", written in mid-late 50s. I understand that he is presently
working on "aa.prajaa naaTyamanDali" (a book that is really long due, esp.
considering the role played by APN in Telugu cultural/literary movements
in 40s and 50s!). 

Atlast, nitpicking Paalana gaaru :-):

> Narayana Rao gAru, who has done exceptional work on Andhra Folk literature
> e.g. Palanati Charitra, Palkuriki Somanadha etc. Especially VNR's works
> were brought out in English and non-Telugus can have an opportunity to read
> those works, besides their exceptional nature. 

No disagreement with the first sentence (I am aware of Prof. VNR's 
Ford (?) Foundation lectures training folklorists back home) but only
with the two examples quoted. The 2nd one can't be considered as
folk-literature, and as far as the first example is concerned, Dr. Roghair
also deserves credit for the good work done on this epic. BTW, I understand
from Dr. Roghair that he recorded a large number of (oral) epics:
eeSvaramma katha,  mandalaraamaraavu katha, baalanaagamma katha, 
nookalatalli paaTa, sanyaasamma katha,  lakshmamma katha ...... the list 
goes on ...., which are not studied in detail yet. 

As far as VNR's essays are concerned, one article which I would like to
highlight is his brilliant analysis of six Telugu folk epics (palnaaDu,
bobbili, sanyaasamma, kanyakaapramESwari, kaaTamaraaju...) published in:
	Another harmony : new essays on the folklore of India   
	    ed. by Stuart H. Blackburn and A.K. Ramanujan 
	Univ. of California Pr., Berkeley, 1986.
		ISBN 0-520-05498-9

If you are further interested in his work on Telugu folk epics, you may also
like to check his essay on kaaTamaraaju in:
	Criminal gods and demon devotees : essays on the guardians 
	of popular Hinduism  
  Alf Hiltebeitel (ed.), State Univ. of New York Pr., Albany, 1989.
  	ISBN 0-88706-981-9, 0-88706-982-7

and another essay on sarwai paapaDu in Indian Economic and Social History
Review (IESHR, co-authored by John F Richards), 1980.
[if interested in exact bibliographical details, pl. send me a mail]

More later,

Regards,
Sreenivas