Statue of Telugu poet Molla unveiled at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram in Vijayawada

Kuchipudi artistes showering flower petals on the statue of poet Molla at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram in Vijayawada on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO

Maharaja Yaduveer Krishna Dutta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the Maharaja of Mysore, on Saturday (September 14, 2024), lauded the installation of a bronze statue of the renowned poet Atukuri Molla, at Tummalapalli Kshetrayyavari Kalakshetram.

Speaking after inauguration of the Telugu poet who authored Ramayana in Telugu language, he called it an auspicious occasion and said that the poet’s Ramayana will remain eternal.

Identified by her caste, she was popularly known as Kummara Molla. Poet Molla wrote the Ramayana in simple Telugu language during the reign of Vijayanagara emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya in the 16th Century. Until then, the Ramayana had been written only in Sanskrit, but Molla made it accessible to the common people by translating it into the Telugu language for the first time, he said.

He expressed concern over the decline of regional languages due to modernisation and emphasised the importance of preserving them. He said the cultures, traditions and values of the nation owe much to Ramayana.

The programme was organised by Andhra Pradesh Kummara Salivahana Sangham under the leadership of former MLC Ailapuram Venkaiah. Minister Kollu Ravindra, MLAs Mandali Buddha Prasad, Gadde Rammohan and Yarlagadda Venkatarao, MLCs Lakshman Rao and Rama Rao, former MLCs and presidents of Andhra Pradesh Kummara Salivahana Sangham Ailapuram Venkaiah and Ailapuram Raja were present.