Kethavath Somlal

Kethavath Somlal is a writer and singer from the Lambadi (Banjara) community who has worked to preserve the Banjara language and culture. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of literature and education, from Telangana ^[1].

From the tanda to the bank

He was born on 8 August 1959 and grew up poor in Akuthota Bavi Thanda, a hamlet in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district ^[2]. He studied at Osmania University, earning degrees including an MA, MPhil, BEd and LLB ^[2]. He then worked for the State Bank of India until taking voluntary retirement in 2013 as a deputy manager ^[2].

Songs and stories

Somlal has collected folk songs from Banjara settlements, recorded albums and performed on stage, radio and television to encourage education and social reform ^[2]. In 1986 he published a play, Tholi Velugu, and in 1987 he wrote a history of the Banjara community for the newspaper Andhra Bhoomi ^[2]. He has also written and recorded devotional songs about figures such as Sant Sevalal Maharaj ^[2].

A Gita in Banjara

In 1990 he translated all 701 verses of the Bhagavad Gita into the Lambadi language ^[2]. After 23 years of effort, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams press published his Banjara Bhagavad Gita in 2014 ^[2]. To help keep the language alive, he also wrote a Banjara–Telugu dictionary, published by the Telangana tribal welfare department in 2021 ^[2].

He received the Telangana government’s Uttama Kalakar award in 2017 ^[2].