Narasimha Rao Garikapati

Garikipati Narasimha Rao is a Telugu scholar, poet and speaker, and a master of avadhanam, a Telugu literary performance in which a poet composes verses on the spot in response to many questioners at once. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of literature and education, from Andhra Pradesh ^[1].

Scholar and teacher

Narasimha Rao was born on 1 June 1955 ^[2]. He took a master’s degree in Telugu from Osmania University in 1984, and an MPhil and PhD from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University in 1989 and 1992 ^[2]. He has more than 30 years of teaching experience ^[2].

Sagaraghosha

His long poem Sagaraghosha in classical metres has been described as a modern Telugu epic ^[2]. He has recited all 1,116 stanzas from memory in eight hours on three occasions ^[2]. He has published 18 other books ^[2].

Master of avadhanam

He has performed more than 300 ashtavadhanams, ten shatavadhanams and, in 1996, a maha sahasravadhanam, the first in Telugu literary history, in which he held 750 poems in memory ^[2]. He has given more than 11,000 lectures worldwide and is one of the most followed speakers in the Telugu states, known for a rational approach to spirituality and for urging people to drop practices with no rational basis ^[2].

He received the Andhra Pradesh government’s Kala Ratna Hamsa Puraskar in 2017 ^[2].