Svetlqer at 06:29, 24 March 2026

2026-03-24T06:29:02Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian writer (1904–1984)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Adya Rangacharya
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name= R. V. Jagirdar
| pseudonym = Sriranga or Shriranga
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1904|09|26}}
| birth_place = [[Agarkhed]], [[Bijapur district, Karnataka]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1984|10|17|1904|12|29}}
| death_place = [[Bangalore]], [[Karnataka]], India
| occupation = Poet, novelist, playwright, translator, actor, critic, scholar
| language = [[Kannada language|Kannada]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| spouse = Sharada Adya<ref name="timesofindia_1708448074">{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Sharada-Adya-Rangacharya-dead/articleshow/1708448074.cms|title=Sharada Adya Rangacharya dead|publisher=Times of India|access-date=7 January 2002}}</ref>
| children = Usha Desai<ref name="timesofindia_1708448074"/> <br/> [[Shashi Deshpande]]<ref name="timesofindia_1708448074"/>
| awards =[[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1967) <br/> [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1971) <br/> [[Padma Bhushan]] (1972)
| signature =
| website =
}}

'''Adya Rangacharya''' (26 September 1904 – 17 October 1984), known as '''R.V. Jagirdar''' till 1948,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTXougCB-NMC&pg=PA272|title=Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Plays and prose|page=272|author=K. M. George|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=1992|isbn=9788172017835}}</ref> later popularly known by his [[pen name]] '''Sriranga''', was an Indian [[Kannada language|Kannada]] writer, actor and scholar, and a member of the ''Adya Jahagirdar family''.<ref name=karnataka>{{cite web | url=http://www.karnataka.com/personalities/adya-rangacharya/ | title=Adya Rangacharya – An Eminent Theatre Personality | date=4 November 2011 | access-date=9 July 2013 | author=Mudde, Raggi}}</ref> He was awarded the [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]] in 1967 and the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for literature in 1971 for ''Kalidasa'', a literary criticism in Kannada.

Rangacharya has been honoured with the [[Padma Bhushan]] third highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the literature and education in 1972 by the [[Government of India]].<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Life==
Adya Rangacharya birth name was R. V. Jagirdar <ref name=Oxford /> and was born in [[Agarkhed]], [[Bijapur district, Karnataka|Bijapur district]]. He has his education at [[Bombay University|Bombay]] and [[London University|London]] Universities. His writings made him a trend-setter among Kannada and Indian writers. His works include twelve novels and a number of scholarly books on the theatre, on Sanskrit drama and the Bhagavadgita; but it was as a dramatist that he made his mark (47 full-length and 68 one-act plays).<ref name=wcau>[http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Adya+Rangacharya&qt=results_page WorldCat author listing]</ref> He is known for his English translation of the classic work on Indian classical theatre, the [[Natyasastra]] <ref name=Oxford>Rangacharya, Adya (1904-84), in ''The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre'' [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5111918854 Oxford Reference Online]</ref>

==Works==
Rangacharya's works include twelve novels and a number of scholarly books on the Theatre, on [[Sanskrit]] drama and the [[Bhagavadgita]]. He also wrote 71 plays and acted in 47.<ref name=karnataka/> Besides a translation of [[Natyasastra]],<ref>{{cite book | title=The NATYASASTRA (English Translation with Critical Notes) | publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers | author=Rangacharya, Adya}}</ref> his other works in English include Drama in [[Sanskrit Literature]], Indian Theatre, Introduction to Bharata's Natyasastra, and Introduction to the Comparative Philosophy and [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan Languages]]. He use the pseudonym Sriranga when writing most of his plays and literary work.<ref name=karnataka/>

His works in English are:
*Bharata, Muni, and Śrīraṅga. '' The Nāṭyaśāstra: English Translation with Critical Notes.'' New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1996.
*Drama in Sanskrit Literature, and Introduction to the Comparative Philosophy and Indo-Aryan Languages.
*Rangacharya, Adya. ''Introduction to Bharata's Nātya-Śāstra.'' Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1966.<ref name=wcIn>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65370817 WorldCat]</ref>
*Rangacharya, Adya. ''The Indian Theatre.'' New Delhi: National Book Trust, India, 1971.
*Śrīraṅga, . Drama in Sanskrit Literature. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1967 (2nd ed.)
*Śrīraṅga, .'' The Quest for Wisdom, Thoughts on the Bhagawadgita.'' Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1993. (translation of two Kannada works ''Gītagāmbhīrya'' and ''Gītādarpaṇa''

Among his works translated into English are
*Rangacharya, Adya, (transl. by G S. Amur).''Listen Janamejaya and Other Plays.'' New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2005.
*Śrīraṅga, (transl. by Shashi Deshpande) ''Opening Scene: Early Memoirs of a Dramatist and a Play.'' New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2006.
*Rangacharya, Adya, (transl. by Usha Desai). ''Shadows in the Dark: Four Plays.'' Bangalore, India: Unisun Publications, 2007.
*Sriranga, .'' These Tombs Alone Remain: A Novel'' Bangalore: Shriranga Saraswat Prakashana, 1959.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography|India|Literature|Theatre}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}
{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rangacharya, Adya}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male actors]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada]]
[[Category:Kannada dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Male actors from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Male actors in Kannada theatre]]
[[Category:Kannada-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Novelists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Writers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:People from Bijapur district, Karnataka]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]

Adya Rangacharya - Revision history

Svetlqer at 06:29, 24 March 2026