https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kolachalam_Srinivasa_RaoKolachalam Srinivasa Rao - Revision history2026-08-01T02:31:32ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kolachalam_Srinivasa_Rao&diff=470811&oldid=prevVillagetalkies at 03:17, 24 March 20262026-03-24T03:17:13Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian playwright (1854–1919)}}<br />
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[[File:Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao 1911 (page 279 crop).jpg|thumb|Photograph of Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao in Andhra Patrika.]]<br />
'''Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao''' ([[Telugu language|Telugu]]: కోలాచలం శ్రీనివాసరావు) (13 March 1854 – 23 June 1919) was a dramatist from [[Bellary]], [[India]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=V |first1=Akshara K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MzjsDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Kolachalam+Srinivasa+Rao%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA13 |title=Kannada Theatre History 1850-1950: A Sourcebook: published by Manipal Universal Press |last2=Aithala |first2=B. R. Venkataramana |last3=Ganesh |first3=Deepa |date=2018-09-01 |publisher=Manipal Universal Press |isbn=978-93-82460-84-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Apparao |first=Ponangi Sri Rama |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPoVGysfFhIC&dq=%22Kolachalam+Srinivasa+Rao%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA42 |title=Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamacharyulu |date=1994 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-7201-771-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Narasiṃhārāvu |first=Vi Vi Yal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dzi7x0glOEC&dq=%22Kolachalam+Srinivasa+Rao%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA31 |title=Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham |date=1993 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-7201-499-5 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Biography ==<br />
A pleader and a non-professional theatre practitioner from [[Bellary]], Srinivasa Rao belonged to the family of [[Mallinatha Suri]], the world-famous writer acclaimed as Vyakyatha Shiromani. Srinivasa Rao became famous after publishing the [[English language|English]] translation of Prapancha Nataka Charitra (The Dramatic History of the World) ('''Vanivilasa Press''', Bellary) in 1908. In childhood, he was accomplished in [[Sanskrit]] and [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and was familiar with [[Kannada]]. His second elder brother [[Kolachalam Venkata Rao]] was a [[lawyer]] and in a high position, who was later elected as a member of the [[Madras Assembly]]. He was further helped by the local environment in Bellary. where the drama movement was flourishing with redoubled vigour. In this conducive atmosphere, he wrote his magnum opus, as well as dramas, and commentaries on the [[Vedas]] and other literary works. His first drama was Sunandini Parinayam, published around 1894–95, after which he wrote 30 plays. A large number of these plays were performed by their drama company Sumanorama Sabha. [[Bellary Raghava]] and Srinivasa Rao worked closely in running the affairs of the Sabha.<br />
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Sumanaroma Sabha staged three plays in the hall of the Sarasa Vinodini Sabha. When Sarasa Vinodini Sabha later refused to lend the hall to them, Srinivasa Rao built a new hall for the Sumanorama Sabha, called Vanivilasa Nataka Shala, which was inaugurated by [[Balgangadhar Tilak]]. This was the first theatre building in Bellary, the second one being Ramakrishna Vilas (after [[Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamacharyulu|Dharmavaraṃ Rāmakr̥ṣṇamācāryulu]]). Both of these were later converted into [[movie theatre|cinema]] theatres - Ramakrishna Vilas renamed Star Cinema and Vanivilas Nataka Shala renamed Prabhat Cinema.<ref>{{cite book<br />
| title = Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamacharyulu<br />
| author = Ponangi Sri Rama Apparao<br />
| year = 1994<br />
| publisher = Sahitya Akademi<br />
| isbn = 9788172017712<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aPoVGysfFhIC&q=kolachalam+srinivasa+rao&pg=PA42<br />
| accessdate = 20 October 2008}}<br />
</ref><br />
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In the preface of his magnum opus, he points to the decadence that had set into Indian language theatres at that point in time, in part because of the decline in morality in the practice of theatre. Finally, after surveying theatre traditions from Japan to the Americas, he provided an exclusive appendix, a list of "''rules''" like by-laws for contemporary theatre practitioners. Among his recommendations: "Till Hindu society is fully developed physically, greatly reformed morally, and vastly improved intellectually, do not allow a woman to become an actress. Hindu customs and manners do not allow such a course being taken".<ref>{{cite web<br />
| title = Reversal of roles<br />
| author = Akshara K V<br />
| url = http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/588/588_akshara_k_v.htm<br />
| publisher = www.india-seminar.com<br />
| accessdate = 20 October 2008}}<br />
</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Kolachalam}}<br />
[[Category:People from Ballari]]<br />
[[Category:1854 births]]<br />
[[Category:1919 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from British India]]<br />
[[Category:People from the Madras Presidency]]<br />
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