Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma

Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma was born on 23 January, 1893 in Rallapalli village in Kambadur taluk, Anantapur district to parents Sri Karnamadakala Krishnamacharya and Smt. Alamelu Mangamma. Sharma was initiated into Telugu and Sanskrit literature by his father at a very young age. He had mastered classics of Kalidasa and the Telugu trio by his 12th year of age. While his father ensured that his son had a keen interest in literature, it was thanks to his mother’s persistence that Sharma’s love for music blossomed into something tangible. Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma and his sister Yadugiramma routinely sang religious hymns at the Hanuman temple inside the fort at Rallapalli village.

Early life 

Sharma left Rallapalli in 1905 and went to Mysore for further education. At Mysore he stayed in the Brahmatantra Parakala Mutt where he came under the influence of Krishnabrahmatantra Swamy. By then quite old, Krishnabrahmatantra Swamy was partially blind and was struggling to read. When Sharma came under his tutelage, he was working on his treatise on ‘Alankara Shastra’ titled ‘Alankara Manihara’. In many respects, Sharma became his eyes and ears and would read aloud the original verses so that the Swamy could hear them better and then spell out his interpretation of the same. 

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