ABOUT PADMASHRI DR.YARLAGADDA LAKSHMI PRASAD

Dr. Lakshmi Prasad Yarlagadda was honored with the prestigious "Padma shri" award in the year 2003 for his widely acknowledged contribution towards enrichment of our literary traditions. Most particularly, for his relentless efforts towards promotion of national integration through creative use of the great tradition of translating acknowledged works in the languages of Hindi and Telugu.

Dr. YLP’s mastery in the two great Indian languages of Hindi and Telugu is only to a small extent testified by his doctoral degrees in both languages and more appropriately amplified by his original works as well as translated works in these two languages. In the process he has emerged as the leading champion of the cause of Hindi in the south of Vindhyas. As a chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy- an acknowledgement provided by the government of Andhra Pradesh as a leading academician, Dr. YLP has also in his capacity served as the Professor and Head of the Department of Hindi at the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.

Some of Dr. YLP’s literary achievements include: Prestigious Kendra Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for best translation of the famous “Tamas” novel into the Telugu language originally written by Bhism Sahani – This became immensely popular and was serialized in the leading Telugu journals. The National Awards from the Ministry of Human Resources Development in 1988 for his Hindi work on the leading social reformer Tripuraneni Ramaswami Chowdary and the same award for his Hindi book on a leading modern poet of Telugu Aluri Bairagi in 1981 exemplified his achievements in the literary circuit. In 2007, Dr. YLP was honored with the prestigious Pushkin Award by the government of Russia – another great achievement for India.

Dr. YLP’s other notable works include Telugu translation of the famed V.S.Khandekar’s Marathi novel Yayati and Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s biography. He has about 30 original and translation works to his credit. The significance of Dr. YLP’s literary endeavors lies not in pursuing literature for its own sake but in promoting the cause of brotherhood and national integration through popularizing acknowledged literary works through the medium of translation.

Dr. Lakshmi Prasad Yarlagadda was also a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1996-2002, Dr. YLP was also the Deputy Chairman of the prestigious Parliamentary Committee on Official Language as he rendered yeomen service to the cause of implementation of the official language policy of India. A regular attendee at the World Hindi Conferences since 1983, Dr. YLP has spoken in several national and international seminars on literature.

Since being honored with the “Padmasri” Award in 2003, Dr.Lakshmi Prasad Yarlagadda has mounted massive campaigns in promoting and popularizing Telugu literature and its rich legacy by organizing district and state level conferences for poets and writers. Marking a very innovative initiative, Dr. YLP has recently organized “Telugu Sahiti and Sanskriti Jagriti Yatra” an awakening rally to promote and popularize Telugu language and culture passing through the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh marking the birth centenary of the late Dr. Bezawada Gopala Reddy, former Chief Minister of the state of Andhra and former union minister and an acclaimed men of letters himself. This is revolutionary in the sense it amounted to taking literature out of its ivory towers and sharing it with the masses. This initiative was widely acclaimed and similar awakening rallies are being planned all through the state.

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