Articles
Centenary of Andhra University
Dt: 16/4/26
Centenary of Andhra University
Dr T H Chowdary*
While Andhra Pradesh is euphorically celebrating Amaravati as its capital as legislated by the Parliament of India, there is one more event of great joy for the Telugu people ; the centenary of Andhra University. Although I had my Intermediate and engineering studies in Loyola College (1946-48) Chennai and the College of Engineering, Guindy Chennai (1948-52), I had been following the fortunes of our Telugu people in their agitations for a state separate from Madras Province and the peoples endeavours and a agitations to realise separate entity of Andhra – as well as University. The Andhra University was established in 1926 , realization of part of the Andhra peoples’ struggles for a separate state as well as distinct existence with their own institutions.
2. It was with great interest that I have been following the fortunes of Andhra University and the brilliant academicians it collected and equally brilliant alumni it produced .
3. The moving spirit for the birth and growth of the Andhra University was Dr Kattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy garu (1880-1951). He was a great leader of the Justice Party. He hailed from Chittoor district, the Southern most part of Andhra. It was his genius to discover and recognize Visakhapatnam to be a great city and that it should be the seat of the Andhra University. When the agitation for formation of a separate Andhra state, seceding from Madras Province there used to be resentment and reservations from some leaders off Rayalaseema both for separate Andhra state and the location for the Andhra University in far of Visakhapatnam. Yet it was the great foresight and strength of mind of Dr C R. Reddy that led to the location of Andhra University in Valtair ( Visakhapatnam), northern most large city in Andhra, far away from Chittoor district of Sir C R Reddi.
4. Dr Reddy was not parochial but an integrated person committed to the promotion of excellence in education in the Telugu people . He assembled great minds like Sir S Radhakrishnan of that time to be academicians, professors Heads of Departments. He collected them from Tamilnadu and Bengal too.
5. He could get handsome contributions for the various buildings for different departments. The logo Tejaswi naavadheetamastu of the University and the names of the buildings bear testimony to his erudition and regard for the history and culture and literature of Bharat .
6. Subjects like meteorology , oceanography, nuclear physics, archaeology besides English & Telugu literature were fostered by his visionary actions in getting great people to head these departments. I have been one of his great admirers for his politics and his vision for a great Andhra and Bharat.
7. I have a brief association with the Andhra University when Dr Simhadri was its Vice Chancellor. He invited me to be a visiting professor. One of the talks I gave was about Dr C.R.Reddy’s vision. The tribute that I paid to his memory was the naming of the telephone building in Visakhapatnam as Sir C R Reddy Telephone Bahvan. The vision of Dr C R Reddy of Visakhapatnam becoming a great metropolis is being realized what with the Indian Navy’s establishments, Steel Plant and a modern International Airport at Bhogapuram.
8. When I was the all India President of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) , I constituted its center in Visakhapatnam for which the Andhra University played host for our building.
9. Sri Chanra Babu Naidu garu with his great vision and initiatives would be doing well by further endowing and embellishing that great city. (590 words)